The Hopkins boys’ varsity basketball team came up with a sweet upset on the home court Friday evening with a 62-59 victory over NorthPointe Christian.
The Vikings jumped out to an early lead and were up 34-18 at intermission, but had to hang on for dear life the rest of the way.
NorthPointe came into the game with an 8-2 record record and was all alone in second place in the O-K Silver Conference standings. Hopkins, with the win, improved to 4-9 overall and 3-7 in league play.
The Lady Vikings were edged 37-35 by the Mustangs and their overall record fell to 6-10.
The Martin girls’ basketball team suffered a 50-29 defeat at the hands of Gobles and saw their Southwest Athletic Conference record slip to 5-5 and 8-8 overall.
Lady Clippers coach Ben Schipper said, “We felt there were three keys to beating Gobles the second time we faced them: 1) Limit their fast break points. 2) Contain Amanda Barber. 3) Keep them off the offensive glass.
“We executed #2, but the other keys were not where we needed them to be. We decided to full deny Barber and play 4 on 4 against the rest of their team. Maddy Bodgan and Liz Reinke rotated on Barber for the most part and did a stellar job limiting her to 5 points, 3 of which came on a miscommunication about matchups out of a dead ball.
“Gobles’ other players really stepped up to the challenge to make up the scoring and credit to Barber for getting her teammates involved. They were the aggressors all night long attacking the paint relentlessly and pushing us out of our offensive rhythm.
“Coach Greg Barber has done a great job leading his team in both of our matchups.”
The Tigers pounced on a 16-4 advantage in the opening quarter and sat on a 24-12 cushion at the half.
Makala Goddward scored nine points for Martin and Cirstin Coburn added 6. Gracie Shettler was held to three.
The Clipper guys got the best of visiting Gobles Friday by a 44-30 count and improved their overall season record to 5-9, 4-7 in the SAC.
It was a rough night for Wayland against South Christian.
The Lady Wildcats lost to the visiting Sailors 51-38, lowering their overall season record to 9-7 and 6-4 in the O-K Gold Conference. The South Christian girls are tied for first place in the Gold with Grand Rapids Catholic Central. The boys lost 71-44 and saw their league record slip to 2-7 and 4-10 overall.
