Virk lights up for 27 against Olivet

Aryan Virk scored a career high 27 points on Saturday afternoon Olivet as the Raiders fell 63-53 to the visiting Eagles. The Raiders were without the services of their defensive players, Tate Dziewiatkowski and Zac Pier as well as David Svanda who had a season ending injury earlier in the season. Sophomore Grant Ruddy and Freshman Trent Meyers saw significant action in the game. N. Zona led Olivet with 22 points.

The Raiders fell behind early and trailed by as much as 15 points in the first quarter which ended with Olivet leading 18-8 thanks to a three-point shot at the buzzer by Virk. The Eagles nursed a ten-point lead for the rest of the game. They led 32-22 at the half and 49-37 early in the fourth quarter. Portland pulled to within 9 points late in the fourth quarter on the strong shooting of Virk and Owen Russell who hit two consecutive 3-pointers with about two minutes left to play. Of note is the fact that Olivet aggressively double-teamed Russell throughout the game, but inexplicably the Eagles were not called for any fouls while guarding him. Russell ended up shooting no free throws in the game. Meanwhile, Portland was called for 16 fouls during the game, while Olivet was called for only 5 fouls as a team for the game.

Coach Dave Pettit lamented after the game that, “We have to get off to a better start!”

The Raiders, who fell to 4-12, close out the season next week with a game at Lansing Catholic on Monday and a game at Charlotte on Friday. Then on Monday they will host Lansing Sexton at Portland in MHSAA District play.

Pictured above, Freshman Trent Meyers connects on a jump shot to score his first varsity basket as a Raider.