The Hopkins boys’ basketball team Friday evening captured its second straight victory, a nice turn of events after five consecutive losses to start the season.
The Vikings turned back Grandville Calvin Christian in a 60-58 squeaker, edging an opponent they don’t often get the best of on the hardcourt.
It was a huge second quarter effort that did the job for coach Darrin Smith’s group. Hopkins, trailing 16-11 at the end of the first period, outgunned the Squires 20-7 to grab a 31-23 advantage at intermission. The homestanding quintet spent the rest of the ballgame holding off rally attempts to pull it out.
Senior forward Tyler Schulz dropped in 21 points to pace the offensive attack. Ryan Pierce, who has awakened his offensive game after hitting a bad patch in December, contributed 14 points, dished out five assists and came down with seven rebounds, a figure Schulz matched.
Jake Saap and Grant Stevens both added seven points, Jake Sytsma six and Isaac Kukulies five.
Tony DeWitte had 17 points to lead Calvin Christian, Braden Stevens added 15 and Jake Arnoys 13.
Hopkins, now 2-5 overall for the season, also the record for the Squires, will play O-K Silver Conference rival Wyoming Lee at home at 6 p.m. Monday in a makeup of the snowed out contest from Friday, Jan. 9.
PHOTO: Jake Sytsma (5) contributed six points to the Hopkins victory over Calvin Christian.
