By Jason Wesseldyk
Sports Editor
SAUGATUCK—It’s been a while since the Saugatuck boys basketball team secured a win over archrival Fennville.
Nearly six years, to be exact.
But that changed on Monday, Feb. 6, as the Trailblazers hosted the Blackhawks and came away with the 54-41 victory.
“We got the monkey off our back,” Saugatuck coach Brian Ward said.
Saugatuck started the game on a 7-2 run, but Fennville senior Ben Peterson responded with a pair of 3-pointers and another basket to help the Blackhawks go up 15-10 after one quarter. Fennville led 24-21 at halftime.
The third quarter saw the Trailblazers come out on fire, opening the stanza with a 16-2 run that included back-to-back triples from Carter Miller.
Saugatuck led the rest of the way.
Junior Russell Vande Poel led Saugatuck (10-5) with 13 points, followed closely by Miller with 12 points and junior Matt Hartgerink with 11 points.
On Friday, Feb. 3, Ward and his players dropped a 56-50 to Galesburg-Augusta.
Free throws played a big role in determining the outcome of the game. Saugatuck went 5-of-7 from the line, while the Rams finished 15-of-29.
VandePoel led the way in the loss with 25 points that included five 3-pointers. Senior Will Ayers added 12 points.
Two days earlier, the Trailblazers traveled to Gobles for a makeup game and cruised to the 47-28 win.
“The first half was an ugly slog of basketball with neither team able to get anything going offensively,” Ward said.
The third quarter was a different story—at least for Saugatuck—as the Trailblazers used a 19-7 scoring edge to take a 35-19 lead.
Hartgerink scored 10 points to pace Saugatuck, while classmate Will Doucette was close behind with eight points.