By Jason Wesseldyk
Sports Editor
HOPKINS—The first quarter of the season-opening boys’ basketball game between Saugatuck and Hopkins on Tuesday, Nov. 28, couldn’t have been closer.
Literally.
Each team scored 13 points through the first eight minutes of play, with each side relying heavily on a long-range attack.
The rest of the game wasn’t quite that close as the Vikings used a 49-21 advantage during the next three quarters to hand the Trailblazers a 62-34 loss.
“We just ran into a hot-shooting Hopkins team,” Saugatuck coach Brian Ward said.
Hopkins coach Jake Jewett was understandably pleased with his team’s performance against a veteran-laden Saugatuck squad that features seven returning seniors.
“I’m proud of the way we executed against their 1-3-1 defense and played team basketball,” Jewett said. “We battled through some adversity and definitely got better tonight.”
Following that back-and-forth first quarter, Saugatuck took the lead at 16-13 early in the second stanza on a 3-pointer from Russell VandePoel. But the lead proved to be short-lived.
Hopkins scored the next 11 points to go up 24-16. And while Saugatuck was able to bring the run to an end with a triple by #23, the Vikings got a trey of their own from #3 to head to halftime up 27-19.
The Vikings carried that momentum into the second half, outscoring Saugatuck 16-7 in the third quarter to pad its lead even more.
“We looked good in that third quarter,” Jewett said. “We were able to use that strong quarter to pull away and really take control.”
Ward credited Hopkins’ defensive effort with making life tough for his team in the third stanza.
“The first quarter was a tight, back-and-forth battle,” Ward said. “The second quarter was a little more in favor of Hopkins, but we were still within striking distance.
“But Hopkins’ constant defensive pressure proved too much for us and the Vikings slowly pulled away in that third quarter.”
Junior Nick Schultz finished with a game-high 24 points to pace Hopkins. Half of those points came on a quarter of 3-pointers.
Freshman Trent Smith finished with 15, and fellow freshman Merek Zapolnik finished with nine. Senior Micah Estelle battled through some foul trouble to finish with 8 points and classmate Jayden Reed provided strong defense throughout the game, finishing with several steals and assists.
VandePoel paced Saugatuck with 11 points, followed by junior Carter Miller with nine points.
Both teams were back in action again on Friday, Dec. 1.
Hopkins hosted Muskegon Catholic Central 51-39 to improve to 2-0, while Saugatuck dropped a 50-30 decision on the road against South Haven.
Schultz and Estelle each had double figures to lead a balanced scoring attack with 12 and 10 points, respectively. Cruz Hitzler chipped in seven points and played what Jewett called “stellar pressure defense all game.”
For Saugatuck, the story was similar to its game with Hopkins.
The Trailblazers trailed 21-17 at the end of a tight first half before being outscored 29-13 in the second half to fall to 0-2.
South Haven started the third frame with back-to-back 3-pointers followed by a breakaway layup for a quick 8-0 run go up 29-17.
“I thought we had some strong and aggressive play,” Ward said. “We were just never able to battle back enough to make it close after the Rams had the run to start the third quarter.”
For the second straight game, VandePoel led the way with 11 points for the Trailblazers. Junior Eli Janowiak added five points.