WALKER – Coming off its greatest tournament run in nearly a quarter century, the Covenant Christian boys basketball team continued to put the pedal to the metal this season by playing a demanding schedule against larger and/or state-ranked opponents.
And once again, the Chargers held their own – and then some – while going head-to-head against many of the area's top basketball programs.
The Chargers played a similar schedule one year ago before advancing to the Class C state-championship game, where their tournament run came to an end with a 73-58 loss to Flint Beecher.
“Last March was a really cool experience for our program and our community,” Covenant coach Tyler Schimmel said. “Any time you have that type of run and return the players that we did, expectations will be high.
“This season, the team has done a nice job with managing those expectations, while playing a really tough schedule. We are trying to just play team basketball, be good teammates, and have a consistent effort each day.”
The Chargers loaded up their schedule again this season by playing five Class A teams and the No. 2-ranked team in Class B (Godwin Heights), along with all of the traditionally strong West Michigan Christian schools, including Unity Christian, Calvin Christian, Grand Rapids Christian, South Christian, Holland Christian, Northern Michigan Christian, Western Michigan Christian, and Tri-unity Christian. Also on the schedule were state-ranked teams from Catholic Central and Kelloggsville. Fourteen of those opponents were either Class A or Class B schools.
“Being an independent school allows us to play a unique schedule against a lot of the bigger schools,” Schimmel said. “We have played a lot of the Christian schools in the area, which is always fun and adds a rivalry feel to each game.”
The Chargers took a 15-4 record into their final game of the regular season against Holland Christian.
“This season has gone by really fast, like they always do,” Schimmel said. “Our focus this year was not to look ahead to March, but just focus on getting better each day and focus on the things we can control.
“We also stressed just having fun and enjoying the ride that is high school basketball.”
The Chargers returned seven seniors, including four starters – Ty Cammenga, Trent Koole, Carson Meulenberg, and Nate Minderhoud – from last year's Class C state runner-up team. The other returning seniors – Chuck Kaptein, Mike Altena, and Brice VanOverloop – have also provided valuable minutes on the floor for the Chargers.
“They have been consistent all year as a group, and they all stepped up in their own ways, especially a few guys that did not play as much last year,” Schimmel said. “The unique thing about this group is that when one guy has an off night, the other players pick up their games to make up for it.
“Since these guys first started playing together in grade school, they have been a balanced group that has bought into team basketball. That is what makes them special.”
Meulenberg, a 6-7 forward, leads the team by averaging 16 points, 7 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 3 steals, and 2 blocked shots per game. Minderhoud, a 6-3 guard/forward, is averaging 10 points and 3 rebounds, while Koole, a 6-4 forward, is averaging 8 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 assists, and the 5-9 Cammenga has made more than 50 3-pointers. In the middle, the 6-4 Kaptein is averaging 7 points and 5 rebounds.
“We are confident in our boys, but a tournament run is really difficult and a lot of things have to fall into place to make it happen,” Schimmel said. “We're going to just take it one game at a time and play team basketball, have fun, play together, and play with confidence.”
Last year's tournament run marked Covenant Christian's first state-championship game appearance since the Chargers won back-to-back Class D titles in 1993 and 1994.
“Covenant has won state titles in '73, '93, and '94 at the Class D level, and last year was our first deep run in Class C,” Schimmel said. “I believe the 1994 team went 26-0, so they might have the claim as the best team ever., but I'll let the alumni debate all of that. A lot of those guys from those teams in the early 1990s have been at our games supporting us or have kids playing in the program.
“I'm sure they'll be in the gym again and seeing their kids or friends' kids playing is really fun for them.”
