GR Catholic Central upends state champs for first win of season

Catholic Central guard Kaden Brown puts up a shot during a game at Calvin University on Dec. 10, 2022. Brown had a game-high 19 points as the Cougars beat Warren De La Salle on Friday night. (Photo | Lenny Padilla)

It took awhile, but Grand Rapids Catholic Central finally got its first win of the season.

The Cougars beat state champion Warren De La Salle 65-55 on Friday night in the final game of the Roundball Classic in Ferndale, Mich.

“Everyone kept asking if I’m ok,” Catholic Central coach T.J. Meerman told broadcaster Eric Wells after the game. “(Because) we lost a few straight. We hadn’t lost back-to-back games in five years. I’ve been just fine. We just have some work to do. Our guys just need to grow. They need time playing together. Chemistry needs to grow. Our team isn’t like the teams we’ve had in the past five years.”

Cougars senior Kaden Brown led all scorers with 19 points. Durral Brooks had 14, Carter Meerman 11 and D.J. Nystrom 8.

“In the second half of the Muskegon game, we won the rebounding battle for the first time all year,” Meerman said. “And tonight we did it again against a team with a Division I center (Michael Sulaka/WMU). So that was big for our guys.”

He pointed out that his team was undersized, but two players stepped up.

“We had a sophomore Jack Bowen out there and Michael App, a senior … both of them battled. I thought D.J. Nystrom was great with his energy. Jamison Williams came off the bench for some huge minutes. And, obviously, our guys … Carter, KK (Brown), Phat (Brooks)… I thought they were exceptional tonight.”

Catholic Central and De La Salle each made it to the state championship game last season. The Pilots beat Grand Blanc to win the Division 1 state title. Catholic Central fell to Williamston in overtime in the Division 2 state title game. The Cougars, who won the 2021 state title, finished the season 25-2.

But this year, they started 0-3 with losses to three outstanding teams: Rockford, Grand Rapids Christian and Muskegon.

“It’s been good for some of our superstars (Brooks and Brown),” Meerman said. “It’s been good for them to see the other side of life. They haven’t lost many games in the past two or three years here. But we schedule tough for a reason. It’s already paying off.”

Phoenix Glasnor led De La Salle with 16 points and Nino Smith had 14.