South Christian’s goal: Get back to the title game and win it this time
South Christian junior Carson Vis puts up some shots during practice on Thursday, Nov. 30, 2023. Vis was was first-team all-state last season. (Photo | Lenny Padilla).
BYRON CENTER, Mich. - Jake Vermaas was a little sore during basketball practice on Thursday evening.
Less that a week ago, the South Christian senior - and six of his teammates - were preparing to play in the Division 4 football championship game.
So they’ve only had two days of basketball practices together.
“It’s definitely a little weird,” Vermaas said. “But I don’t think I’d want it any other way. If you’re starting this late for basketball, it means you’re doing something right for football. I’m super excited to get back at (basketball) with some of the guys who were on the football team.”
A year ago, the South Christian football team went 14-0 and won the state title. The Sailors made it back there again this season but lost to Harper Woods.
The basketball team made it to the championship game last year, too. They likely would have won it if Carson Vis hadn’t broken both wrists during the regional title game. But the Sailors finished 25-4 and finished tied for the O-K Gold Conference title at 13-1.
“Our expectations are the same every year. We need to be our best at the end of the season,” said coach Taylor Johnson, who is in his second season at South Christian. “That’s something we did really well last year. We obviously had a slow start (at 1-2), but we never made excuses of it. We found our (rhythm) in late January when we started to play our best basketball.”
Vermaas, a senior guard, knows exactly what his goal is.
“My expectation, as a competitor, is to win a state championship,” he said. “That’s the goal. People say ‘don’t set such high expectations.’ But that’s exactly where I want to be and what I want to do: Win a state championship.”
South Christian senior Jake Vermaas gets a workout on the exercise bike during practice on Thursday, Nov. 30, 2023. He said he’s still a little sore from the football season, which ended less than a week ago. (Photo | Lenny Padilla).
The team starts with junior forward Carson Vis and Vermaas, who were first-team all-state last season. But after that, Johnson said things are up in the air.
“There’s a lot of new pieces,” Johnson said. “Davis Kemper and Caleb Pleune were sophomores on varsity last year and they played some reserve minutes and they need to play a lot of minutes this year. Sam Weiss should take his game to the next level, being a really good shooter. Ike Schrotenboer and Tanner Raak will compete for some minutes (in the post) and Ty Brinks will compete for some minutes, too. So we have a lot of unknowns right now. I think it’s going to change. You’re not always going to know how things are going to be right now.”
Vis said getting back into basketball mode takes some time. But he’s been getting up shots all fall when he found time.
“It does take some time to get used to,” Vis said. “We still workout (for basketball) during the football season. So it’s not like we haven’t picked up a basketball yet. Since we have a game next week, we have to get into it right away. There’s no breaks.”
Vis is the Sailors’ quarterback, who thew for 3,000 yards, including a state record of 441 in the the championship game last week. But he took some pretty hard hits in that game and is still feeling it.
“I try to get in as much basketball as I can during the football season,” he said. “It’s not a ton, because I’m putting a lot of wear and tear on my body doing that. I’m a little sore and a little banged up in some places. But I feel pretty good.”
South Christian seniors Drew Bruinsma, left, and Sam Weiss sprint during during practice on Thursday, Nov. 30, 2023. (Photo | Lenny Padilla).
Sam Weiss, a senior shooting guard, started the final three games last basketball season when Vis got hurt. He’s a good shooter and his team will lean on him to take on more of the scoring load.
“He didn’t need to score a lot last year and it kinda took some pressure off of him,” Johnson said. “He did some good things on defense and he was kind of an unsung hero sometimes. But this year, he’s going to have to have a bigger role. It’s senior year, he’s got to be that third scorer for us, he’s got to get to the rim a little bit better and he’s got to knock down some shots at a high level.”
Weiss said he’s ready to do whatever his team needs.
“On offense it will be a lot of shooting and being there for my teammates,” Weiss said. “We’ve got Jake and Carson, who are really good scorers, so getting them the ball a lot and shooting the ball when I get open will be important.”
Weiss was a receiver on the football team. He said the bond created with the football players will carry over to the basketball season.
“It’s crazy,” he said. “We were practicing football five-to-six days a week for the past 20 weeks and we had 14 games. Seven of us have been playing football together that whole time. Moving on to the next thing (basketball) together … it’s like we’re brothers almost. You’re together all day.”
Taylor said he’s glad he has Vermaas and Vis together for one more season.
“I think Jake and Carson will go down as two of the greatest athletes in South Christian history,” he said. “We’ve had (Mr. Basketball winners) Matt Steigenga and David Kool and some really great players. They are that elite of athletes. When you’re at that level, there are high expectations. I’m very fortunate to have them and I’m really excited to see how they do this season.”
Vis averaged 17.7 points, 5.0 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 2.0 steals per game last season and Vermaas averaged 12.6 points, 6.5 rebounds, 4.4 assists, 1.4 steals per game.
South Christian begins its season on Tuesday, Dec. 5 at Grand Rapids Christian.
South Christian junior Ike Schrotenboer runs through a drill during practice on Thursday, Nov. 30, 2023. (Photo | Lenny Padilla).
