Lowell upsets No. 4 Northview in the biggest stunner of the season

The Lowell basketball team takes a break during a timeout in a Fall Ball game in Oct. 2022. (Photo | Lenny Padilla)

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - Ben Gaskin said he knows most people don’t give the Lowell High School basketball team much credit.

But the junior said the most important thing is the Red Arrows believe in themselves.

Lowell had a shocking upset of No. 4-ranked Northview on Friday with a 51-50 win.

“It was fun,” Gaskin said. “Most people think ‘It’s just Lowell basketball’ and don’t think we’re very good. But we believe in ourselves. We believe we can win. I think Northview over looked us.”

Gaskin drained five 3-pointers and had a team-high 21 points and Drew Veldman had 16 for the Red Arrows.

So does Gaskin see it as an upset?

“On the surface, I think it does,” he said. “We’ve been in these positions before. We were only down by two at halftime the last time we played them (Northview won 58-41).”

Was there a moment in the game where Gaskin thought they could win?

“The third quarter, we were up by about seven, my teammate Dawson Huhn got a loose ball scramble and hit a 3-point shot,” Gaskin said. “And I thought, ‘I think we got this.’ ”

But Northview closed the gap by hitting three 3-pointers, one by E.J. Ryans and two from his brother Cam Ryans.

“They started to hit some shots,” Gaskin said. “They were pressing us. They (intentionally) fouled Aiden Fitzpatrick, who hit four-straight free throws.”

Gaskin said Fitzpatrick had a huge game guarding Northview’s E.J. Ryans. 

“He’s a senior and that was huge for him to step up,” Gaskin said. “He guarded E.J. the whole game. He did great. I think E.J. had like four points going into the fourth.”

Gaskin said the lanky Veldman was just as big. 

“Drew, had a lot of huge buckets,” Gaskin said. “I don’t know how he gets his points. But he just scores in the post. He had two free throws late, too.”

Northview assistant coach Jeff Anama said it was a tough weekend for the Wildcats, who also lost on Saturday to Warren Lincoln.

“It’s always tough,” Anama told Mlive on Saturday. “We’ll have to find a way to dig deep and recover. Last night, we had just a three or four minute spell where we didn’t play well and Lowell played really well. It’s hard to recover in 24 hours and play another good team.”

Lowell improves to 3-4 in the O-K White Conference and 8-6 overall. Northview, the No. 4 team in Division 1, falls to 6-1 in conference and 12-2 overall. Cam Ryans led Northview with 23 points and Brady Swartz had 13.

“It lets us realize we belong and we can compete with the top level teams,” Gaskin said. “We aren’t the same team as last year. We have a really good chemistry. All the guys like each other.”

Lowell’s Ben Gaskin dives for a loose ball during a Fall Ball game in Oct. 2022. (Photo | Lenny Padilla).