Ottawa Hills lines up and sinks Grand Rapids Catholic Central

Devon Ivy goes for a layup | Louis Murray, Murray Sports Photography

Talk to any student of the game, anyone who has spent their life around the game of basketball, and they’ll tell you about the importance of free throws.  Give them the opportunity, and they’ll explain how an entire game’s worth of running and jumping, shooting and defending, all of it can easily go out the window if a team doesn’t make their freebies.

On Friday night Ottawa Hills ran and jumped.  They shot and defended.  And lucky for them, they hit their free throws.  The Bengals made 13/17 from the charity stripe in the second half, 8/12 in the fourth quarter, and held on to beat Grand Rapids Catholic Central, 45-39.

Thomas Sloan drives for a layup | Louis Murray, Murray Sports Photography

“Old guy told me long ago that free throws and blocking out at the line are what win games,” agreed Ottawa Hills coach Van Mayfield.  “You see teams lose games by missing free throws and by not getting the rebound after free throws, so we work on those things in practice every day.  We didn’t shoot the best today, but we made enough down the stretch to gut out a win.”

Nobody said it had to be pretty.  Early on the custodians forgot to take the lids off the rims, so despite a near constant flurry of activity — all that running and jumping — the Bengals took a slim 16-12 lead into halftime.  Grand Rapids Catholic Central senior guard Sultan Muhammad was responsible for 11 of his teams 12-first half points, and scored a game-high 23-points.

Coming off a 40-point game against Middleville Thornapple-Kellogg earlier in the week, expectations were high for Bengals point guard Devon Ivy.  Early foul trouble held him in check early, but Ivy still lead Ottawa Hills with 15-points, 13 of which came in the second half (8 of them free throws).  With Ivy struggling, the responsibility fell to his Ottawa Hills teammates, who proved more than up to the task.

“It was a tough shooting night for (both teams), so we just picked it up on defense and started attacking the basket,” said sophomore shooting guard Antoine Wilson, who scored 10-points for Ottawa Hills.  “Especially when the shots weren’t falling, we knew we had to do all the other stuff to get the W.”

And ultimately, whether it’s the running, the jumping, the shooting or even the free throws that cause it, it’s the W that really matters.

Controlled havoc

Sultan Muhammad shoots over a defender | Louis Murray, Murray Sports Photography

Ottawa Hills thrives in the open court.  The Bengals don’t have the pure shooters or the bangers inside, but what they do have is a lineup full of athletes — from Ivy, to Wilson, to seniors Thomas Sloan and C.J. Bowen — and they play to this strength by pushing the tempo of the game at every opportunity, trying to increase the number of possessions each team gets.  Since they’ve become accustomed to the frenetic pace (and their star point guard thrives off it), they have learned how to take care of the ball and limit turnovers in an environment characterized by flying bodies and intense pressure.

And their biggest advantage, more so even than their depth, is that most of their opponents haven’t.  The reckless speed that Ottawa Hills inspires in their opponents lead to 20-turnovers for Grand Rapids Catholic Central.  Ottawa Hills plays reckless too.  Only they know how to control it.

“Batman” Muhammad

Last year, Sultan Muhammad was the clear Robin to Duke Mondy’s Batman.  Mondy is now suiting up for the Providence Friars, and Muhammad is left to don the black mask and guide the Cougars through the perils of Gotham.  He showcased every tool on his unique belt on Friday night, attacking the hoop, rebounding an assortment of errant shots and even draining multiple three-pointers, but in the end it simply wasn’t enough.

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