FRUITPORT – The Fruitport boys basketball team is going to be able to beat opponents in several different ways this season, with plenty of scoring depth and plenty of height.

The Trojans used both on Friday to fight back a challenge from visiting Cedar Springs and claim a 56-45 victory in their second game of the season.

Fruitport improved to 2-0, after also beating Western Michigan Christian in Tuesday’s season opener.

The team’s balanced scoring was evident in the final stat sheet, and showed how opponents will never be able to key on one Trojan, or even two, or just worry about the upperclassmen. Freshman Garrett Olson and sophomore Dexter Williams each scored 16 points while senior DayDay Williams added 12.

There are other Trojans more than capable of scoring in double figures, as well, which means Fruitport will have a lot of options for point production all season.

“It’s fun,” Williams said about the offense flowing with multiple threats. “It really opens up everything. I can drive, and we have shooters all over, so I can either go down the open lane or find them.”

Olson paced the Trojans in the first quarter with eight points, helping Fruitport take a 14-12 lead at the first buzzer.

Fruitport’s defense, aided by a tall lineup, took center stage in the second quarter, holding Cedar Springs to just six points. That allowed the Trojans to claim a seemingly comfortable 29-18 halftime lead, aided by two triples from Lillmars and four points from Williams in the second.

Fruitport had a strong defensive effort the entire game, forcing Cedar Springs into 14 costly turnovers.

“We have lineups where we have four guys over six-foot-four,” said Fruitport head coach Steve Erny about his team’s height adding to its defensive prowess. “While they’re tall, they’re also playing the perimeter and can move their feet. So that length combined with athleticism is really a strength for us.” 

Cedar Springs fought back in the third quarter, outscoring Fruitport 15-10 to cut the Trojan lead to 39-33 heading in the fourth.

It got even closer than that down the stretch. Cedar Springs pulled within one point, 41-40, with 3:46 left in the game, but then an “and one” bucket and free throw play by Hudson Hazekamp – another one of the team’s very capable scoring threats – put the Trojans up by four.

Fruitport then sealed up the win by going on a 12-5 run.

“It feels good,” Williams said about starting the season 2-0. “It just shows the work that we’ve been putting in. It’s kind of what we expected, in the most humble way. We work our hardest in practice and these are the results we’re looking to get for it.”

Lillmars had eight rebounds while Olson totaled seven on the night. Brady Hansen finished with four assists for Fruitport.

Erny admits he’s still learning about his team, but believes a 2-0 start is a big confidence builder going into next week, when the Trojans host Mona Shores on Tuesday and travel to Spring Lake on Friday.

“It’s good to be 2-0,” the coach said. “It’s good to have a Friday night home game and the excitement we had tonight. To get the win was good, but we said in the locker room that we’ll be able to watch film and really identify the next steps to get better.

“We’ve got some really big tests next week, so to go into that week 2-0 is where we want to be.”