Unity Christan's storied season ends with loss to Freeland in state finals
· Yahoo Sports
EAST LANSING - Scott Soodsma looked down his bench in the third quarter.
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He saw his starting forward sitting next to him in foul trouble and his starting guard in crutches with his ankle wrapped in ice.
It wasn’t looking good.
“We had some issues with foul trouble early with two of our top players,” Soodsma said. “Obviously, that put us at a disadvantage. But you have to give credit to Freeland. I think they battled.”
Unity Christian lost to Freeland 42-32 on Saturday night in the Division 2 boys basketball state title game at The Breslin.
Brogan Sherd injured his left ankle playing defense with 6 minutes left in the third quarter. Unity Christian was trailing by just one point at the time, 18-17.
“It was really tough,” Soodsma said of the injury. “He’s been one of our leaders throughout the tournament run. I think we were ahead when he went down. And when he got hurt, it was kind of an emotional blow. We also had Owen (VanderWaal) on the bench with four fouls. So our scoring so dwindled without him on the floor.”
VanderWaal played with four fouls in the fourth quarter.
Jack Kamming led the Crusaders (24-4) with 14 points and five rebounds before fouling out in the fourth quarter. Kyler Berghuis added six points.
The Crusaders, who are an elite shooting team, was just 1-for-15 from beyond the arc.
“We just couldn’t score,” Soodsma said. “If you would have told me we would hold them to 40 points, I’m thinking we win that ball game by 10.”
VanderWaal and starting center Luke Tubergen each finished with four points and five rebounds.
“I thought Jack really stepped up and made a couple of key baskets,” Soodsma said. “Berghuis did a nice job defensively on (Wilson) Huckeby, for the most part.”
Freeland wins the first state title in school history. Wilson Huckeby, who will play at Saginaw Valley, had 12 points and Tristian Comer, who will play football at MSU, also had 12 points.
Is this it for Soodsma?
Soodsma has coached for 43 years. But is this it for him?
He isn’t ready to say if this was his last season.
“I don’t know,” he said. “Tonight’s not the night to ask. I’m not going to come up with a decision until later. Gotta let this one settle in a little bit. We just have to get by tonight first.”
Final game for seven seniors
Every starter on the team is a senior: Brogan Sherd, Kyler Berghuis, Owen VanderWaal, Luke Tubergen and Jack Kamminga. Two other seniors are Cody Walters and Kaden Bareman.
“They’re awesome,” Soodsma said. “We had a good devotional time before the game. I expressed how I thought of them. Win or lose, I said to these guys, you’re something special. You’ll always be special. When you leave here, I want you to be a leader. Someone who stands up for your faith. Someone who is an example to other kids. Great young men.”
Not the end for four seniors
Four players on the Unity roster will continue to play basketball at the college level.
Kamminga, Berghuis, VanderWaal and Tubergen will play at Calvin University next season.
“I’m really excited about that,” Kamminga said. “Knowing we have four more years together knowing that we can build on that chemistry playing in college together. It’s something cool that not many people get to do, especially from the same school.”
This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Unity Christian falls in state finals to Freeland in boys basketball