Wednesday, March 8, 2017
7:00 PM
Forest Hills Eastern High School
AWAY
59
Grand Rapids Catholic Central High School
HOME
80
Game Recap
The Forest Hills Eastern Hawks advanced to the district semi-final to face the Grand Rapids Catholic Central Cougars on Wednesday evening. The Hawks came into the game with a record of 5-16 while the Cougars were 16-4 and rated #10 in the state in Class B.
The Hawks were hoping for a fast start to try to knock the Cougars off their game but that was not in the cards and it was the Cougars that jumped out to the early lead. The Hawks started cold from the field and the length of the Cougars affected the Hawks inside game. The Cougars lead 21-8 after the 1st period of play.
In the 2nd quarter the Hawks turned up the intensity and stood toe-to-toe with the Cougars as senior Drew Bond came off the bench to knock down his first three 3-pointers trying to shoot the Hawks back into the game. But the Hawks defense was not up to the task of stopping the powerful Cougars. The half ended with CC leading 41-27. The Hawks shot only 36% from the field for the half while CC shot 55%.
The Cougars kept the pressure on in the 3rd quarter and pushed their lead to 62-40 heading into the final stanza. The Hawks managed a couple of runs but could never cut the CC lead to under 15 points.
The Hawks attempted to mount a big comeback in the 4th quarter trying to keep their season alive and they actually outscored the Cougars 20-19 over the quarter. But it was too little, too late as the Cougars has built what turned out to be an insurmountable lead. The Hawks again cut the lead to 15 but could get no closer. The Cougars would advance on this day to the district finals and end the Hawks season. The final was 80-59.
The Hawks were lead by junior Nick Hakken with 22 points and 6 rebounds. Senior Drew Bond added 16 points off the Hawks bench. Senior Miles Olson contributed 12 points and 4 rebounds. Senior Grant Trisch set a new school record for assists in a game with 12 in his final game for the Hawks.
The Cougars moved on to the district finals to take on the host Comstock Park Panthers. The Hawks finished the season at 5-17 overall and 2-8 in their first year back in the OK Gold. Many thanks to the Hawks four seniors, Grant Trisch, Miles Olson, Drew Bond and Eoin Klopcic on all their contributions to the basketball program over the past four years.
Box Scores
1
2
3
4
Forest Hills Eastern
8
19
13
19
Grand Rapids Catholic Central
21
20
21
18