Ramping Up for Prepapalooza 2014

EAST LANSING – Pewamo-Westphalia overcame one of the best scoring performances in Finals history Saturday to claim the Division 3 boys basketball title.

Arts & Technology Academy of Pontiac got 41 points from sophomore Lewis Lovejoy, but the Pirates made enough stops during the biggest moments to come away with a 61-57 win at the Breslin Center.

“That game was exactly as we expected, just a great game between two great basketball teams,” P-W coach Dominic Schneider said. “What can you say about Mr. Lovejoy? I mean, that guy, he’s a stud at all three levels. But, I will say our guys did the job and became state champions because they believed in each other and believed in what we do as a program. That was a perfect example of team ball out there. I’m so proud of our guys.”

It was the second title in program history and first since 2019 for the Pirates, who were making their second-straight appearance at Finals weekend.

The senior class that brought them back included four starters – Nolan George, Tyler Spitzley, Trent Piggott and Grady Eklund, as well as sixth man Ty Thelen.

“They never once wavered and never once batted an eye,” Schneider said. “Sometimes you bring up freshmen or sophomores and things don’t go well, but it never was an issue. They took the sophomores under their wing, and obviously they helped us today. The senior class stayed together. Yeah, you have some great players but you have some players who don’t play as many minutes, and it never was an issue. They always wanted to be leaders and they wanted to win, and they did that in the best way possible.”

Eklund led the way in his final game at P-W, scoring 26 points while adding nine rebounds and four assists. Piggott had a double-double with 11 points and 12 rebounds, and sophomore Logan Farmer added 14 points. 

The balance was in contrast to ATAP, which ran through Lovejoy, and for good reason – it was working.

Lovejoy’s 41 points were the seventh most in MHSAA Finals history. He shot 50 percent (14 of 28) from the field, and hit six 3-pointers, one away from tying the Finals record.

But the performance was no consolation following a second-straight loss in the Division 3 Final.

“It don’t mean nothing; we lost,” Lovejoy said. “If we won, I’d be on top of the world, but we lost. None of this matters. Not one point matters.”

Devonte Grandison added seven points and seven rebounds for the Lions, while Jaiden Price also had seven points.

Lovejoy had 35 through three quarters, as the Lions took a one-point lead into the fourth. But with Farmer switching onto the assignment, things slowed down for Lovejoy.

“I will say, once we switched Logan onto him – and Ty Thelen and Logan George did a heck of a job, that’s quite a task to take on – but I think throwing a different look at him helped a lot,” Schneider said. “Logan’s length and giving him a third defender that he had to go against, that helped a lot with that. I know how bull-headed this kid can be, and I know he wasn’t going to back down from a big challenge.”

Schneider was right, as Farmer was ready to take on the task.

“I saw he had 35, and I tried to keep him at 35,” Farmer said. “It didn’t work. He stops so quick and he has that back-up game, so he’s always keeping you on your toes. So it’s hard to stay with him. But when he raised up, I just tried to contest the best I could.”

Farmer also hit the game-sealing free throws with nine seconds remaining and was nearby when ATAP’s final 3-point attempt missed.

Lovejoy’s shooting kept ATAP in the game in the first half, as he scored 18 points over the opening 16 minutes. He was 4-of-7 from 3-point range in the second quarter, scoring 14 of his team’s 16 points in the frame.

The Lions were just 4-of-13 from behind the arc in the first half and 8-of-29 from the field overall. 

That, and a 6-2 edge in turnovers forced, offset a hot-shooting start from the Pirates, who had hit 10 of their first 18 shots, including better than 64 percent of their 2-pointers. They held an 18-4 advantage in points in the paint.

Lovejoy’s heroics won over the Hudsonville Unity Christian students who had started filling in for their school’s Division 2 Final. 

“You’re him, zero!” they yelled, eventually coming all the way over to the ATAP side and starting a “Let’s go Lions” chant.

But in the end, it was the Pirates student section making the most noise.

“The bottom line is the better team won,” ATAP acting coach Zachary Kelso said. “They made stops and they made plays when they needed to, and we didn’t. That’s the bottom line.”

Click for the full box score.

PHOTOS (Top) Pewamo-Westphalia’s Logan Farmer gets up a shot over ATAP’s Lewis Lovejoy (0) on Saturday. (Middle) Lovejoy finishes a fastbreak with a layup. (Photos by Adam Sheehan/Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)