SPRING LAKE — After finally breaking through for a long-awaited win over rival Spring Lake a year ago – the first in a decade – the Fruitport boys basketball team was hoping to establish a winning streak of its own in the hardwood version of the Battle of the Bayou.
In a reversal of last year’s game, however, when Fruitport held off a late Spring Lake rally, this time it was the Trojans who couldn’t quite mount a successful comeback. Spring Lake took the lead late in the first quarter and never relinquished it, despite the Trojans keeping it lose, and handed Fruitport a 67-60 loss on Friday night.
It was the end of a tough week for the Trojans, who fell to 2-2 after also losing close one to Mona Shores on Tuesday.
The game was another hard-fought, high-energy contest between the two rivals, with both teams playing hard, and both student sections trading chants back and forth.
[1]
[2]
“We fought back, we couldn’t get over that hump,” said Fruitport head coach Steve Erny. “We cut it to three-to-five frequently in that second half, we just couldn’t get that next stop and score to come all the way back.
“I give credit to Spring Lake. Watching them on film and watching them tonight, I think they played their best game of the season. They hit a lot of shots.”
The Trojan were handicapped when their offense – except for standout sophomore Dexter Lillmars – got off to a slow start. Lillmars scored 19 points in the first half, but no other Trojan had more than two.
Erny said some of that may have been due to the extra energy around the game, which probably affected the players a bit.
[3]
[4]
“I think early in this game, we were excited, we were jacked up,” he said. “We missed a lot of easy shots in that first quarter, that got them off to a good start and us off to a shaky start. That was a big part of the game.”
Another factor was Fruitport’s performance at the foul line. The Trojans were 14-for-23 at the stripe in the game, or just over 60 percent.
“It felt like we went 0-for-2 on multiple occasions from the line,” Erny said. “When you’re down four to six points and you can’t put those free ones in, I think that really just adds to the tension.”
Spring Lake led 15-12 after the first quarter, taking the lead on a three-pointer by Jacob Ayers with 1:10 left in the frame. Lillmars scored 10 of Fruitport’s 12 first quarter points.
[5]
[6]
Fruitport won the second quarter with a slim 15-14 edge, cutting its halftime deficit to 29-27. Lillmars again led the charge, scoring nine more points.
Spring Lake took more firm control of the game in the third quarter with a 20-14 edge, making it 49-41 heading to the fourth.
The Lakers opened the quarter on a 12-3 run to push the lead to 10. Hudson Hazekamp scored six points in the quarter for the Trojans.
[7]
[8]
Fruitport trimmed the lead to five points multiple times in the fourth, and won the quarter 19-18, but ultimately couldn’t come all the way back. The Lakers made just 7 of 14 shots at the foul line in the quarter, but sank enough shots to hold on.
Lillmars led Fruitport with 27 points and nine rebounds. Hazekamp scored 14 points, including 12 in the second half. DayDay Williams and Brady Hanson had six points each for the Trojans, while freshman Garrett Olson had five points and seven rebounds off the bench. David Johnson-Jimenez scored two points and grabbed five rebounds.
The Trojans will open O-K Silver conference play on Tuesday at home against Kelloggsville.
[9]
[10]
[11]
[12]