Grand Rapids Union holds off late Reeths-Puffer rally

Union's Freddie Simpson handles the ball | Craig Powers, Powers Media

Complete photos from this game can be found here.

In an OK-Black battle Friday night, Grand Rapids Union came out swinging against Reeths Puffer.  The Redhawks built as much as a 15-point lead in the third quarter, only to see it slip away in the fourth.  Thanks to some clutch three pointers and suffocating defense, the home-team Rockets were able to claw their way back and tie the game at 55 with just over two minutes remaining. Their perfect season suddenly on the line, the Redhawks scored the game’s final five points to secure a 60-55 win and remain undefeated.

“Our guys down the stretch made a great run”, said Union coach Terrence Williams. “We were shocked we were up by 15 when we were. That is a well coached team.”

Leading the charge for the well-coached Rockets was senior Chris Anderson. The Toledo-commit dropped 23-points and snatched 10-rebounds in the losing effort, to go along with a game-high five steals. Teammate Joe Melton came on late after having a quiet first half to hit two crucial three pointers to help close the gap. Melton ended with 13 points. Reeths-Puffer coach Dalrecus Stewart was upbeat after the game, despite the loss.

“We’re a young team, and need to get a lot of these guys experience. I was proud of the way we were able to fight back tonight” said the Rockets coach. Aside from the 18-turnovers and substantial early deficit, RP was also trying to overcome the loss of their star point guard Dontreal McKinley. “Seeing him [McKinley] go down had us a bit worried. He did step back in and take the free throws after the foul that hurt him. He’s a tough kid.”

Reeths Puffer's Dontreal Mckinley floater | Craig Powers, Powers Media

Union’s junior Ladon Carnegie quietly amassed 20-points, 6-rebounds and 4-blocks. Point guard Freddie Simpson led GR Union with 22-points of his own. The senior was perfect through three quarters, going 7-for-7 from the floor and 6-for-6 from the free throw line. Simpson missed two attempts from the floor in the fourth, and shot 1-6 from the charity stripe to close out the game, but at no point during the final stretch did Coach Williams lose faith in his senior. “We like Freddie. We want him on the floor at the end of the game.”

When push came to shove (as it often did under the boards in this aggressive conference matchup) Union’s defense and the remarkable chemistry they displayed enabled them to keep a goose egg in the loss column. Come tournament time, these hard fought, close wins will be progressively more important. As we often see, these types of battles during the season have a direct relation to the mental toughness of a team during the tournament.

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