Unity Christian upsets Catholic Central ‘We knew we could beat them’

Jake Chapman scored the game-winning points and finished with a career-high 17 points as Unity Christian beat Grand Rapids Catholic Central in a district semifinal on Wednesday. (Photo | Lenny Padilla)

WYOMING, Mich. - Jake Chapman picked the right time to have the biggest game of his career.

The Hudsonville Unity Christian sophomore scored the game-winning bucket on a three-point play with 4.4 seconds left as the Crusaders upset Grand Rapids Catholic Central 57-55 on Wednesday night in a Division 2 district semifinal at Godwin Heights.

“That was big,” Chapman said. “That’s what we wanted all year. That was the goal after losing to them last year (in districts). We knew we could beat them. We just had to work for it.”

Chapman, a 6-foot-6 forward, finished with a game-high and career-best 17 points.

So how did the final play work out?

“We were down by one point,” Chapman said. “We didn’t have a play. I got the inbound and I set a screen for TJ (Fisher) and he passed to (Mitch) Tibbe and I was rolling off the screen and no one was on me. I went up and Durral (Brooks) got my arm and I put it off the backboard and scored.”

What were some of the bigger plays?

“The charges that were taken by Dylan Shaban on Kaden (Brown) were huge,” he said of the Unity junior guard. “And the buckets by Colin. We were hanging with them the whole game.”

Junior guard Colin Nieuwenhuis finished with 15 points for Unity Christian. 

“Colin’s been doing great this year,” Chapman said. “He gets in the paint and loves to score on that floater. 

Unity Christian (15-9) advances to the district title game on Friday when it plays host Godwin Heights.

“Winning districts would mean a lot,” Chapman said. “It would show all the hard work we put in and what Unity basketball is about. It’s not an all-star team, but we just dig deep.” 

Kaden Brown led Catholic Central (16-7) with 25 points and Durral Brooks had 21.