HART – The final regular season installment of the Hart-Shelby boys basketball rivalry fell in favor of the Pirates as they rolled to a 72-33 victory Tuesday, Jan. 28.
The night started off with a tightly contested first quarter that ended with the Pirates owning a 17-11 lead. Makes from the floor weren’t easy to come by, but free throws were, as a frenzy of fouls led to 19 attempts from the line for both teams combined.
Hart was the beneficiary of 13 of those attempts, getting to the line early and often as they used a clear size advantage to bully Shelby on drives to the hoop. That created foul trouble for the Tigers, sending Hart to the bonus in the first quarter and forcing several key pieces to the bench.
“We know we have to play more physically against a bigger team like Hart, because we’re not a big team. We’re small,” Shelby Head Coach Rick Zoulek said. “We’ve got to fight like crazy just to try and hang in there. We get a few fouls early and then we have to rotate new guys in and that affects us offensively.”
Rotating in those new guys – paired with the absence of Trevor Weiss due to illness – led Shelby’s offense to completely stall in the second quarter. The Tigers added just one point to their total over that eight minute stretch, allowing Hart to build an insurmountable lead by halftime.
The Pirates scored 22 unanswered points in the second quarter before Shelby found the board on a free throw from junior Eli Kelley. Another make to end the quarter for Hart had them sitting pretty with a 41-12 lead.
“In a rivalry game, you feel like you’re going to get the other team’s best shot. Under Rick (Zoulek) they’re gonna play hard and smart,” Hart Head Coach Nick Bronsema said. “It wasn’t surprising (that the game was close early). I was happy that we could calm down a bit and focus on each other.”
Hart continued to put the pedal to the floor in the third quarter, getting contributions from Miguel Escamilla, Kolton Rockwell, Caleb Ackley and Avery Guikema. Guikema stepped in at different points to help keep the starters fresh, lending extra pressure on the defensive side and scoring four points in the final minute of the third period.
“We’ve got guys that are working really hard offensively. Avery (Guikema) is aggressive and is now settling in offensively and becoming a much better player,” Bronsema said.
Leading by more than 30 points at the start of the fourth quarter, plenty of Pirates got a chance to get involved. Guikema was joined by the likes of Bryce Vander Kodde, Brendan Hiddema and Brody Clark as bench players that made an impact late.
After reaching a 40 point lead in the fourth quarter, the running clock was implemented, spelling an early end to the night for both teams.
The Pirates were led on the night by Rockwell who had a team-high 19 points. Ackley nearly snagged a double-double in limited minutes, scoring 13 points and adding nine rebounds and four blocks as well. Escamilla stuffed the stat sheet with 11 points, five rebounds, three assists and three steals while Ty Schlukebir tied Ackley for the lead in rebounds with nine.
“(Rockwell) has been looking to score early on. He’s a neat kid that’s unselfish, almost to the point where you wish he’d be a little more selfish,” Bronsema said. “He really enjoys the game and he’s a team player. He’s gotten more assertive and that’s good news for us.”
Freshman Leighton Belasco was the lead man for Shelby, scoring 11 points along with four rebounds. Griffin Olmstead, Evan Waller and Nathan Miller each scored six points.
Hart (9-6, 5-2 WMC Rivers) kept themselves in a tie for second in the conference with Mason County Central with the win. Both the Pirates and Spartans trail unbeaten North Muskegon (13-0, 7-0 WMC Rivers). The Pirates will host the Norsemen tonight (Friday, Jan. 31) at 7 p.m.
Shelby fell to 2-13 overall with the loss and now sit in fifth place in the conference with a 2-6 record.
