No Need to Dazzle - Kent City Just Wins
March 8, 2018
By Tom Kendra
Special for Second Half
Kent City doesn’t have the star power or pizzazz normally associated with an undefeated basketball team.
In fact, the most flashy thing about the Eagles is the loud pants worn each game by third-year head coach Dave Ingles – which were an especially gaudy half-pink and half-burgundy disaster that would have made Al Czervik from Caddyshack blush during Wednesday’s 48-38 District Semifinal win over Muskegon Western Michigan Christian at Ravenna.
“I lost a bet with the kids last year and had to wear pink pants for a game,” explained Ingles, who has guided Kent City to a 21-0 record and improbable No. 2 state ranking in Class C.
“Since then, it’s become a thing. If I wore khaki pants to a game, our crowd would boo me out of the gym. So now I spend half my coaching salary and half my time finding pants for each game.”
If nothing else, they bring a little shine to an otherwise throwback, working-class basketball team devoid of superstars that just finds a way to win every game with suffocating defense, outstanding shooting and unselfish team play.
The Eagles pulled another one out Wednesday against tradition-rich Western Michigan Christian, which slowed the game to a crawl and led 15-12 at halftime. It looked like a monumental upset might be in the works as Kent City was stone cold from the field, and its standout backcourt duo of senior Fraser Wilson and sophomore Eli Carlson was held scoreless in the first half.
But just like they have all season, the Eagles stayed calm and found an answer.
This time it was a 10-0 run to start the second half, keyed by three steals on the defensive end and a pair of 3-pointers by Carlson, which turned the game around. KC then sealed the win by knocking down 14 of 16 free throws in the final 2:05.
“We definitely don’t panic or yell and scream at each other,” explained Wilson, who averages 14 points per game and shoots nearly 50 percent from 3-point range. “Our shots weren’t falling, but we stayed calm. We believe in each other.”
Kent City repeated as champion of the Central State Activities Association Silver, which isn’t known as a basketball-rich conference. More impressive is the Eagles won all 10 of their nonconference games, with nine of those 10 wins coming against Class A or Class B opponents.
Ingles points to his team’s 49-44 win Feb. 3 over Class A Grand Rapids Kenowa Hills, a game played in an arena environment at the DeltaPlex before a Grand Rapids Drive game, as a key to the season. The Eagles had to rally for that victory to get to 14-0, and ever since have experienced tournament-like pressure to get to 20-0.
Since they have been dealing with the extra scrutiny and the focus on winning every game for more than a month, Carlson said the team is more prepared for March Madness.
“The pressure was getting that 20-0,” explained Carlson, who also averages 14 points and shoots better than 50 percent from the floor. “Now, we were 0-0. Everyone is 0-0, starting a new season. We don’t take it as pressure.”
The question now is how high can the Eagles fly?
Kent City will be shooting for its 13th District championship since 1950 on Friday when it takes on West Michigan Conference champion North Muskegon at 6 p.m. at Ravenna. A victory there would vault the Eagles into the MHSAA Class C Regional tournament at Beal City next week.
The Eagles have won only one Regional title since 1950, in 2004, when they made it all the way to the Class C semifinals at Michigan State University before losing to Charlevoix.
The program has steadily improved each year since Ingles took the reins prior to the 2015-2016 season. KC finished 13-8 in 2016 and 14-7 last year, getting knocked out of the tournament both years by Muskegon Heights Academy, which is now in Class D.
The team was expected to be good this season after losing just one regular contributor off last year’s conference champion, but no one expected a quantum leap to 20-0 and a lofty state ranking.
“It’s special what this team has been able to do,” said Inglis, who is assisted by Phil Stevens and Gabe Hall. “This is not a physically impressive team in any way, shape or form. Our success starts with defense and with nobody caring about their own stats. They just want to win.”
The guard duo of Wilson and Carlson, along with senior Jace Dailey, has provided the leadership all season long. Brendan Geers, a 6-foot-3 junior, is the closest thing the Eagles have to a big man and a workhorse inside. Hunter Nelson, Cody Bowers, Gavin Mead, Miguel Arechiga and sophomore call-up Max Hudson are also key contributors.
Another key factor pushing this unbeaten team along is a rabid fan base, which has been packing “The Nest” at home games all year and is following its team in “Hoosiers”-like fashion now that the MHSAA Tournament has begun. Kent City fans packed the parking lot and gymnasium at Ravenna well before Wednesday’s 5:30 p.m. tip-off and are expected to do the same for Friday’s showdown against North Muskegon.
“There is definitely a buzz more than normal around town,” said Wilson after Wednesday’s District win. “It’s fun to be a part of it. We’ve got our perfect regular season already; now we’ll just see how long we can keep it going.”
Tom Kendra worked 23 years at The Muskegon Chronicle, including five as assistant sports editor and the final six as sports editor through 2011. E-mail him at [email protected] with story ideas for Muskegon, Oceana, Mason, Lake, Oceola, Mecosta and Newaygo counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) Senior Fraser Wilson, who is shooting almost 50 percent from 3-point range this season, surveys the defense. (Middle) Sophomore Eli Carlson is only 5-5 but has come up big as a leading scorer for Kent City this season with 14 points per game. (Below) Third-year Kent City coach Dave Ingles wears the net after the Eagles completed a 20-0 regular season March 1 with a victory over visiting Kentwood Grand River Prep. (Photos courtesy of Kent City Basketball/Mary Wilson.)
Taratuta Tops Hillman's Leaderboard, Striving to Take Tigers on Title Pursuit
By
Tom Spencer
Special for MHSAA.com
January 5, 2024
A lot of has been written about Hillman senior point guard Trenton Taratuta.
And Taratuta has re-written pretty much every basketball record in the Hillman history book as well.
He would trade everything, though, for a shot at the Breslin Center and playing in the Division 4 Boys Basketball Final.
Taratuta entered this season with 1,612 career points, leaving him only 68 away from the school scoring record.
“First things first, I am just a competitor – I want to win,” Taratuta said of his Breslin goal. “The personal accolades come along with it, but winning is everything.”
Eric Muszynski, the Tigers’ boys basketball coach for the past 19 years, guarantees his four-year starter and most decorated player in Hillman history would give up every one of his records for the chance to win at Breslin.
“The beauty of Trenton is I know he would sacrifice these individual accolades to get down to the Breslin Center,” Muszynski said. “It’s a real treat to coach him.
“You tell kids, ‘If you put the time in and hard work in, results happen,’” Muszynski continued. “It has been awesome to be able to use him as an example to a lot of our youth basketball players and some of our current players that have seen the work he’s put in and the results he is getting.”
Taratuta is the only starter returning from last year’s team that lost a 59-57 heart-breaker to Frankfort in the Quarterfinals. He did become the highest scorer in Hillman’s history during a 57-56 overtime win over Oscoda on Dec. 7. He set the mark within his team’s first bucket of the game and then won it with a buzzer-beating 3-pointer that allowed him to again tie the school record for the most points in a single game with 41.
The 6-foot-4 guard, who has scored 41 three times during his career, wants to ride the community support the entire 200-plus miles in March to Breslin. Last year’s run remains bigger to Taratuta than all his current individual records.
“My favorite memory so far is our postseason run last year,” he said. “The support we got from our community was overwhelming.
“It was fun to see everyone come support us and the crowds we got,” he continued. “It was a great atmosphere for all the playoff games.”
Hillman is off to a 6-2 start after winning its North Star League Little Dipper opener Thursday night over Posen, 72-51, as Taratuta led with 30 points. The Tigers’ only losses this winter have been to Division 2 schools, Gaylord and Ogemaw Heights.
Taratuta now has 1,858 points for his career and set his sights on reaching 2,000. His coach thinks it is highly likely he’ll be able to do that and then climb toward the total accrued by the leading scorer in Michigan high school history, Jay Smith, from 1975-76 through 1978-79.
That said, Taratuta, who is averaging more than 30 points per game this season, is unlikely to challenge Smith’s 2,841 career points – but both Taratuta and his coach also look to the record with pride as Mio is less than 40 miles down the road from Hillman.
Only 45 others in MHSAA boys hoops history have reached 2,000 career points.
“The 2,000-point mark would be pretty special,” Taratuta acknowledged. “It would be pretty cool.”
Hillman, which will host the District tournament this year, expects to ride Taratuta’s success a long way this postseason. Atlanta, Fairview, Hale, Mio and Posen are the Tigers’ potential District opponents.
“There is a lot of season left and a lot of work to be done,” Taratuta said. “I am looking forward to the rest of the season.
“I’m focused on the team’s overall success, not thinking about the points,” he continued. “Coming into this year, there were a lot of doubters and the guys have stepped up well.”
Senior center Blake Kennard is averaging 11.1 points per game and chipping in more than seven rebounds and almost three blocks. Junior 3-point specialist Brenden Rouleau is also averaging double-digit scoring.
Taratuta – who is from a family of high-scoring Hillman graduates – had his sights set on the career points record for quite a while. He was at the game in 2015 when Mason VanPamel broke Paul Bennett’s longstanding scoring record set in 1986.
“He comes from a pretty good pedigree of athletes,” Muszynski said. “His uncles Greg, Jeff and Tim Jones are all thousand-point scorers in our school, and they’re in our Hall of Fame.
Taratuta also just may be a one-of-a-kind, talented, hard-working team player, his veteran coach noted.
“Not only can he score it, he is top-five in our school’s history in every major statistical category going into his senior year,” Muszynski continued. “He is one of those guys where you’re not sure if you’re going to see somebody of that caliber again in your career.
“I was pretty fortunate to have a couple of other guys that were pretty solid, and it’s built the tradition of our basketball program to where Trenton is at.”
Tom Spencer is a longtime MHSAA-registered basketball and soccer official, and former softball and baseball official, and he also has coached in the northern Lower Peninsula area. He previously has written for the Saginaw News, Bay County Sports Page and Midland Daily News. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Manistee, Wexford, Missaukee, Roscommon, Ogemaw, Iosco, Alcona, Oscoda, Crawford, Kalkaska, Grand Traverse, Benzie, Leelanau, Antrim, Otsego, Montmorency, Alpena, Presque Isle, Cheboygan, Charlevoix and Emmet counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Hillman’s Trenton Taratuta (22) gets to the basket as the crowd anticipates two points. (Middle) Taratuta considers his next move during a game against Mio. (Photos courtesy of Jonny Zawacki.)