Undefeated Greenville thrives on a fast-paced offense

Greenville players, from left, Michael Lindquist, Sulli Witt, Braden Latimer, Braylon Haist and Zeke Robinet at the Cornerstone Holiday Tournament on Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025. The Yellow Jackets improved to 9-0 after beating Cadillac. (Photo | Lenny Padilla).

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - Braylon Haist sprinted up court and dished a pass to teammate Zeke Robinet for a layup during the first quarter of a game at the Cornerstone University Holiday Tournament. 

It’s a pretty common occurrence for Greenville High School senior guard. He loves to get his teammates involved. But this assist was a special one.

It set the Greenville record for career assists. Haist passed Taylor Jorgensen, who had 280 before graduating in 2002.

“It’s not about me,” Haist said. “I do the easy part. My teammates are hitting the shots. Assists are the way to get the team to score. I just want my team to win.”

That pretty much sums up the Greenville boys basketball team this season. All they are doing is winning. Greenville is 9-0 after a 52-42 win over Cadillac on Saturday. 

With the swarming defense and the fast-break offense, Greenville is living up to its mascot: The Yellow Jackets. 

“Coach (Rick) Court, our strength coach, preaches to us about energy,” junior Michael Lindquist said. “We all feed off that energy and we’re flying around out there on the court. It’s fun. We have an unselfish group. We can all make plays.”

Greenville guard Braylon Haist pushes the ball up court while being defended by Kent City’s Justin Anderson in the Cornerstone Holiday Tournament on Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025. (Photo | Lenny Padilla).

They can also score.

Greenville is averaging an impressive 71.2 points per game. On Dec. 27, they were leading Central Montcalm 51-2 at halftime and would win 68-21. They beat Kent City 89-42 in the Cornerstone Holiday Tournament and easily could have scored 100 if the starters didn’t sit most of the second half. 

“It’s been a blast,” Haist said of being undefeated. “It’s a great way to start my senior year. We’re undefeated and about to start conference play. So we want to keep up the momentum.”

Momentum has been the theme for the Yellow Jackets. Third-year coach Joel Visser didn’t plan to play such an uptempo style, but that’s how his roster was built. 

“We’re trying to play very fast,” Visser said. “We have a rotation of nine guys. In order to play at the pace that we want to play, we have to stay fresh. We’re pushing the tempo on any make and dead ball. We’re trying to get the ball up court and find a good look within the first eight to 10 seconds. From the tip, we’re trying to push the pace and wear teams down.”

Greenville junior Michael Lindquist shoots a 3-pointer against Kent City in the Cornerstone Holiday Tournament on Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025. He’s averaging 18 points per game. (Photo | Lenny Padilla).

Greenville has a starting lineup of Haist, Lindquist, Jaxon Ingles, Robinet and Braden Latimer. But it doesn’t stay that way for long. Visser rotates a lot of players in and out.

“We feel like we’ve got some guys who can score,” he said. “The hardest part for us coaches is trying to find a rotation and a rhythm with nine guys coming in and out. It’s fairly new for me as well. They’ve hit their stride. If we can make teams work and press the tempo, that’s what we want to do. We’re not interested in walking the ball up the court.”

That’s where Haist steps in.

“We’re unselfish,” Haist said. “That’s the best part about us. We could care less about who leads us in points each night.”

But they do have a leading scorer. Lindquist, a 5-foot-10, 155-pound point guard, is averaging 18.1 points per game. Last season, he was all-conference as a sophomore when he averaged 17.9 points.

“It starts with my 3-point shooting and eventually they have to respect my threes,” Lindquist said. “Then I can start getting downhill a little bit and finding teammates.”

Visser said he Lindquist is pretty unselfish for someone averaging 18 points per game.

“He’s very unselfish,” Visser said. “He’s very smart with a high basketball IQ. He understands what he needs to do to get his shot off. As a defender, he’s come a long ways.” 

Lindquist, who also plays tennis, said he’d like to play basketball in college.

Greenville junior Braden Latimer puts up a shot over Kent City’s Aaron Vanderwest in the Cornerstone Holiday Tournament on Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025. (Photo | Lenny Padilla).

Greenville isn’t the biggest team. It doesn’t have a traditional center.

“We’re not very big,” Visser said. “We don’t have 6-5, 6-6 guys. But we do have guys who are willing to run and who can shoot it.”

One of those guys is junior Braden Latimer, a strong power forward, who can bang in the paint or shoot 3-pointers.

“He’s a force,” Lindquist said. “He gets down hill a lot and he can shoot it. He does a lot for us.”

They also have another strong power forward on their bench, 6-foot-4 freshman Emmitt Willhite, who could be a star someday. 

Lindquist said he and his teammates were excited when Haist reached the assist record last week.

“That’s big-time stuff,” he said. “Anytime you can get a record, it’s unbelievable. He does a great job finding us. I feel like I’m spoiled to play with him.” 

So when did Haist hear about the Greenville assist record?

“At the end of my sophomore year,” he said. “I realized I was a little over halfway there. So at that point, it was on my radar to accomplish it.”

Greenville begins play in the new River Cities Alliance Conference play this week.

Greenville basketball fans hold up signs to show the new assist record that Braylon Haist reached in the Cornerstone Holiday Tournament on Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025. (Photo | Lenny Padilla).