Photos by Scott DeCamp | CatchMark
MUSKEGON — Fruitport’s boys basketball team appears to be playing as well and as loose as it has all season.
Many people didn’t seem to be giving the Trojans a chance in the Division 2 district tournament at Orchard View High School. Coach Steve Erny and his team don’t care about that, nor is Erny ready to say that his squad is playing with house money.
Fruitport fended off Oakridge, 53-49, in a district semifinal on Wednesday. It’s the second tight district game in three days for the Trojans, who survived a furious rally late in regulation and won 63-58 in overtime against Orchard View on Monday.
Fruitport (7-17) next gets a district title rematch with neighboring and OK Blue Conference rival Spring Lake (12-12) at 7 p.m. Friday. Spring Lake knocked off second-ranked, unbeaten Whitehall in the second game Wednesday, 73-61 in overtime.
In last year’s district final at Fruitport, Spring Lake defeated Fruitport, 45-37.
In the regular season this year, Spring Lake has beaten Fruitport twice, 63-42 and 58-37.
Sophomore DayDay Williams led Fruitport Wednesday with 13 points, while 6-foot-8, 240-pound junior Ryan Bosch and senior Kyle Burke scored 12 points apiece.
Oakridge, which finished in third place in the West Michigan Conference Lakes Division, closes the season with a 15-8 overall record. The Eagles featured a junior-heavy team, which should bode well for next season.
Against Fruitport, junior Evan Miller scored a game-high 14 points for Oakridge. Juniors Evan Jozsa and Peyton Ruel scored 11 points each for the Eagles, while junior Bryson Stephenson had eight.
