A milestone and a district title made for an exciting Friday night for the Holland Christian basketball program, which advanced to regionals.
ALLEGAN - The bigger the moments get, the bigger the play from Holland Christian's Titus Spencer.
The senior guard made a big play every time the Maroons needed one and led Holland Christian to the Division district title with a 64-55 win over South Haven on Friday, Feb. 27.
"He has been that way his whole career. He doesn't shy from the moment. When you have a guy like that who can take over offensively and defensively, he has become a complete player," Holland Christian coach Brad Jansen said. "He makes the right play."
The Maroons will play Niles in the regional semifinals on Tuesday, March 3, at Otsego High School.
"These are moments they will never forget," Jansen said. "I am super proud of them. This group has been really special for a lot of reasons. They play with joy and step on the floor thinking they are going to win."
Spencer scored a game-high 30 points and became the third Holland Christian player to reach 1,000 career points.
"It means a lot. We have been playing together since we were little kids to the big games as seniors just mean the world," Spencer said. "I didn't really think I would get to 1,000 points because I have only been on varsity for two-plus years. It is definitely a milestone."
The game had the energy of a district final from the opening tip and it was extremely close until midway through the third when a 3-pointer from Spencer and some free throws by the Maroons extended the lead to 45-34 with 2:25 to go in the third.
Spencer and the Maroons made sure the Rams didn't get any closer.
"This is what we have been training for the whole season. We were ready for the moment," Spencer said. "We don't shy away from the big lights and we proved that tonight. It was our defense to offense. We had everyone running in transition."
South Haven hit a 3 to pull within 45-39. But Spencer converted a three-point play to push the lead back to eight.
Spencer then poked a steal away from two Rams and darted to the basket for a layup and the Maroons led 50-39 late in the third.
He nailed a 3-pointer early in the fourth and Simon Grotenhuis followed with a fastbreak layup off a turnover, then grabbed another steal and this time dumped a pass to Jake Holcomb who scored to push the lead to 57-42 with 5:52 to go. Holcomb added a dunk for good measure.
"I think we have playing good and we just need to keep getting better and better," Spencer said.
Contact sports editor Dan D’Addona at Dan.D’[email protected]. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter @DanDAddona or Facebook @HollandSentinelSports.
This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Holland Christian basketball tops South Haven for district title
Category: General Sports
