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Honderd 'n Homecoming
From Chimes, circa 1993
FILE PHOTO
Reserve Rob Orange saw plenty of playing time in Saturday's game.
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Many times in the past few years, Steve Honderd’s name has been announced over the Field house PA in accordance with another basket, anther few points. Wednesday, February 10, with 14:03 left in the second half, he made a sweet turn-around jumper, and he made another place for himself in Calvin basketball history.
Hondered came into the Olivet game needing 19 points to break the 2,251-point record established by Mark Veenstra. When he accomplished it, time was called for the presentation of a plaque t o Hondered by the former record-holder. The crowd of 3,500 was ecstatic with cheers of “Hondo” and the ever-useful “You can’t guard him!”
The game seemed to be a side benefit for those in the Field house. There was no question that many were there simply to see Honderd break the record. But the Knights still managed an exemplary butt-kicking of Olivet. The team shot an awesome 56 percent from the field, while their opponents managed a respectable 51 percent from the field-goal range but only put down 42 percent from the line.
The Knights were led by the 25 point performance of Honderd, and the coring was rounded out with 21 points from junior guard Knoester and 16 points by senior forward Mark Lodewyk. Calvin also pounded the boards over the Comets from Olivet with a 40-25 advantage. All these factors contributed to an unquestionably sound defeat of Olivet with the final score 105-80.
Next stop was a Homecoming of sorts. Then again, it was was just plain Homecoming, and a very sweet Homecoming it was. After the Calvin crowd had been treated to a JV men’s win and a spectacular women’s varsity game, our men’s team trotted out to the exuberant cheers of the home crowd.
The Knights started off quickly with a three from Honderd, a lay in by Knoester, and an outside jumper from Broene. They led the Adrian men 7-0 with little less than tree minutes ticked off the clock, and never looked back. Coach Douma took the opportunity to give more than ample playing time to his reserves, who were as able to deny the MIAA doormat Bulldogs as well as the starting team.
Even thought they had their share of turnovers (15), the Knights were still able to capitalize on the poor ball-handling abilities of their opponents. These turnovers on the part of Adrian contributed considerably to Calvin’s run-and-gun offense, making for some impressive plays, witnessed by the Homecoming crowd. On one such break, Brian Thwaites was able to retrieve beautiful pass, put of the basket, and pull down the fowl, and upon completing his free throw, accentuated the lead with a three-point play. Another time, Honderd took the steal down the court, only to pull up twenty-one feet away to drain a three-pointer on a fast-break—most unorthodox, but effective nonetheless. Later still, Calvin passed in the ball to Knoester, who proceeded to throw up a most unlikely shot, which turned out to be the first alley-oop, to Lodewyk, that a Calvin crowd has witnessed this year.
These incredible plays contributed to some impressive statistics. Honderd led in scoring with 16 points, followed closely by Lodewyk, Capel, and Dokter with 12, 11, and 10 points respectively. Adrian was not so impressive, to put it mildly, as they tried every last resort to try and salvage some dignity. Apparently, Adrian, realizing that it was Alumni day at Calvin, thought they could actually put their Alumni on the court, as represented by #44, Ron Luipinski. This did nothing for their game, but it gave the Calvin crowd cause for bemusement.
With yet another win for the Knights, they stake a claim to the top of the MIAA pile with a 9-1 MIAA record, and a 19-2 record overall. The only MIAA contender will be met tomorrow, and dealt with harshly for even daring to lust after leading the MIAA.
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