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: North Central's Jason Whitens
February 18, 2016
Jason Whitens
Powers North Central junior - Boys Basketball
Whitens has played his share of big games as quarterback of this school year’s MHSAA 8-player football champion and leading scorer on the basketball team that won the Class D title in 2015 with a perfect record. North Central’s 39-game winning streak was on the line as the Jets trailed Class B Menominee by six points with eight minutes to play Feb. 9. The 6-foot-5 Whitens earned the Michigan National Guard “Performance of the Week” by scoring 11 of his game-high 31 points during the fourth quarter, including the go-ahead layup with seven seconds left as North Central held on for a 64-60 win.
North Central has since extended its winning streak to 42 straight with a 15-0 start to this winter. Whitens averages 24 points, seven rebounds and six assists per game, making 57 percent of his shots from the floor and 78 percent of his free-throw attempts – all while playing an average of 25 minutes and taking only 15 shots per game for a team outscoring opponents 76-39 on average. He’s scored more than 1,100 points in leading North Central to a combined 67-1 record over his first three seasons.
In addition to earning the Associated Press’ 8-player Player of the Year honor in the fall after throwing 45 touchdown passes without an interception, Whitens also plays outfield for the baseball team and high jumps and runs the 400, 800 and on a relay for the track & field team during the spring. Whitens carries a 3.8 grade-point average and is considering a career in marketing. He has a Division II basketball scholarship offer, with Division I programs also interested.
Coach Adam Mercier said: “Players of Jason’s caliber tend to be the focal point on offense by getting shots up, whereas Jason finds the open man and doesn’t worry about individual statistics. He can play any of the five positions on the floor with his size and is a tremendous ball handler capable of running the point position. His athleticism is off the charts, as noticed on the football field being a two-time all-state player at quarterback and wide receiver. Jason is one of the best open court players I’ve ever seen as he has the ability to quickly process all possible options and then either dunk it (he has 12 this season) or make an on-point pass to a teammate. He is a very humble young man who doesn’t let success get to his head. Jason is always willing to help out young students who want to work on their game. My two sons look up to him, along with the other outstanding young men who represent our team. He sets a great example of what being a true student-athlete is all about.”
Performance Point: “Going into the fourth (quarter), I knew I had to step up, being down by 10 to a very good team. But we knew from our past experiences – we’ve got experience in big games, close games – that we had to pull together and get the win. We’re all big competitors in practice and in school, even hanging out. That’s the competitive nature we have, and that just translates to the game.”
42 straight and counting: “We’re just all out here having fun ... and when you’re winning, it makes it 10 times better. We just like to have fun with each other. We’ll have bigger things in life as we go along than a football or basketball game. (So) we just go out, do the best we can, and play the sport we love.”
Multi-sport master: “It’s something I’ve done since I was little. I just love playing sports, going out there with my best friends and just competing. We’re all competitive, and that’s the best part – going out and having fun. Morgan Cox … came here freshman year. (Otherwise,) every single one of us has been playing with each other since third and fourth grade. We all know what we like to do on the court, know what spots we like to be in. Each and every one has got my back, and I’ve got theirs.”
Everyone has a part: “We all have our specific roles. We have the jokesters; we’re all pretty funny, or we like to think we’re funny. We know when to get each other up. There’s not a guy that won’t make the other person better. We’re all close-knit, and when the time comes I like to step up, get everybody going. I fall into that leadership role.”
Learning from a leader: “I followed my cousin Rob (Granquist, the previous quarterback) into the leadership role. (He taught me) that whole, ‘Be cool and calm through anything.’ You can’t have ups and downs; you’ve got to stay even keel so when your teammates look at you, you’ve got to look back and let them know everything is all right.”
– Geoff Kimmerly, Second Half editor
Every week during the 2015-16 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 protecting lives and property of Michigan citizens during a local natural disaster.
Previous 2015-16 honorees
Feb. 10: Rachel Hogan, Grand Ledge gymnastics - Read
Feb. 3: Nehemiah Mork, Midland Dow swimming & diving - Read
Jan. 27: Mardrekia Cook, Muskegon girls basketball - Read
Jan. 20: Sage Castillo, Hartland wrestling - Read
Jan. 13: Rob Zofchak, Dexter swimming & diving - Read
Jan. 6: Tyler Deming, Caro wrestling – Read
Dec. 15: Jordan Weber, East Jordan boys basketball – Read
Dec. 8: Kaitlyn Geers, Kent City girls basketball – Read
PHOTOS: (Top) North Central's Jason Whitens launches a jumpshot this season against Big Bay de Noc. (Middle) Whitens throws down one of his many dunks. (Photos courtesy of the Escanaba Daily Press.)