BJ Walker, Layne Risdon lead Zeeland East to electric win over Hamilton
HAMILTON - B.J. Walker looked like a man on a mission when he went up for a thunderous dunk in traffic in the fourth quarter.
You’d never know the Zeeland East junior was playing with an injured hand.
“I was pushing the ball up the court and I had to split the gap,” Walker said. “I was looking to pass it to a teammate, but I was wide open so I went in for the dunk. It was super fun.”
Layne Risdon had 26 points and Walker had 22 points as Zeeland East held on to beat Hamilton 79-74 on Tuesday night.
“I think, considering we were down some men, we played pretty good,” Risdon said. “But I’m really glad we got it done.”
Zeeland East (1-1) led 64-45 going into the fourth quarter. But the Hawkeyes (2-1) staged a furious rally, outscoring the Chix 29-15. Senior Justin McIllwain scored 16 of his game-high 27 points in the fourth and Logan O’Connor drained a 3-pointer at the buzzer to make it look close.
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Was Risdon surprised Hamilton staged a rally?
“Not really,” he said. “It’s their gym, they’re a good shooting team and they play hard. We knew they would make a run, but we were able to outlast it.”
Zeeland East led 42-27 at halftime.
Walker didn’t shoot the ball well on Tuesday, but it didn’t really affect his performance.
“I injured my flexor tendon during football,” he said. “I had a splint on when I dove for a ball and the splint went right into my flexor tendon (on his right index finger).”
But he started to feel it after his three dunks.
“I still don’t have full motion,” Walker said. “Other than that, it’s pretty good. The adrenaline kicked in. I didn’t feel it during the game. But I’m starting to feel it now. It’s kinda sore. It’s from the dunks.”
Missing coaches for the Chix
Zeeland East had a different look on the sidelines.
It was missing head coach Jeff Carlson, assistant coach Tyler Bartolacci and twin point guards Owen and Will Versteeg.
“Our head coach and our assistant coach couldn’t be here because they got COVID,” Walker said. “We’re sad they couldn’t be here, but Coach Hewitt did a nice job.”
Assistant coach Drew Hewitt stepped in to lead the Chix to victory with the help of JV coach Luke Dreyer.
The Versteeg boys are just dealing with mild injuries.
Big return for Hamilton star
Hamilton senior Justin McIllwain was wearing a brace on his knee on Tuesday. He had missed the team’s first two games with a lingering injury from the football season. He is the Hawkeyes’ quarterback.
“He’s only got two practices in so far,” Hamilton coach Nick Kronemeyer said. “He played the second half exactly how we thought he’d play. We’ve got a lot of confidence in him. We believe he’s a first-class high school player. He can score at all three levels and he’s been our top scorer the past few years.”
McIllwain scored just one bucket in the first quarter, then he went off. He drained all four of his 3-pointers in the fourth quarter and finished 9-of-12 from the free-throw line. He also had five rebounds, five steals and three blocked shots.
Logan O’Connor, a junior, finished with a career-best 23 points, including five 3-pointers.
“This is varsity game No. 3 for him, and you can tell he wasn’t scared to pull the trigger,” Kronemeyer said. “He’s a really good shooter. It was nice to see him have a big game.”
ZEELAND EAST 79, HAMILTON 74
ZEELAND EAST (1-1)
Eli Walcott 3 1-4 7, BJ Walker 11 0-6 22, Will Drnek 0 5-6 5, Jacob Veral 2 0-0 6, Caleb Claerbaut 3 0-0 7, Quincy Thome 2 0-0 6, Layne Risdon 10 3-4 26. Totals 31 9-20 79.
HAMILTON (2-1)
Justin McIllwain 7 9-12 27, Logan O'Connor 9 0-0 23, James Hoffman 3 4-5 11, Gabe Schrotenboer 1 3-4 5, Gavin Sabala 0 1-2 1, Jeren Bronkhorst 0 2-2 2, Riley VanderHulst 1 0-0 2, Landon VanderZwaag 2 0-0 4. Totals 23 19-25 75.
Zeeland East 17 - 25 - 22 - 15 = 79
Hamilton 13 - 14 - 18 - 29 = 74
3-pointers - Zeeland East 8 (Risdon 3, Thome 2, Vera 2, Claerbaut). Hamilton 10 (O'Connor 5, McIllwain 4, Hoffman). Rebounds - Zeeland East 25 (Walcott, Walker 5). Hamilton 24 (Hoffman, McIllwain 6). Assists - Zeeland East 19 (Drnek 4, Claerbaut 3, Walcott 3). Hamilton 3. Steals - Zeeland East 11 (Risdon 4). Hamilton 13 (McIllwain 5, Bronkhorst 4). Total fouls - Zeeland East 21, Hamilton 22. Fouled out - Hoffman, VanderZwaag. Technical foul - Hamilton coach.
This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Zeeland East basketball edges Hamilton in high-scoring thriller
