Never give up.
That was the message over the weekend for the Marion Middle School Boys Basketball teams, and it paid off.
Marion’s 8th grade team – consisting of 7th and 8th graders – lost only two close games during the regular season, to Mesick and Brethren, respectively.
On Saturday, they got their revenge.
In Saturday’s semifinal game against Brethren, the 8th grade Eagles found themselves down by 13 points with 3 minutes left in the game. Brethren maintained a 10-point lead with just over a minute and a half remaining.
But the Eagles never gave up.
Thanks to some solid defense, and some clutch shooting, the comeback was on.
“They never gave up,” said 8th grade coach Chad Jenema. “Chase McCrimmon hit a couple of 3s, we put on a full court press and got a couple of steals.”
The Eagles clawed all the way back to pull within one, 32-31, with just under 5 seconds left in the game.
After Brethren missed a free throw, Cam Prielipp got the rebound and was fouled with 3 seconds left. He was sent to the free throw line with the game on the line.
Cam made the first free throw to tie the game and send it into overtime, where the Eagles dominated, pulling ahead for a 40-33 victory and a trip to the championship game against Mesick.
“We were fortunate to get fouled at the end and Cam made the free throw to send it into overtime,” Jenema said. “It was fun to see them have success.”
In the championship game, the Eagles got out to an early lead over Mesick, but they were in for another dramatic ending.
“In the finals, it was a close game. We were ahead by 9 at one point, and ended up falling behind by one point in the final minute,” Jenema said.
With the score tied at 28, with 10 seconds remaining, Peyton Wirick scored the go-ahead basket to give the Eagles the lead, and the championship over Mesick, 30-28.
“Overall, it was a very long day over there, but the kids stayed focused, and never gave up – which was nice to see,” Jenema said. “The boys played really well.”
The Marion 7th graders – consisting of 6th and 7th graders – lost a couple of nail-biters in Saturday’s tournament, losing by 3 points or less in each game. The 7th graders had been undefeated in regular season play.
But according to their coaches, both teams had successful seasons.
“The 6th and 7th grade didn’t lose any regular season games,” said 6th – 7th grade coach Brian Miller. “But then when we took the 7th graders up to the 8th grade – we were mostly 6th graders in the tournament – we still only lost by 2 or 3 points, but it was nice to see the 6th graders get experience during that time. They got some experience playing in tight situations.”
Coach Miller noted the improvement in a number of players as the season wrapped up.
“Peyton Wirick just keeps getting better, and Cam Prielipp is using his left hand this year – and he got pretty good with his left hand. Maddox Lodholtz moved out to the perimeter and improved his ball handling and his shot. Kelvin Butler made really good strides understanding the game, he improved a lot over the year.”
Coach Jenema agreed that his players improved and found success as the year progressed.
“Maddox Lodholtz was probably the most improved player from the year before. He’s worked on his game and the improvement is very noticeable,” Jenema said.
“Peyton and Cam were both good inside presences,” said Jenema. “They are smart players, we have a smart team overall. Corbin Jolly and Chase are very knowledgeable, strong guards. Easton Eising came up and played some good solid defense, and was a good rebounder for us.”
“Kendan Nowland really improved his shot a ton, and became more aggressive looking to score,” Miller said. “Easton made really good discretion in his shot selection, and shot for a much better percentage.”
“Chase was the floor leader no matter which team he was on,” Miller said. “Corbin is a tremendous defender. He’s so low to the ground, and has great lateral quickness. We put him on the opponent’s best player, and he just shuts them down.”
“Eli Wilson really stepped up in scoring, and really improved,” Miller said. “Cole Hall and Marshall Lodholtz gave us a good inside presence, and made good shots. Brayden Sikkema led us in rebounding during the tournament – he almost had to play both games because he’s such a good rebounder. Jon Beebe came a long way, I can see him playing big minutes next year.”
“Wes Schlitter improved a lot,” said Miller. “He can make right- and left-handed layups consistently, and he’s starting to understand the game. Grayson Vescey got a lot better as the season went on, and he scored some points for us. Kris Johnson, we lost him early for the season after he broke his wrist. He stayed after it, and worked hard and he was improving his left hand before he got hurt.”
What coaches were most impressed with, however, might’ve been just how much the kids enjoyed the game, and how they wanted to get better throughout the season.
“Practice was 3 to 5 with the option to stay until 5:30 to keep playing, Miller said. “The least that ever stayed after was 3, but usually 6 to 10 stayed late.”
And as the season came to a close on Saturday, Coach Jenema was happy for his players.
“They were very excited in the end. It was a great day, and a great ending to a great season.”