Howell Puts Heart Into Memorial Meet

Don’t expect to see Dan George yelling and screaming and snapping clipboards.

In fact, he rarely raises his voice and doesn’t write down any Xs and Os during timeouts, instead calmly talking to his team, often with his hands in his pockets.

“You can’t teach during a timeout, there’s not enough time,” explained George, 73, a longtime college coach who came out of retirement and is now in his second year as the head coach at Grant.

“I just want to refocus everyone and reinforce what we’ve taught at practice.”

Those lessons from the old ball coach appear to be hitting home with the Tigers, who are one of the few remaining unbeaten teams in the state, with a spotless 19-0 record heading into Friday’s home game against Reed City.

Grant, which has already clinched its second-consecutive Central State Activities Association Red title, still has not cracked the Top 10 in the Division 2 Associated Press state rankings. The Tigers were among the “others receiving votes” in the latest poll.

Zaiden Phillips, a 6-foot-1 senior guard/forward, is the team’s ringleader, averaging 20 points, seven rebounds and four assists per game.

Phillips is one of three skilled long-range shooters for the Tigers, along with fellow senior Blake Rider (averaging 15 points, four rebounds and four assists) and junior Kohen Obenauf (eight points, six rebounds). On Wednesday at Big Rapids, the game began with each of those three hitting a 3-pointer as Grant took a quick 9-0 lead.

When Big Rapids adjusted its defense, Phillips and others started cutting to the basket in the Tigers’ motion offense, where he is a great finisher. If those cuts result in drawing fouls, he’s also a strong free-throw shooter.

Phillips and Rider are Grant’s two senior starters (the other three are juniors) and best friends, and their many years of hanging out and playing basketball together is evident in their on-court chemistry.

Junior Austin Gragg is the team’s “big man” at 6-3, averaging eight points and six rebounds per game. The final member of the Tigers’ starting five is junior point guard Jack Swanson, who also excels at driving to the hoop and puts up nine points and five rebounds per game.

Grant goes seven deep, with senior Owen Chesebro and junior Jacob Gates the main reserves.

The Tigers had only nine varsity players as the season approached, before Phillips and Rider talked their buddy and fellow senior Rory Fish – a baseball standout – into playing hoops, which allows the team to scrimmage 5-on-5 at practice.

Those practices are where George’s old-school coaching techniques and the players’ developing skills come together.

“In practice, I make them throw six passes before they take a shot, and they also can’t dribble,” said George with a smile. “They learn in a hurry to be looking up and seeing the court.”

The defense is in the capable hands of assistant coach Kirk Rider (Blake’s father), who is also Grant’s athletic director. The Tigers play primarily man-to-man, but it often looks like a zone as they clog the lane to prevent penetration and force opponents to beat them from the perimeter.

The formula has been working to perfection, literally, this winter.

Phillips has garnered the most headlines, earning MVP honors at the inaugural Be Legendary Showcase at Grace Christian in early January, then scoring 22 points in a victory over Montague on Jan. 6 to top 1,000 career points.

He has remained hot recently, scoring 27 against Remus Chippewa Hills and 31 at arch-rival Fremont in back-to-back games last weekend. His shot was slightly off on Wednesday at Big Rapids, and he finished with 14 points.

“When his scoring falls below his average, he will fill the stat sheet with assists, rebounds, and steals,” said George. “He understands the importance of doing the little things.”

Phillips said the key to his scoring, and the team’s consistency, is defense. Grant forces an average of 12 turnovers per game.

“We get after it on defense and cause a lot of turnovers, then we get easy buckets off of those,” said Phillips, who has received college basketball offers from Kuyper College and Grace Christian.

Grant, which has not won a District during Phillips and Rider’s high school careers, will be favored to win the Division 2 District tournament at Sparta, as it has beaten all four of the other teams in the bracket.

“It would mean a lot to get a District this year,” said Rider. “We’ve been close, but we just haven’t got it done. We know that we need to step up our defense and rebounding in the tournament.”

This year’s perfect season comes on the heels of last year’s 20-3 finish, giving Coach George a 39-3 record while wearing Grant’s orange colors, a gaudy 93-percent winning percentage.

Winning basketball games is nothing new for George, who made his mark as the head coach at Jordan College and later as an assistant coach at Grace Christian University, where he coached for 17 years and was part of six National Christian College Athletic Association championship teams.

But hang around George for even a few minutes and you’ll see that winning games is low on his list of priorities.

“I always tell my players that I want to accomplish three things,” said George, who noted he is having a blast because his team is so coachable.

“First is to have fun. Second is to help them become better people, better brothers and better husbands. And third is to see them in heaven someday.”

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) Grant’s Zaiden Phillips, far left, interacts with his teammates before a recent game. (Middle) Veteran coach Dan George talks with a game official. (Below) Phillips considers his next move with George looking on from the sideline. (Photos courtesy of the Grant athletic department).