MONTAGUE – The Fruitport boys basketball team has had a lot of success over the past two years, with two conference championship trophies to show for it.

But the Trojans don’t have a district trophy in the collection yet, and that’s a problem they are trying to address this week.

They got off to a good start on Wednesday, posting an impressive 63-44 Division 2 district semifinal victory over Orchard View at Montague High School.

The victory came 364 days after the Trojans were upset by Oakridge in last year’s semifinal round.

“We returned most of our guys,” said senior guard Day Day Williams about his team’s motivation. “So we know how we have to take everyone seriously. We learned that last year, and it doesn’t matter if we beat someone earlier in the year. We have to take everyone seriously.”

Fruitport head coach Steve Erny said last year’s loss was discussed leading up to the game.

“We addressed it,” he said. “Just about how any given day you can be done, and how tonight could be that night. We’ve really had a sense of urgency in practice this week, and I think that showed tonight.”

That focus was evident from the start, as Fruitport jumped out to a 12-0 lead before Orchard View even scored.

The Trojans ultimately held a 19-5 lead after one quarter behind seven points from Hudson Hazekamp and six points from Garrett Olson.

In the second quarter, Fruitport continued to play strong, outscoring Orchard View 15-11 to take a 34-16 halftime lead.

Olson stayed hot, scoring nine points in the second quarter to total 15 in the first half.

“He’s improved all season,” Erny said about the freshman post player. “Tonight was a night that I think really worked well for him. He runs the floor really hard, and I think you could almost say tonight was a breakout night for him.”

Both teams were strong offensively in the third quarter, with Fruitport outscoring Orchard View 18-16 to take a 52-32 lead into the fourth.

Williams led the Trojans with eight points in the quarter while Olson had six.

The Trojans cruised to victory down the stretch, despite being outscored 12-11 in the final eight minutes.

Olson led Fruitport with 21 points while Williams totaled 14, Hazekamp had 11 and Dexter Lillmars added 10.

“You could say our third and fourth scorers led us,” Erny said. “I really think that’s great. That’s something you’re going to need to win tournament games.”

Fruitport, now 20-3 on the season, will play Spring Lake on Friday in the Division 2 championship game at Montague at 7 p.m.

Spring Lake beat the Trojans 67-60 back on Dec. 12.

“They play in a great conference,” Erny said about the Lakers. “I don’t think they’ll enter the game thinking we’re so much better than them just because our record is 20-3 and they’re just above .500.

“They have a lot of tough competition and beat us earlier this year. We just need to make sure to focus on the little things that help us win games.”

Williams said the Trojans will be ready.

“We have little cards that say district champions,” he said. “It’s something we haven’t done in my four years, so we’ve been working toward it. That’s what I want, so we’re going to be prepared for Friday.”