After a collection of huge plays down the stretch, combined with clutch shooting from numerous Rangers, FHC was able to pick up its 17th consecutive win this season to improve to 17-2 (11-0). Seniors Ty George and Andrew Tebeau combined for 17 of FHC’s 21 fourth-quarter points to finish off the Bucs from Grand Haven 60-54.

“Our seniors have been in a lot of high-pressure situations over the past couple of years, so it didn’t surprise me that Ty, Andrew, and Ryan made big plays down the stretch,” head coach Ken George said. “This is a player-led team and those guys have been through some battles that prepared them for big moments.”

After Andrew made a quick bucket with just 2:49 left in the fourth quarter, Grand Haven struck again to take the lead 53-52. Another free throw for the Buccaneers would make it 54-52.

Senior Ty George received the ball at the top of the key and put up a three that would hit off the backboard and fall into the hands of junior Daniel Deindorfer. The enormous put-back bucket would give FHC a tie ballgame yet again.

Senior Ryan Dunn would then take the ball off of a Daniel block, drive down and score. 56-54 FHC. After a long offensive possession for Grand Haven, they took a timeout with just over a minute left to play.

Ty got the ball in his hands and moved down the court to a frantic Buccaneer defense that couldn’t ever get set. He drove for another easy bucket. Shortly after, Ty collapsed on the ball-handler for Grand Haven and came up with the game-sealing steal, resulting in a foul and two more free throws for Ty.

“We knew Dan was a three-year varsity guy and someone we could count on when it mattered,” Ty said. “He delivered a big bucket and then a block at the other end. There were more big plays down the stretch and then I just did what I could defensively to seal it for us with little time on the clock.”

FHC continues one of their best seasons since the 2014-2015 season when the team finished undefeated in the regular season. The Rangers have one of the most exciting nights of the season on Thursday: senior night. Ryan, Ty, and Andrew, along with seniors Matis Butlevics and Brennan Bouma will get the start in FHC’s second matchup with the Ottawa Hills Bengals.

“It’s going to be a huge game for a lot of us being our last regular season game and an opportunity for all of us seniors to play together,” Andrew said. “Ottawa Hills is a great team, but it’d be a great momentum boost for us heading into the playoffs. There are going to be a lot of factors going into this game, and I’m just excited to be on the floor with all of these seniors.”

With a playoff game against the East Grand Rapids Pioneers (13-5 (7-5)) coming next Monday, it was important for FHC to see a top-tier OK red opponent before heading into what is hoped to be an extensive playoff run.

“I think it was really good for us to go through that, I think; that was hard,” George said of the difficult win over Grand Haven. “We haven’t had a lot of those lately. For us to grow through that close-game struggle is really good. I think they really leaned on each other in the second half after a lethargic first half and good players made plays. I was proud of them because we haven’t seen that situation in two months and we responded the right way: big players made big plays.”