Tri-Captains Pace Striving Spring Lake
February 8, 2018
By Tom Kendra
Special for Second Half
Things are looking up for the Spring Lake boys basketball team.
The Lakers have raised the bar in recent years, making their mark on the statewide level with two appearances in the MHSAA Class B Quarterfinals over the last three seasons.
This winter, led by a trio of tall, versatile and extremely intelligent captains in Sam Johnson (6-foot-8), Griffin Lorimer (6-4) and Jack VanWingen (6-2), Spring Lake has stepped up its schedule and its game in its quest to get back to the quarters – and perhaps further.
“When it gets to tournament time, it comes down to playing your best basketball of the year and making a run,” said Johnson, who scored a game-high 16 points on Wednesday as Spring Lake doubled up host Sparta, 50-25, for an Ottawa-Kent Conference Blue win.
“A big key in March is experience and leadership, and we definitely have plenty of that.”
Spring Lake (12-3, 6-2 in the O-K Blue), which hosts Allendale on Friday night in another conference game, showed it was going to be a force to be reckoned with early this year when it posted back-to-back tight wins over a pair of bigger schools in Rockford (48-46) and rival Grand Haven (69-66 in double overtime).
Bill Core, in his 17th year as Spring Lake’s head coach, said that in addition to good height on the front line, this may also be the smartest team he’s ever coached. Core said that intelligence helps this team make adjustments on the fly and smart decisions when the game is on the line.
“Those three captains are all 4.0 kids, and they’re great role models,” said Core, who is assisted by Randy White. “They have high basketball IQs, and I trust them to make decisions and figure things out.”
Johnson is the player who draws the most attention from opposing teams at 6-8, with the ability to post up and step out and knock down mid-range jump shots.
Johnson, who plans to play basketball next year at Claremont McKenna College in California, leads the Lakers with 12 points and 7.5 rebounds per game. And don’t try to hack him and send him to the free-throw line. Johnson is shooting a team-best 80 percent on free throws.
The most versatile of the three captains is Lorimer, who is hard to miss with his curly blonde hair and red shoes. He creates matchup problems with his inside-outside game, and currently averages 10 points and seven rebounds per contest.
Johnson and Lorimer are a 1-2 punch up front that most teams can’t match.
“We know one of the strengths of this team is that we’re deep in the post, and that makes it hard for teams to just focus on one guy,” explained Lorimer. “It’s good to have that balance. Plus, we’ve played together so long that we just know where the other guys are going to be.”
Lorimer’s versatility was perhaps best displayed last year at team camp in Rockford, where he was assigned to guard one of the state’s best big men in 6-9 Xavier Tillman (now at Michigan State) one day, then came back the next day and had to check standout guard Matt Beachler (now at Central Michigan).
But the most important of Spring Lake’s three captains might be VanWingen, a slasher who is the team’s best at breaking down defenses. VanWingen is adept at finding Johnson and Lorimer inside as well as kicking the ball back out to the arc to shooters Ben Arteaga, Kyle Wiersma and sophomore Cayden Ball.
“I think we’re a very well-balanced team,” said VanWingen, the top returning scorer off last year’s who is currently averaging 11.2 points, five rebounds and three assists per game. “Our big guys get a lot of attention, but we also have guards who can shoot it. It’s important that we trust each other and know that everyone is going to do their job.”
Spring Lake’s senior trio has been too much for almost everybody to handle, with the main exception being conference rival and possible Regional opponent Grand Rapids Catholic Central, which is ranked No. 6 in Class B.
The two teams met on Jan. 5 at Spring Lake in a much-anticipated showdown, but the Cougars swarmed the hosts in a lopsided 80-39 victory. The Lakers were much more competitive when the two teams played last week in Grand Rapids, but still lost, 59-40.
“We improved by 22 points the second game, and if we improve by another 22 points in the next game, we’ll win by three,” quipped Core, who knows his team will be a huge underdog if it’s fortunate enough to win the District it is hosting next month and possibly get another shot at GRCC in the Class B Regional opener at Grand Rapids West Catholic.
The Lakers can gain confidence by looking back to last year, when they lost to GR Catholic twice during the regular season, then stunned the Cougars in the Regional championship game. That win put Spring Lake in the Quarterfinals for the second time in three years, after it made a surprise run to the school’s first-ever boys basketball Quarterfinals appearance in 2015.
Lorimer believes this year’s team has the potential to make it three Quarterfinal appearances in four years.
“I really do think we have another level we haven’t reached yet,” said Lorimer, who plans to play next year at Trine University in Angola, Ind. “We may have for short stretches, but we haven’t strung it together for a whole game. That’s what we’re working on.”
Tom Kendra worked 23 years at The Muskegon Chronicle, including five as assistant sports editor and the final six as sports editor through 2011. E-mail him at [email protected] with story ideas for Muskegon, Oceana, Mason, Lake, Oceola, Mecosta and Newaygo counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) Spring Lake senior Griffin Lorimer battles along the baseline in a victory earlier this season against Muskegon Reeths-Puffer. (Middle) Spring Lake senior Jack VanWingen glides in for a bucket in a victory over Muskegon Reeths-Puffer. (Below) Spring Lake senior Sam Johnson goes up for a shot during the Lakers' thrilling double-overtime win over neighboring rival Grand Haven earlier this season. (Photos by Tim Reilly.)
Performance: Big Rapids' Demetri Martin
December 15, 2016
Demetri Martin
Big Rapids senior – Basketball
To finish last season, Martin led unranked Big Rapids to its first MHSAA Semifinals and within a basket of playing for the Class B championship. He began his senior campaign with another, more individual highlight; the 6-foot-4 guard scored his 1,000th point in a 65-50 win over Grant on Friday to earn the Michigan National Guard “Performance of the Week.” Martin, a four-year starter, finished with 31 points and 12 rebounds against Grant and added 24 points and 10 rebounds in Tuesday’s 63-43 win over Lakeview.
Martin also was the team’s leading scorer last season, averaging 19.5 points per game along with 8.8 rebounds before scoring a team-high 22 in a 61-60 Class B Semifinal loss to Stevensville Lakeshore. After, he was named Central State Activities Association Gold Player of the Year for the second time and made the Basketball Coaches Association of Michigan all-state team. This winter, Martin is teaming with senior Christian Hector, junior Braeden Childress and others including sophomore brother and starting point guard Dorian Martin with hopes of returning to the championship mix. Demetri Martin entered this season needing 21 points to reach 1,000 for his career, and nearly pulled off the feat in the first quarter of that first game. He worked this summer on adding a longer pull-up jumper, and he went over 1,000 swishing a pull-up 3-pointer from NBA range.
Just as impressive over his four years of high school has been Martin’s climb academically. In his words, Martin entered high school with all Ds and was barely academically eligible to play basketball as a freshman, frequently skipping school before and after that season. But he’s now pulling As and Bs and plans to study for a career either in education or sports medicine. He'll surely play college basketball at some level – most of his interest has come from Division II schools but he's also had contact from one in Division I.
Coach Kent Ingles said: “He’s obviously the best player in (our) area, and the best player we’ve had in a while … and he’s following a couple pretty good kids into the mix. He’s a multi-position player; he’s actually pretty unselfish. He’d rather pass the ball than shoot it. He’s been with me four years, and we’ve won three conference championships and been to the Quarter(finals) two times. … I told him we’ll be a good team when our best player is our hardest worker, and he’s done that too. He is a real success story. He’s a neat kid. He’s bubbly, he’s fun to talk to, he’s kinda hyper and can’t sit still. But he’s grown up a lot as a young man and as a basketball player, and we’re happy to see the total development with him."
Performance Point: “Not many people can score 1,000 points, so for me to get that, it just means a lot to me,” Martin said, “that all the hard work I put in is starting to show. I thought about (the 1,000th point) for a couple of months once I found out how far (away) I was, and I was thinking I can get this in the first quarter if I actually try. I ended up with 17 (points in the first quarter), but I was just taking it slow. If I would’ve kept that scoring streak going, I probably could’ve gotten it in the first quarter.
Breslin dreams come true: “Half the state (last season) probably didn’t even know where Big Rapids is. We weren’t ranked. We’re not in the Grand Rapids area. So it’s, where is this team from? And then we show up, and everyone probably expected a blowout. (But) in the beginning of the season, before we even started practicing, I was talking to some of my old teammates and I said, ‘We’ll probably make it to Breslin this year, you know that?’ We did. We made it. We were a lot better than what we played. … Since this is my last year, I know what we have to do to get there again, and I want to try my best to get there.”
Preparing the future: “My freshman year, I was just a rebounder. I picked up the leadership stuff from (2014 graduates) Quinn Tyson, Jake Hayes, Austin Hayes; they passed me the torch, so sophomore year I would lead but not like last year when I was leading the team and obviously one of the go-to guys. (This season) I’m trying to tell (my teammates) what to do and what not to do, how the game should be played so they can score 1,000 points in their careers too, so they can lead other future Big Rapids teams. I don’t want to go out as just a scorer who didn’t really teach the kids anything.”
Football’s a hit: “I played football for the first time (this fall). It was pretty fun. I wasn’t the go-to player, so it was different. But blocking was probably the best – you get to slam people. Tryouts had already passed, but the night before two-a-days I had a dream, and I was like man, I’m going to go out and try out for football, and I knew coach wanted me to play. … I’m glad that I played, and I got physically stronger too.”
Continuing to make a difference: “I want to become a teacher … because my coach (assistant Blake) Thomas, when I came here and then I was struggling a little bit in classes, he’d invite me over and we’d study on this, and that brought my grades up a lot. To help someone out like that, and not even know them, I think that’s something some kids need and I want to do that. Sports medicine, I injure myself a lot, so if there is someone who has these problems like me, I would help them out.”
- Geoff Kimmerly, Second Half editor
Every week during the 2016-17 school year, Second Half and the Michigan National Guard will recognize a “Performance of the Week" from among the MHSAA's 750 member high schools.
The Michigan Army National Guard provides trained and ready forces in support of the National Military Strategy, and responds as needed to state, local, and regional emergencies to ensure peace, order, and public safety. The Guard adds value to our communities through continuous interaction. National Guard soldiers are part of the local community. Guardsmen typically train one weekend per month and two weeks in the summer. This training maintains readiness when needed, be it either to defend our nation's freedom or protect lives and property of Michigan citizens during a local natural disaster.
Previous 2016-17 honorees:
Dec. 1: Rodney Hall, Detroit Cass Tech football – Read
Nov. 24: Ally Cummings, Novi volleyball – Read
Nov. 17: Chloe Idoni, Fenton volleyball – Read
Nov. 10: Adelyn Ackley, Hart cross country – Read
Nov. 3: Casey Kirkbride, Mattawan soccer – Read
Oct. 27: Colton Yesney, Negaunee cross country – Read
Oct. 20: Varun Shanker, Midland Dow tennis – Read
Oct. 13: Anne Forsyth, Ann Arbor Pioneer cross country – Read
Oct. 6: Shuaib Aljabaly, Coldwater cross country – Read
Sept. 29: Taylor Seaman, Brighton swimming & diving – Read
Sept. 22: Maggie Farrell, Battle Creek Lakeview cross country – Read
Sept. 15: Franki Strefling, Buchanan volleyball – Read
Sept. 8: Noah Jacobs, Corunna cross country – Read
PHOTOS: (Top) Demetri Martin glides around a defender during last week’s win against Grant. (Middle) Martin drives to the hoop as Big Rapids went on to a 65-50 victory. (Photos courtesy of the Big Rapids athletic department.)