NEWAYGO — Hart came into Friday's district finals game against Ludington with a lot of confidence, born of winning 10 of 11 games and a strong belief that good execution could make it 11 of 12.
However, good opponents make it more difficult to execute, and the Orioles hassled Hart's ballhandlers into several first-half turnovers that led to a big deficit the Pirates could never quite overcome in a 64-49 defeat.
Hart started solidly enough, taking a 6-5 lead, but missed some chances early to really put the heat on Ludington by missing some close-in shots and a few free throws. The Orioles were strong on defense and finished the first quarter on a 13-2 run, going ahead 18-8.
"Ludington, this is nothing new for them," Hart coach Nick Bronsema said. "They're well-coached. When they have an opportunity, they're going to take advantage, and they definitely did. That hurt us. I think confidence-wise, I think we were looking to make a few early baskets to get going, and that didn't happen. Sometimes that's the way the ball goes."
The Oriole run got to 17-2 before Caleb Ackley, who scored 21 points and was the centerpiece of Hart's offense all night, put in a turnaround shot to make it 22-10, Orioles. From there, the Pirates never quite let Ludington pull away, but every push they tried to make seemed to be swiftly answered with a big bucket.
Many of those big buckets came from Taj Williams and Cameron Gunsell, who went for 27 and 20 points respectively. In the fourth quarter, Williams converted an acrobatic shot at the rim while being fouled, and that three-point play made it 49-33 to effectively seal the win.
"We'd like to be known as a defensive team, and we just made too many errors out there as far as executing our game plan," Bronsema said. "There was some early foul trouble, but again, it's capitalizing, especially in tournament time."
Hart's best push came out of halftime, when the Pirates caught Ludington off guard by going to freshman Kolton Rockwell on consecutive possessions. Rockwell responded with a pair of baskets that cut Ludington's 31-18 halftime lead to 31-22. Hart played with consistent effort throughout the second half, but the Orioles just kept finding their way to the hoop for baskets in key moments.
It was a bitter end to the season for the Pirates, but Bronsema expressed pride in the way his team reinvented themselves midseason and made the most of the year.
"I'm a pressing coach, but we found out pretty early against North Muskegon, when (Adam) Dugener hit 39 (points) on us, that that wasn't going to be our m.o. and we had to figure out something," Bronsema said of a December game. "We challenged our guys. We wanted to be that gritty man-to-man team, and if a game was in the 30s, we were going to find a way to win in the 30s. We're that gritty group. These seniors, we had six seniors, and they all contributed. That's what they're going to be known for."
The six seniors - Brendan Hiddema, Brody Clark, Avery Guikema, Kaden Bond, Tyler Larios-Mendez and Ty Schlukebir - helped the team improve from 13 wins a year ago to 16. At the same time, the Pirates have a lot to build on, including Ackley and Rockwell, the team's top two scorers Friday. With offseason work, Bronsema said, those two and their teammates could pick up the baton from those seniors and do even better.
"Our younger group of guys we have, we're excited about, and hopefully they will commit to getting better and follow that legacy," Bronsema said.
