East Lansing — The first time was the charm for Freeland, with the program claiming its first boys basketball state title in its first appearance, defeating Hudsonville Unity Christian 42-32 Saturday night at Breslin Center in a defensive battle.
Seniors Tristan Comer and Wilson Huckeby led Freeland to victory, with the pair each scoring 12 points. Comer scored eight of the team’s final 11 points, while also grabbing 10 rebounds. Huckeby added six rebounds of his own to go along with a game-high four steals.
Freeland also relied on its free-throw shooting throughout, going 15-for-19 from the line in a game in which points were hard to come by.
“Everyone in that locker room understood that these guys were going to handle the pressure, we’re going to make the free throws.” Freeland coach John Fattal said. “They were going to handle anything that Unity Christian threw at them.”
Unity Christian senior Jack Kamminga scored a game-high 14 in the loss.
It was hard-fought from the opening tip-off, with both defenses settling in early. Unity Christian broke the deadlock, with senior Kyler Berghuis opening the scoring. Kamminga followed with a breakaway layup, created by a Berghuis steal to put the team up 4-0.
Neither team could score consistently in the first, combining to shoot 3-for-15 in the opening five minutes. Unity Christian led 6-4 after another jumper from Berghuis with two minutes to go, the final points of the quarter.
The second quarter was more of the same, with both defenses refusing to give the opposing offense any room to breathe. The teams combined for five points in the first four minutes of the second quarter, with Freeland senior Cooper Wagner’s layup pulling his team within one.
Unity Christian senior Owen VanderWaal scored a layup, answered by Freeland guard Connor Lasceski who hit the first 3-pointer of the contest to tie the score at 10-10.
An immediate answer from Kamminga, who powered through the defense for an and-one, followed by another layup, stretched the Unity Christian lead back to three.
Huckeby hit Freeland’s second 3-pointer with one minute to go in the quarter, pulling the team within two points entering the break.
The momentum from Huckeby’s shot continued to build for Freeland, with Huckeby hitting another 3-pointer early in the second quarter to give the team its first lead at 18-17.
The teams then traded buckets, with Kamminga continuing to lead the Unity Christian offense, scoring four straight.
Two free throws from Comer put Freeland back in front 26-25 with two minutes to go in the third. Freeland wouldn’t give up the lead again, closing the quarter on a 7-0 run to give the team a six-point advantage.
Kamminga opened the final quarter by making Unity Christian’s first and only 3-pointer of the night, cutting the lead to three. Unity Christian ended the night 1-for-15 from behind the 3-point line.
“We couldn’t score,” Unity Christian coach Scott Soodsma said. “You got to be able to score, if you told me we hold them to 42 points, I’m thinking we win that ballgame by 10 … we just missed a lot of shots.”
Comer and Lasceski responded with back-to-back 3-pointers for Freeland, before two more layups from Comer capped a 10-0 run that put the game out of reach.
Over the final 11 minutes Freeland outscored Unity Christian 18-7.
“In the locker room, these guys, you walk in and it’s just poised and composed, that’s it,” Fattal said. “Everyone knew in that locker room what the second half was going to look like.”
Nathan Korp is a freelance writer.
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Freeland outlasts Hudsonville Unity Christian in Division 2 final
Reporting by Nathan Korp, Special to The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
