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Holland’s Cinderella district basketball run came to a halt Friday night.

The Dutch didn’t have Destiny on their side.

Benton Harbor, the fourth-ranked team in Class A, roared to a 67-24 victory in the district championship game at Jenison High School as Miss Basketball contender Destiny Williams outscored the Dutch herself with 30 points.

“They’re a very good team,” Holland coach Dan Telgenhof said of the Tigers, who are 21-2 overall.

The loss snapped a surprising run for the Dutch.

They finished with a 6-17 overall record. They reached the district finals by winning two games over teams with better records — West Ottawa and Hudsonville.

“I told the girls they set the bar for our program with those wins,” Telgenhof said after his team made its first district title game appearance since back-to-back trips in 2000 and 2001. Both ended with losses.

“It was a great step forward,” Telgenhof said. “However, I’m really going to miss the seniors.”

Holland junior Molly Drooger led the Dutch with six points. Senior Jamie DuMez added five points.
Drooger sees improvement in her team’s future.

“It felt really good to become the first Holland team in a long time to win a couple of district games,” Drooger said. “Now we just have to keep getting better and better every season.”

Deborah Meeks, a sophomore, tossed in 13 points for the Tigers.

Benton Harbor coach Louis Harvey likes his team’s potential, this season and beyond. The Tigers advance to next week’s regional at Grand Rapids Northview.

“This team has the talent to make a strong run at state,” Harvey said. “The nice thing is we only have two seniors on this team.”

One of them is Williams, a 6-foot-2 forward who has been invited to McDonald’s and Nike All-America All-Star Games.

“There’s no reason she shouldn’t win Miss Basketball,” Harvey said. “She’s averaging 29 points per game and over 10 rebounds a game.”