High school hoops: Merritt Alderink scores school-record 42 in Dux win
ZEELAND - Merritt Alderink scored a school-record 42 points and the Zeeland West boys basketball team defeated Wyoming 79-41 on Tuesday at home.
The previous record was 40 set by Eli Steffen in 2020.
He started off the game by scoring the first 11 points of the game for West. He ended the half with 26.
"Merritt's teammates kept finding him in positions where he could score tonight," Zeeland West coach David Klyn said. "I am really proud of Merritt for setting the scoring record at West. He puts in more time than anyone in our program and we still get to see what he can do for over another year."
Myles Steffen scored 14 points, while Orion Yant had 12 and Deklen Klamt added 10 for the Dux.
BOYS BASKETBALL
Hamilton 59, West Catholic 43
The Hamilton boys basketball team defeated Grand Rapids West Catholic 59-43 on Tuesday.
The Hawkeyes jumped out to a 15-5 lead and never looked back and improved their record to 10-2 on the season and 5-1 in the OK Blue.
Brant Goodpaster led Hamilton with 15 points. Brady Tebo added 10 and JD DeGrood had seven. Austin Osborne and Justin McIllwain each added six for the balanced Hawkeyes.
Saugatuck 46, Hartford 30
The Trailblazers extended their winning streak to four games, traveling to Hartford Tuesday night and beating the Huskies 46-30.
Saugatuck played a strong defensive first half, only allowing Hartford to score 10 points. Unfortunately, poor shooting and some missed layups meant the Trailblazers only scored 19.
The third quarter continued to be tight, with both teams grinding out tough baskets. Saugatuck pushed the lead to 11 by the end of the third and was able to outlast the Huskies in the fourth to close the game out.
Saugatuck was lead by the duo of sophomore Carter Miller with 17 points and junior Russell Vande Poel with 16 points.
East Kentwood 67, West Ottawa 54
The Panthers found themselves down early and couldn't get back in the OK Red loss.
John Beetham scored 14 points and Tyler Berens had 10 for the Panthers.
Marshawn Flakes led the Falcons with 32.
"We fought back, but dug too deep of a whole in the first," West Ottawa coach Jared Redell said.
Muskegon 73, Holland 25
The Dutch couldn't get any offense going against one of the top 10 teams in the state and lost the OK Green battle.
Coopersville 46, Holland Christian 41
The Maroons lost the OK Blue battle.
Kalamazoo Christian 64, Fennville 45
Ben Peterson scored 28 points to lead the Blackhawks, but it was not enough in the SAC defeat.
Aidan Swingle added seven points and six rebounds.
Lawton 74, Black River 47
The River Rats dropped to 3-8 with the conference loss.
Jonah VanderMeer led the Rats with 14 points and three assists. Kai Norman chipped in 12 points.
"We started the game off flat, we couldn’t make any shots or get to the rim. Credit Lawton for beating us down the court in transition," Black River coach Darrion Denham said. "We settled down in the second half and did some good things that we can learn from moving forward. We played with a little more energy and were able to get to the rim in the second half. We have to have a great balance throughout the whole game to have a chance to compete down the stretch."
GR Union 65, Zeeland East 59
The Chix dropped to 7-6 after the OK Green defeat.
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Zeeland East 45, GR Union 36
The Zeeland East Lady Chix defeated Grand Rapids Union on Tuesday night 45-36.
The Chix were led by Emily Wierenga with 21 points. Mirra Fenlon chipped in 13 points.
Zeeland West 55, Wyoming 41
The Dux (7-6, 4-2 OK Green) won the OK Green showdown on the road.
Kara Bartels scored 15 points to lead West. Ally Yonker had nine points, Lindy Gulker had eight and Marissa Ybarra added seven.
Holland Christian 65, Coopersville 44
The Maroons won the OK Blue matchup on the road.
Saugatuck 49, Fruitport Calvary 30
Coming off an emotional win Friday night the Trailblazers returned to action with a hard fought 49-30 victory over Fruitport Calvary.
A sluggish start had the Trailblazers down 11-5 after the first quarter and 20-7 midway through the second, but Saugatuck kept its composure and cut the lead to 22-20 heading into the half.
“We were simply out of sorts to start this game and some of that’s on me, I felt I over coached a bit trying to contain their best player with some junk defense and it simply wasn’t working," Saugatuck coach Kevin Tringali said. "We had an enthusiastic halftime and, boy, did our kids respond.”
The Saugatuck defense led to run out layups by Erin Moerler who scored eight in the thirdrd and a season-high 17 overall to go up 37-26 heading into the final quarter.
“Erin was everywhere tonight, her and Jen took turns guarding a great player and wearing her down and finished just about every shot she took,” Tringali said. “To battle back like we did was huge sign of growth, this was a trap game for us so it was nice to see us still play this hard. I was also very pleased shooting 15-of-22 from the line tonight.”
Kennedy Gustafson made 7-of-8 and finished with 15.
Black River 45, Constantine 43
The River Rats had to play the last two games without their senior captain due to illness, but were able to overcome Constantine’s 13 point halftime lead to win.
Olivia Hayes had 17 points and Ella Sligh chipped innine.
Black River also played Monday, losing 48-40 to Fruitport Calvary. Hayes had 22 points in that game.
Muskegon 60, Holland 21
Muskegon used transition offense to generate a 22-8 lead after the first quarter. Holland was able to settle in after that and play a very competitive second quarter. In the end, the league leading Big Reds had too much offense for Holland to contain.
Lilly Mendels led the Dutch with eight points while Hadleigh Hilgert added five.
East Kentwood 59, West Ottawa 40
The Panthers lost the OK Red showdown as the Falcons made 11 3-pointers - from six players total - to take control.
Gabby Reynolds scored 24 points to lead the Panthers (11-3, 3-3 OK Red).
This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: High school hoops: Merritt Alderink scores school-record 42 in Dux win
