Pewamo-Westphalia vs. Riverview Gabriel Richard – – MHSAA Boys Basketball Semifinal – – The Bleacher Denizen – – March 14, 2025 – – by Chuck Krafft

Today, the basketball tournament has moved on to its semifinal and final stage. Your Bleacher Denizen is getting ready to blog the boys’ semifinal game between the Pirates of Pewamo-Westphalia and the Pioneers of Riverview Gabriel Richard.

I have covered Pewamo-Westphalia earlier this year, but today, I have the luxury of using the statistics compiled by the MHSAA in their second half report to introduce the teams!

Pewamo-Westphalia comes into the semifinal with a 24-3 record and is ranked Number 9. They finished in first place in the rugged Central Michigan Athletic Conference. The Pirates have impressive wins of Division 1 Grand Blank, Division 3 Schoolcraft, Division 3 North Muskegon and league rival Fowler, a Division 4 semifinalist.

Grady Eklund is a junior who was already on the All-State team last year. He scores 17.5 points per game and dishes out 3.4 assists. He has hit 45 three point baskets so far this year. Trent Piggott averages 8.8 points and 6.3 rebounds. Dominic Weber averages 9.1 points per game and has hit 66 three point shots this year.

Riverview Gabriel Richard enters the semifinal with a 23-2 record and are ranked #2 in Division 3. They have impressive wins of Division 3 Jackson Lumen Christi, Division 2 Dearborn Divine Child and Division 1 Flint Carmen-Ainsworth.

Nick Sobush scores 19.7 points per game and has hit 53 threeballs this year. He is a returning all-state player. Luke Westerdale scores 16.8 points per game as well as 3.8 assists. He has throws 86 threeballs through the hoop so far this year. Charles Kage averages 11.3 points and 5.2 rebounds. Drew Everingham averages 10.8 points and has hit 46 shots from the three point line. Derek Lesko is the fifth starter; he averages 4.8 points per game. Bryce White comes in off the bench and averages 7.3 points per game.

It is now time to review the events of this game through the occasionally alert eyes of an Aging Bleacher Denizen who was never able to escape church league in the days of yore when he attempted to hoop. It seems that the Bleacher Denizen never truly mastered the idea that points are only scored when the ball goes through the hoop. Throwing the ball past the baseline was not good enough. Eventually, the coach started relying more on people who actually got the ball into the basket and the Bleacher Denizen’s playing time plummeted drastically.

Pewamo-Westphalia wins the opening tap. The Pirates miss a threeball from the wing. Luke Westerdale hits a three point shot from the top of the key for Gabriel Richard. P-W bounces a pass out of bounds. The Pioneers misfire on a threeball from the wing. Derek Lesko knocks a Pirate pass out of bounds; P-W retains possession. Grady Eklund passes to Trent Piggott, who hits a three point shot from the side to tie the game at 3-3.

Gabriel Richard misses a three point shot from the side. Luke Westerdale grabs the offensive rebound for the PIoneers. Luke Westerdale drives and hits a reverse layup for Gabriel Richard. He is fouled on the play and hits his free throw to give the Patriots a 6-3 lead with 6:07 to play in the opening quarter.

Pewamo-Westphalia (hereafter referred to as P-W to save wear and tear on your Bleacher Denizen’s aging fingers) misses a threeball from the wing. Brady Heckman hits a putback for the PIrates. Gabriel Richard misfires on a triple try from the side. Grady Eklund passes to Trevor Smith, who is fouled on a layup and hits one of his two free throws to tie the game at 6-6 with 5:20 remaining in the first quarter.

Gabriel Richard misses a three point shot near the top of the key. Charles Kage gets the offensive rebound for the PIoneers. Nick Sobush hits a sixteen foot shot from the side for Gabriel Richard. Drew Everinghman steals the ball for the PIoneers. Nick Sobush drives the baseline and hits a layup for Gabriel Richard to give his team an 11-6 lead.

P-W misses a threeball from the wing. Gabriel Richard reciprocates and misses a threeball from the wing. Nick Sobush drives and hits a layup for the PIoneers. P-W misfires on a triple try from the wing. Gabriel Richard is assessed with a traveling violation. Grady Eklund drives and hits a layup for the Pirates to trim the PIoneer lead to 13-8.

Gabriel Richard misses a driving layup. Bryce White pulls down the offensive rebound for the PIoneers. Gabriel Richard misses a three point attempt from the side. P-W misses a three point attempt from the wing. Gabriel Richard misses a threeball from the top of the key and fouls on the rebound. P-W turns the ball over. Nick Sobush is fouled and hits two free throws to give his Pioneers a 15-8 lead with 1:05 remaining in the opening quarter.

P-W misses a three pointer from the corner. Gabriel Richard misses a three pointer from the wing. Reece Thelen is fouled on a fast break layup and hits one of his two free throws for P-W. Gabriel Richard misses a threeball from the side and fouls on the rebound. Grady Eklund hits a halfcourt shot just before the buzzer for P-W.

After one quarter, Riverview Gabriel Richard holds a 15-12 lead.

Gabriel Richard inbounds the ball to open the second quarter. The PIoneers miss a driving layup. Brady Heckman hits a fast break layup for the PIrates to trim the Pioneer lead to one point. Luke Westerdale passes to Bryce White, who hits a three point shot from the side for Gabriel Richard. Trevor Smith passes to Trent Piggott, who hits a layup for P-W. Luke Westerdale drives and dishes the ball to Derek Lesko, who hits a layup to give Gabriel Richard a 20-16 lead.

P-W throws a pass out of bounds. Luke Westerdale drives the baseline and hits a layup for Gabriel Richard. P-W misses a ten foot shot in the lane. Derek Lesko passes to Luke Westerdale, who pours in a threeball from the corner for the PIoneers. Luke Westerdale steals the ball for Gabriel Richard. The Pioneers miss a layup. P-W misfires on a threeball from the corner. Trevor Smith hits a putback for the PIrates to trim the Gabriel Richard lead to 25-18.

Brady Heckman gets a hand on the ball, but Gabriel Richard recovers. The Pioneers misfire on a threeball from the corner. P-W misfires threeball from the wing. Trent PIggott hits a putback for the PIrates. Gabriel Richard misses a three point shot from the side. Nick Sobush steals the ball and hits a fast break layup to give Gabriel Richard a 27-20 lead.

P-W misses a layup. Trent Piggott pulls down the offensive rebound for the Pirates. P-W misses a layup. Dominic Weber is fouled on a putback and hits one of his two free throws to shave the Pioneer lead to 27-21 with 1:39 remaining in the first half.

Brady Heckman steals the ball for the Pirates. P-W watches a corner threeball go in and out of the baseket. Trent Piggott blocks a Pioneer layup. Reece Thelen hits a three pointer off the dribble from the wing to chop the PIoneer led to three points. Gabriel Richard misses a driving layup. The rebound geos out of bounds and P-W takes possession. A Pirate dribbler loses the ball out of bounds. Gabriel Richard misses a half court heave.

Riverview Gabriel Richard takes a 27-24 lead into the locker room at halftime. I will confidently predict that at the start of the third quarter, Gabriel Richard will also have a 27-24 lead.

At halftime, Trent PIggott has 7 points and Grady Eklund has 5 points for Pewamo-Westphalia.

Nick Sobush and Luke Westerdale lead the Gabriel Richard scoring with 11 points each.

I glanced at the scoreboard at the beginning of the third quarter. Your Bleacher Denizen will smugly note that he was correct in predicting that Gabriel Richard would have a 27-24 lead at the beginning of the third quarter. Your Bleacher Denizen manages to avoid straining his shoulder patting himself on the back so he can take his second half notes.

P-W inbounds the ball to get quarter number three under way. Grady Eklund passes to Trent PIggott, who drives and hits a layup for P-W to cut the Gabriel Richard lead to one point. Nick Sobush hits a sixteen foot shot off the dribble from the wing for the Pioneers. P-W is fouled on a driving layup, but misses two free throws. With 7:08 to play in quarter number three, Gabriel Richard has a 29-26 lead.

Nick Sobush passes to Charles Kage, who hits a layup for the Pioneers. Grady Eklund hits a fourteen foot turnaround shot in the lane for the Pirates. Bryce White passes to Luke Westerdale, who throws in a threeball from the wing for Gabriel Richard. Grady Eklund passes to Trent PIggott, who is fouled on a layup and hits two free throws to shave the Pioneer lead to 34-30 with 5:52 to play in quarter number three.

Gabriel Richard misses a three pointer from the wing. Bryce White gets the offensive rebound for the Pioneers. Trent Piggott blocks a Pioneer si foot shot from the baseline. P-W misses a six foot banked shot off the dribble from the side. Nick Sobush hits a fast break layup for the PIoneers. Nick Sobush steals the ball and hits another fast break layup to give his Pioneers a 40-30 lead.

Grady Eklund drives and hits a layup for the Pirates. Gabriel Richard misses an eight foot shot in the lane. Bryce White hits a putback for the Pioneers. Nick Sobush deflects a Pirate pass. The loose ball goes out of bounds and P-W gets another opportunity. Bryce White tips a Pirate pass and shows great hustle, but he can’t retrieve the ball before it goes out of bounds and P-W gets the ball back. P-W misses a jumper off the dribble from the free throw elbow. Charles Kage passes to Bryce White, who hits a reverse layup to give Gabriel Richard a 42-32 lead.

Charles Kage knocks the ball out of bounds; P-W retains possession. P-W misses a three pointer from the side. Luke Westerdale passes the ball to Drew Everingham, who slams dunks the ball for the Pioneers. Reece Thelen passes to Grady Eklund, who is cutting to the basket and hits a layup for the Pirates. Luke Westerdale passes to Drew Everingham, who hits a three pointer from the corner to give Gabriel Richard a 47-34 lead.

Bryce White stands tall in the lane and forces P-W to travel on a drive to the basket. Charles Kage passes to Nick Sobush, who hits a three pointer from the wing for Gabriel Richard. P-W misses a fifteen foot shot from the baseline. Gabriel Richard misses a threeball from the side as the buzzer decides it is time to end quarter number three.

After three quarters, Gabriel Richard leads the game 50-34.

Gabriel Richard inbounds the ball to begin the fourth quarter. The Pioneers miss a driving layup. Charles Kage pulls down the offensive rebound for the Pioneers. Grady Eklund steals the ball for the Pirates. Drew Everingham steals the ball for the Pioneers. Bryce White passes to Nick Sobush, who is cutting to the basket and hits a layup to boost the Pioneer lead to 52-34.

P-W misses a threeball from the side. Gabriel Richard misfires on a threeball from the corner. Nick Sobush steals the ball for the Pioneers. Nick Sobush passes to Luke Westerdale, who hits a three point shot from the corner to give the PIoneers a 55-34 lead.

Grady Eklund drives and hits a layup for P-W. Reece Thelen knocks the ball out of bounds; Gabriel Richard retains possession. Luke Westerdale passes to Drew Everingham, who hits a dunk for the PIoneers. Grady Eklund throws in a threeball from the side for the Pirates. Grady Eklund knocks the ball out of bounds; the PIoneers retain possession. Gabriel Richard starts to run some clock. Brady Heckman steals the ball for P-W. The Pirates miss a fast break layup. Charles Kane hits a layup to give Gabriel Richard a 59-39 lead.

P-W misses a fifteen foot shot from the baseline. Luke Westerdale drives and hits a layup for the Pioneers. P-W misses a threeball from the wing. Gabriel Richard misses a dunk. Both teams put subs into the game. Ty Thelen passes to Camden Nurenberg, who hits a three point shot from the corner to trim the Gabriel Richard lead to 61-42.

Gabriel Richard misses a layup. P-W loses a pass out of bounds. Derek Lesko hits a layup for the Pioneers. Luke Westerdale steals the ball for Gabriel Richard. Luke Westerdale hits a three point shot from the side for Gabriel Richard. P-W misses a three point shot from the wing. Lane Trierweiler hits a putback and is fouled. He sinks his free throw. With 55.5 seconds left on the clock, the Gabriel Richard lead is at 66-45.

Cody Fox gets a hand on the ball, but the Pioneers recover. Brandon Anthony gets a hand on the ball and Sam Thelen picks it up for P-W. The Pirates miss a jumper from the free throw elbow as the final buzzer decides that the game is over.

Gabriel Richard wins this semifinal game by the score of 66-45.

Grady Eklund led the Pewamo-Westphalia scoring with 16 points. Trent Piggott joined his teammate in double figures with 11 points. Reece Thelen and Brady Heckman each added 4 points. Camden Nurenberg and Lane Trierweiler each scored 3 points. Tyler Spitzley put in 2 points. Dominic Weber and Trevor Smith each tallied 1 point.

Nick Sobush and Luke Westerdale led Gabriel Richard with 22 points each. Drew Everingham and Bryce White each contributed 7 points. Charles Kage and Derek Lesko each scored 4 points.

The CMAC put two teams into the State Semifinal round. Here is the semifinal game between Fowler and Allen Park Inter-City Baptist. https://thebleacherdenizen.com/2025/03/14/fowler-vs-allen-park-inter-city-baptist-mhsaa-boys-state-basketball-semifinal-the-bleacher-denizen-march-14-2025-by-chuck-krafft/