NETHERLANDS, Michigan (WOOD) – Senior evening is always a bitter time when athletes who gave their all to their team came out on the field for the last time in the regular season. But for one Christian basketball player from Holland the senior night was the time when he got his long-awaited hit.
The team is preparing for the post-season, and their passing game is as good as ever.
“I just know where my guys are going to be, what they’re going to think about and when they’re going to shoot,” said Senior Ben Nelson.
Nelson has made a lot of assists this season, but none are as memorable as the one he signed up for the senior evening because he fed a teammate who spent his career on the sidelines.
“I called it from the coach, the practice before I wanted to pass the ball to him,” Nelson said.
Although manager Charlie Dewris was never fit for the university team that went on last year, he nurtured the spirit of all his teammates.
“He’s been to every workout and every team feed,” said head coach Brad Jansen. “(He) is just part of our family.”
His teammates say he always comes with a smile on his face.
“Charlie brings his smiles the most, he always wants to get involved,” Nelson said.
“These are the high fives he gives us in the warm-up, smashing us in the party, and just a smile on his face, it reminds us who we are, why we are here, and how much we mean to him and how much he means to us,” he said. assistant coach Ty Vanveren.
On the senior evening it was the team’s turn to smile on his face. Deuris knew he was going to get the ball, and trained for a few days for his big moment.
“We asked him, ‘Where do you want to shoot this?’ And he went straight to the quarter. His mom said, “I watched him during the warm-up, he didn’t do punches!” And Coach Ty and I said, “Oh, no, he got it!” Said Jansen.
“He was all happy, and when he was happy, he put his hands over his head, he smiled a lot, and everyone stood there and cheered for him,” Nelson said.
The Maroons won that evening over Western Ottawa 59-41. But the first two points of this game will be what Devris will hold on to for the rest of his life.
“Hearing the crowd and just the moment was just a joy for him, but also for us as a team and a community,” Jansen said. “It was a really weird moment.”
Charlie is returning to his managerial duties for the postseason. So far he hasn’t missed a single game: if he can’t attend in person, his mom will text the SMS, reporting that he watched it online.