PARK TWP. - Orion Yant was swallowed up by a sea of teammates and students as he held up the wooden district championship trophy with a huge smile on his face.
Zeeland West won the first district basketball championship in school history after beating rival Zeeland East 53-42 on Friday night in a Division 1 championship game at West Ottawa.
“It’s something we dreamed about,” Zeeland West coach David Klyn said. “Last year, when we lost in the district final (to Hudsonville), we said, ‘In a year, it ends differently.’ The guys stuck with it all summer, all fall and to see them do it … there’s no better feeling.”
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Luke Bakker had a team-high 14 points, Yant scored 12, Trenten Bolhouse had 12 and Merritt Alderink scored eight for the Dux (17-7). Zeeland West advanced to play Northview on Tuesday at East Kentwood.
In the game, Alderink passed Jordan VanDort to become the all-time Zeeland West leading scorer with 1,088 points.
“Ever since freshman year, it’s been a goal,” Bakker said. “Everyday in practice, you look up at the banners. And the basketball one is almost empty, except for a couple of conference championships. So a district title was a goal. We’ve still got places to go, but this is a start.”
Zeeland West jumped out to a 12-0 lead to open the game and led 26 -20 at halftime.
“That was huge,” Bakker said. “We knew they would make runs. Having that lead at the beginning gave us a foundation and that helped a lot.”
Senior Ian Kleinheksel, who has been in the Dux program since he was a little kid, was beaming.
“It’s the first one,” he said. “This is awesome. All the coaches were talking about it and how they’ve been here for so long and no one had one here before. It feels good to be part of the first team to bring this home.”
It was a tough ending for the lone senior on Zeeland East.
Layne Risdon was the last person to leave the gym. He still had his yellow No. 33 jersey on.
“I’m keeping this on for as long as I possibly can,” he said. “It’s just setting in that this was my last-ever high school basketball game.”
Risdon had a game-high 17 points, BJ Walker had 11 and Caleb Claerbaut added nine for the Chix (10-14).
“It’s hard,” freshman Will Drnek said. “In the locker room it was super hard. I feel so bad for Layne and our whole team. The locker room was just tough.”
Bakker is becoming an elite shooter
Luke Bakker has always been a scorer. But he would usually use his strong frame to score inside the paint.
But he’s become a great shooter of late. He had three 3-pointers on Wednesday against West Ottawa and four more on Friday night.
When did he become a shooter?
“Over the course of the past two years,” said Bakker, who has committed to Hope College. “Last year, I couldn’t really showcase it at all because I was hurt most of the season. Over this season, with Orion’s role increasing from last year to this year, it helped move me out to the perimeter.”
Risdon loves the rivalry
When Risdon was in class on Friday, the district game was staring him right in the face.
“It’s really hard,” he said. “I sit next to (Trenten) Bolhouse in one of my classes. We’re sitting right in front of each other on game day. The intensity was unlike anything else. I wanted to win, but I wouldn’t want to lose to anyone else.”
What will he remember the most about his career at Zeeland East?
“Making great life-long friends as teammates,” Risdon said. “These guys are like my brothers for life. That’s something that’s bigger than basketball to me.”
The 6-foot-9 forward will play at Michigan Tech next season.
“I hate to leave this one behind,” Risdon said. “But I’m excited for the next four years.”
Zeeland West 53, Zeeland East 42
ZEELAND EAST (10-14)
Eli Walcott 0 0-0 0, BJ Walker 3 4-7 11, Will VerSteeg 0 2-2 2, Will Drnek 1 1-2 4, Jacob Vera 0 0-0 0, Caleb Claerbaut 3 0-0 9, Quincy Thome 0 0-0 0, Mickey Voss 0 0-0 0, Layne Risdon 7 3-3 17. Totals 14 10-14 42.
ZEELAND WEST (17-7)
Trenten Bolhouse 5 1-1 12, Keaton Hendricks 0 0-0 0, Khi Anderson 1 0-0 2, Luke Bakker 5 0-0 14, Will Skaggs 0 0-0 0, Myles Steffen 2 0-0 5, Trey Sloothaak 0 0-0 0, Lincoln Jipping 0 0-0 0, Orion Yant 3 6-6 12, Brody Maas 0 0-0 0, Ian Kleinheksel 0 0-0 0, Merritt Alderink 4 0-1 8. Totals 20 7-8 53.
Zeeland East 6 - 14 - 6 - 16 = 42
Zeeland West 16 - 10 - 10 - 17 = 53
3-pointers - Zeeland East 5 (Claerbaut 3, Drnek, Walker). Zeeland West 6 (Bakker 4, Bolhouse, Steffen). Rebounds - Zeeland East 20 (Risdon 8). Zeeland West 27 (Bolhouse 6, Yant 5). Assists - Zeeland East 9 (Risdon 3, Vera 3), Zeeland West 11 (Alderink 4, Yant 3). Total fouls - Zeeland East 15, Zeeland West 18. Fouled out - None.ReplyForward
This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Zeeland West basketball tops East for first district title
