CALEDONIA – When Makai Campos was getting hugs from friends and family after the game, there were no smiles.
It was a rough ending to a strong season for the West Ottawa High School boys basketball season.
West Ottawa lost to East Kentwood 75-59 on Tuesday, March 3, in a Division 1 regional semifinal game at Caledonia.
“It’s sad it had to end like it did today,” Campos said.
Panthers guard JT Gill scored the first bucket of the game and it was all downhill after that. East Kentwood’s defensive pressure was smothering, and they led 19-7 after the first quarter and 38-21 at halftime.
“It was a lack of communication and energy on defense,” Campos said. “They had 19 points in the first quarter and that’s not acceptable.”
Campos, a junior guard, led West Ottawa (13-11) with 25 points. Darien Stewart had nine points and seven rebounds and Quentin Edwards eight points and eight rebounds.
“Obviously, Kentwood is a great team,” Panthers coach Jared Redell said. “It was going to have to take our best effort to beat ‘em. I felt like we had it in us. But it’s not the way we played tonight. We have great kids that will work their butts off. And we’ll be back.”
West Ottawa nearly beat East Kentwood on Feb. 6 when the lost by just one point, 58-57.
“We struggled keeping them off the glass,” Redell said. “We did a better job with that last time. When we also got to a lot of the loose balls. Tonight, they were just quicker to the ball.”
East Kentwood senior RJ Chapman, who will play at Saginaw Valley State, had a team-high 25 points and nine rebounds. CJ Reynolds, a junior, had 18 points for the Falcons (22-2), who won the OK Red Conference title.
Panthers keep improving
West Ottawa won back-to-back district titles and finished with a winning record for the first time in six years.
“We definitely improved over the season,” Campos said. “We kept getting better.”
Redell, in his fourth year, has high expectations for the program.
“We took a small step from last year,” he said. “But our goal was not just winning a district title. So it’s disappointing.”
West Ottawa (13-11) finished fourth in a dominant OK Red with a 4-6 record.
Final game for three seniors
West Ottawa has a very young team. But it was the three seniors – Quentin Edwards, Tavian Garvelink and team manager Joel Cosgrove – who helped lead the team.
“It’s sad to see it,” Campos said. “Q … I grew up with him since we were like 5 or 6 years old. It’s sad. Tavian, he’s definitely stepped up as a leader. I’m thankful for him.”
Redell expressed his thanks for the trio.
“Man, I’m going to miss all three of ‘em,” he said. “Take the basketball out of the equation. … They are unbelievable kids. We’ve changed the standard with our program and those three are a huge reason for that.”
This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: West Ottawa basketball ousted from regional by OK Red champ East Kentwood
Reporting by Lenny Padilla, Sentinel Contributor / The Holland Sentinel
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
