Photos by Scott DeCamp | CatchMark
MUSKEGON — Spurred on by its large and loud student section, Orchard View’s boys basketball team staged a comeback for the ages in Monday night’s Division 2 district opener against Fruitport.
Senior Keith McAllister was the man of the hour, swishing a deep 3 in the closing seconds of regulation to help the Cardinals wipe out a nine-point deficit in the final minute of regulation and force overtime.
In OT, Fruitport regained its balance by hitting big free throws and closed out a thrilling 63-58 victory over host and hard-charging Orchard View.
Fruitport (6-17) advances to Wednesday’s 5 p.m. district semifinal against Oakridge (15-7).
Orchard View, which had shown improvement in recent weeks, closes its season with a 6-17 record. This was the fourth overtime loss for the Cardinals this season with two of them coming in double-OT, including a 68-64 home defeat to neighboring rival Oakridge on Feb. 15.
Fruitport, which had lost 15 of its previous 16 games entering Monday, led Orchard View 45-35 with under three minutes remaining in regulation and 47-38 with under a minute left.
Turnovers and missed free throws by the Trojans aided the Cardinals in their late rally, but the gymnasium was electric in the closing moments and the hosts played with a lot of urgency.
Fruitport went 7-for-15 from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter but improved to 9-for-10 in the four-minute overtime period to put the game away.
Fruitport sophomore DayDay Williams finished the night 14-of-17 from the free-throw line en route to a game-high 28 points. He was 6-of-6 from the line in overtime.
Fruitport junior Grade Anspach made five 3-pointers in the game, his fifth for the go-ahead points in OT. He closed the night with 21 points.
Orchard View senior DeLaney Oakes paced his team with 15 points. Senior Brian Sewell Jr. scored 14 points for the Cardinals, while McAllister had 12.
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