FRUITPORT TOWNSHIP – Sometimes shorter athletes shy away from basketball, for obvious reasons.

But Fruitport Calvary Christian senior Jacob May, who was always been much smaller than most of his classmates, took it as a big challenge.

So much so, in fact, that he made basketball his only sport. He threw himself into the game as he went through middle school and high school, determined to keep up with all the guys who towered over him.

“The challenge is the most fun part,” said May, who stood around 5-foot-5 for the past few seasons, before springing up to about 5-9 this season. “My dad pointed out to me that my whole life I would probably be the smallest guy out there, and there was nothing I could do about that, but I knew I could do things to improve my skills and strength, so I just ran with it.

“I enjoyed the fact that I was always the shortest and the weakest. It was fun to go out and play with guys who were double my size.”

Fruitport Calvary’s Jacob May (4), a four-year varsity player who stood about 5-foot-5 through his first few years of varsity, then shot up about four inches this season.

May’s determination to develop his skills to the fullest has paid off, for himself and his team.

May, the Eagles’ sparkplug point guard and captain, is averaging 13.7 points, 7 assists and 2.7 steals per game so far this season.

He has always been dangerous as a three-point threat, and this year he’s also become more effective at driving to the hoop and getting points with layups.

He’s had some very big games, including 27 points and five steals against Mason County Central, 19 points and eight assists against Muskegon Catholic Central, and 18 points and nine assists against Grand River Prep.

May even makes a big difference when he’s not on top of his game. Last Thursday, for instance, he scored a season-low two points against Saugatuck after being sick all week, but still managed to help his team win with six steals and five assists.

May gets the ball to a teammate around a Saugatuck defender.

May, along with 6-foot-5 freshman post player Bradley Richards (averaging 22 points per game), gives the Eagles a fearsome inside-outside attack that makes them tough to defend.

With several other players on the roster also making big strides this season, the Fruitport Calvary boys finished with a 15-5 regular season record, which was the team’s best mark since 2003.

The Eagles are hoping to keep the winning going this week in a tough Division 4 district tournament, which also includes Muskegon Heights and Muskegon Catholic, and win the first district title in program history.

“We think we have a chance,” May said. “We have a lot of guys on the team who have worked really hard, and we’ll see what happens. I’m really excited.”

It’s doubtful the Eagles would have been quite so good this season without May’s all-around improvement.

He said his shooting improved after his dad noticed a glitch in his shot last year, and he worked to correct it in the offseason.

“I developed some bad habits with my shot,” said May, who recently signed a national letter of intent to study and play basketball at Spring Arbor University. “I had my feet and head in line when I shot, but my right elbow was not under the ball, and I was missing a lot to the left and right. My shot got better this year, and that gave me a lot more confidence in everything else.”

May defends against an opponent in a game against Saugatuck last week.

May also hit the weight room hard in the offseason to put on more bulk and have more success in the paint.

“I did a lot of weight training, and it felt tremendous,” he said. “Last year guys would bully me and push me down when I went for power layups. This year, in our first game, I went up and went right through a guy, and I thought ‘That really paid off.’”

While his scoring has been impressive, perhaps the best thing about May’s game is his ability to run the offense from the point guard position and set up plays for his teammates.

He led the area with an average of seven assists per game in the latest MuskegonSports.com leader board.

“In my first two years of high school I just wanted to shoot the ball and hit some threes and have fun out there,” May said. “Then when Coach Richards took over last year, he said with the way I handed the ball, it would help us a lot of if I could figure out how to get the ball to my teammates more, and I had a lot more fun as I started doing that.”

May says he’s a lot more comfortable passing the ball this season because so many of his teammates have improved so much on the offensive end.

Jacob May signs his national letter of intent to play at Spring Arbor University, with Spring Arbor Coach Jeff Beckman looking on.

Guys like Luke Assaad, Ethan Cammenga and Nick Swanson have become real scoring threats, so May knows he can go different directions with the ball, and there’s a good chance it will lead to a bucket.

“Last year we had a few plays designed to get guys open, and I would hit them, but there would be a lot of misses, which was discouraging,” he said. “This year everyone has done a great job of improving.”

Coach Brad Richards, who took over the Calvary boys team last year after years of success with the girls varsity, thinks May’s unbelievable work ethic is a big reason why so many of his teammates have improved so much.

Hard work and dedication are very contagious, according to the coach.

“He’s played hard on every single play in every practice and every game,” Richards said. “When one of your best players is leading by example like that, everyone else wants to work hard, too. I was talking to (Orchard View) coach Nick Bronsema, and he mentioned how our kids play so hard, and I give a lot of credit for that to Jacob.

“He’s tremendously driven. He’s someone who’s self-motivated to be the best he can be at all times.”