EAST LANSING – Owen VanderWaal and Luke Tubergen look like they just went four rounds in a boxing ring.
The Unity Christian big men each have a black eye.
“I don’t know what happened,” VanderWaal said. “I think in the first half, I got an elbow to the eye. Maybe I can just match Luke Tubergen now.”
The 6-foot-7 VanderWaal and the 6-foot-8 Tubergen were too much for Detroit University Prep on Friday, March 13, as Unity Christian won 59-44 in a Division 2 state semifinal game at The Breslin Center in East Lansing.
“I thought our kids really came after it tonight,” Unity coach Scott Soodsma said. “Right from the get-go our defense was outstanding. What did they have 11 points at halftime?”
Unity Christian advances to play Freeland at 6:45 p.m. Saturday, March 14.
“Our defensive rebounding helped us out in the first half,” Tubergen said. “We out-rebounded them by a lot. They’d get just one shot and we’d get fast breaks.”
Unity Christian, which led 34-11 at halftime, out-rebounded UPrep 36-21.
How did Tubergen end up with a black eye?
“That was in the Catholic Central game,” he said of the state semifinal game on Tuesday. “Someone’s head hit me on the side of my head. My vision is fine. It doesn’t affect me. It just looks bad.”
Do the Unity players give Tubergen grief for his black eye?
“Not a lot,” VanderWaal said. “We’re not one to make fun of Luke. Maybe because we’re scared and because he’s a really big guy.”
VanderWaal and Tubergen each had 12 points to lead the team. Brogan Sherd had nine – all on 3-pointers – and Kyler Berghuis had eight.
This is the first time Unity Christian has reached the state title game since 2019 when they would go on to win the state championship.
Subs make things interesting
With Unity holding a commanding 55-32 lead after the third quarter, Soodsma emptied his bench to start the fourth. That’s a long time for subs to play.
But then UPrep cut the deficit to 11 and Soodsma changed his mind and put his starters back in.
Does Soodsma think he got second-guessed?
“All my fans are right now anyways,” he said, getting a laugh from his players. “There was some of the idea of saving (the starters) legs. I’m a big coach on (playing) one through 15. I probably left them hanging. But they’ve earned the right to be in the game. Being at states, being at The Breslin … I wanted them to have part in that.”
Junior Austin DeJong, who is usually the last player on the bench, even scored a bucket.
Playing Freeland again
The Crusaders have actually played Freeland this season.
On February 7, the Falcons drove to Hudsonville and beat the Crusaders 65-60.
What does Soodsma recall of that game?
“That we didn’t have enough points,” he said with a laugh. “They had more than we did. They are a very good ball club. They don’t make a lot of mistakes. They give their two best players the ball. (Tristan) Comer and (Wilson) Huckeby are two outstanding players. They’ve been through the wars.”
This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Unity Christian basketball powers into Division 2 state finals, led by black eyes
Reporting by Lenny Padilla, Sentinel Contributor / The Holland Sentinel
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
