The Chix traveled west across the parking lot to play the Zeeland West Dux in the last game of the quadruple header at Zeeland West High School on Thursday evening featuring Zeeland High School girls, boys, and unified basketball teams.  The game featured two of the first-place teams in the OK Green Conference standings, with each team bringing a 2-0 record in conference play to the matchup.

In the first quarter, the Dux got off to a fast start, leading 18-4 late in the quarter.  After a  Chix timeout, the Chix settled down and the Dux led 20-8 after the first quarter of play.  In the 2nd quarter, the defenses took hold and the Chix outscored the Dux 8-6 in the quarter and trimmed their deficit by 2 points, with Zeeland West leading 26-16 at halftime. 

In the 3rd quarter, the Chix offense started to click, scoring 15 third-quarter points, while holding the Dux to 12 points in the period and the Chix trailed by 7 points heading into the 4th quarter, 38-31. In the 4th quarter, the Chix started quickly, knocking down their first two 3-point shots of the game, and when Junior BJ Walker slammed home 2 points after a Dux turnover, the Chix took their first lead of the game, 42-41 with 3 minutes to go, stirring the Coop into a frenzy.  But Zeeland West came back and scored on their next possession to regain the lead and were able to get their lead back to 5 points late in the game.  The Chix showed great resilience, and when Senior Layne Risdon knocked down a 3-point shot with under 4 seconds to play, the Chix had trimmed the Dux lead to 1 point.  But Zeeland West was able to run out the clock and the Dux held on for a 48-47 win over the Chix.

Individually for Zeeland East, the duo of Layne Risdon and BJ Walker led the charge.  Risdon scored 23 points and grabbed 8 rebounds.  Walker scored 17 points, grabbed 4 rebounds and had 2 blocked shots.  Sophomore Caleb Claerbaut scored 3 points, while Juniors Will Ver Steeg and Quincy Thome each scored 2 points in the game.

The Chix are back in action next week with 2 home games.  On Tuesday, the Chix host the first-place in the OK Green and top 10 in the state Big Reds of Muskegon.  Freshmen tip at 4 pm, JV at 5:30 pm and the varsity should tip off around  7 pm.  Come out and cheer on the Chix as they take on the Big Reds.