Grand Rapids Christian's Jay Staten lays it up | DavidChandlerPhoto.com

High quality, professional action prints from the game available from David Chandler Photography.

The district semifinal matchup between Grand Rapids Christian and East Kentwood on Monday night was decided with aggressive defense. It was determined with Grand Rapids Christian execution, but a relentless East Kentwood attack on the boards almost changed all that.  When it was all said and done Grand Rapids Christian came out with a 50-42 victory.  The Eagles will meet Forest Hills Central on Wednesday.

The Eagles jumped out to an early lead, taking advantage of sloppy play on both sides of the court.  It wasn’t pretty early on, and could have swung either way.  Grand Rapids Christian built as much as a seven point lead through three quarters, but a flurry of East Kentwood activity saw them close the Eagles lead to 34-32, early into the fourth quarter.

East Kentwood's Kamic Anyang blocks a shot | DavidChandlerPhoto.com

At that point, their season in jeopardy, Grand Rapids Christian began to execute their gameplan the way they had all season.   A Matt Grasmeyer floater went in, followed soon thereafter by a series of low-post buckets by Graham Schultze, and all of a sudden the Eagles had extended their lead to 10-points.

East Kentwood shot 30% from the floor, and only hit 3-of-18 three-pointers.  They managed to keep the margin close with 14-offensive rebounds, but still couldn’t keep up with Grand Rapids Christian’s blistering 55% shooting. Both teams struggled to hold on to the ball; East Kentwood turned the ball over 16-times, and Grand Rapids Christian turned it over 14-times.

Top point scorer for East Kentwood was Christian Craft, with 12-points. Alex Mustert finished with 13-points to lead Grand Rapids Christian.

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