West Ottawa boys complete stellar comeback to beat Jenison
PARK TWP. - It has been an up-and-down season for the West Ottawa boys basketball team and it looked like it might be more of the same on Friday night as they went into the locker room at halftime trailing by three points.
But the Panthers found what they were looking for in-between the two halves, outscoring Jenison 13-3 in the third quarter and holding the Wildcats to just 13 second-half points as West Ottawa pulled away for a 49-35 win.
"I think we gave up 24 (points) in the fourth quarter last time against them after being up by 13, so it was good to finish the game after entering the fourth quarter (tonight) in a similar situation," said West Ottawa coach Jared Redell. "I thought we did a good job of staying out on the 3's (pointers) in this game and a big part of that is the way that Jackson (Wiegerink) protects the rim. That allows guys to get out and take away the 3 from them."
West Ottawa (4-13, 2-8 OK Red) raced out to a 10-6 lead after one quarter behind six points from Wiegerink. Jenison (5-12) got things rolling in the second quarter, though, and took a slim 22-19 edge into the halftime break.
After a Jenison basket three minutes into the third quarter put the Wildcats up 25-23, the Panthers finally found some rhythm. Wiegerink put back his own miss and made the subsequent free throw to complete a 3-point play, Nash Bosma floated in a 10-footer from the baseline, Danny Siterlet dropped in a 12-foot turnaround in the lane, and Bosma scored a driving basket to help West Ottawa finish the quarter on a 9-0 run to take a 32-25 lead into the final quarter.
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John Beetham drilled a topside 3-pointer and Carson Witvoet banked in a shot off a drive to the basket as the Panthers scored 14 straight points over a six-minute span to go up 37-25 and take complete control of the game.
"We've been making strides every day and getting better," said Bosma. "Tonight we finally pieced it together and we played how we should have been playing the whole season. We always say that any game is out there for the taking and tonight we did it. If we keep building on what we've been doing, we can make a run in the (tournament)."
Regarding his solid overall game, Bosma said "I just try to be strong with the ball, especially when they're trapping. If you look for other people, they're gonna look for you. I try to be 'pass first' whenever I can."
Bosma led the way for West Ottawa with 11 points, seven rebounds, five assists, and three steals. Wiegerink chipped in nine points, nine rebounds, and four blocks, while Witvoet scored all nine of his points in the fourth quarter for the Panthers. Bryce Baldwin stood tall to take three key charges defensively for West Ottawa.
This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: West Ottawa boys complete stellar comeback to beat Jenison
