Van der Heijden Brothers pace Ravenscroft past Heritage, 65-55

By: Zachary Adams

1/21/19

RALEIGH, NC — Jake and Eric Van der Heijden combined for 41 points on Monday evening to lead Ravenscroft (12-10) past Heritage (9-7), 65-55.

Ravenscroft point guard Steven Riley Jr. would get the long ball game started off early. Riley Jr. drilled a three from the wing to put the Ravens on top 5-2 with 6:33 remaining in the first quarter. Ravenscroft shared the ball well in the opening stanza. Brady O’Connell dished the rock to a cutting Eric Van der Heijden, who finished an easy lay-in to give Ravenscroft the 7-4 advantage. The Huskies on the other hand, would need to make adjustments to their game plan in the early going. Sophomore sharpshooter Lucas Taylor was disqualified after fouling Steven Riley Jr. hard on a fast break. Riley Jr. did return to the game early in the second quarter. Fellow Heritage sophomore Redford “Red” Dunton drilled a foul line jumper at the first quarter horn to cut the Ravenscroft lead down to four, 17-13, after eight minutes of play. Eric Van der Heijden scored 10 of the Ravens’ 17 points in the frame.

The Huskies and Ravens would go back and forth in the second quarter. After Ravenscroft’s LucRichard Rameau opening the second quarter scoring, Tre Waller would drop a pass down-low to Dyson Pender on the other end, who finished off glass. Need I remind you that Pender is a 5’10” guard, who is scoring in the post amongst the skyscrapers inside that Ravenscroft possesses. Just wow. With 4:33 to play in the second quarter, Redford “Red” Dunton knocked down a three from the wing to cut the Ravenscroft lead to one, 23-22. Remember Eric Van der Heijden? Well, you should after his 10 point explosion in the first quarter. The 6’5” sophomore put his defender in the spin cycle to finish a floater, making it 27-24 Ravenscroft with 2:22 to go before halftime. Eric’s brother, Jake, drilled his first three of the game a few possessions later extending the Ravens’ lead to 30-26 with 1:21 to play in the frame. Ravenscroft would maintain a four point advantage, now at 32-28, going into halftime.

Unfortunately for Heritage, Bucknell commit Jake Van der Heijden would begin to “feel it” from deep after intermission. Van der Heijden hit not one, not two, but three triples in the third quarter. He hit his third three with 1:46 to play in the third quarter, giving Ravenscroft the 45-36 edge. The Huskies would then move the rock around the perimeter, giving Dyson Pender the chance to show off his range. Pender would pop a three from the top of the key to make it 45-39 Ravenscroft with 1:09 to play in the third. Junior guard Tre Waller has hit his fair share of “meaningful” threes in his varsity career. On Monday, Waller drained a corner three at the third quarter buzzer to cut the Ravenscroft lead down to six, 50-44, with just one quarter to go.

Every time it seemed Heritage would take the lead or grab any sort of momentum, something went wrong. Rather it was a missed shot, a bad turnover, or just a defensive lapse; it occurred at the most inopportune times to derail a potential comeback. Ravenscroft’s LucRichard Rameau was the beneficiary of many Heritage mistakes. Rameau scored a team-high, six points in the final stanza. Despite two Tre Waller threes, Heritage could not overcome the mishaps against Ravenscroft on Monday evening. Ravenscroft went on to pick up the 65-55 victory over Heritage, avenging their six point loss to the Huskies back on Dec. 27 (55-49 at the 2018 South Granville Holiday Invitational).

Jake Van der Heijden led Ravenscroft and all scorers with 24 points (5 3PM). 14 of those 24 points came in the second half. Eric Van der Heijden finished with 17 points and LucRichard Rameau added 10 points to round out the double figure scorers for the Ravens. Redford “Red” Dunton powered the Heritage offense with a 19-point effort. Dyson Pender stepped up in Lucas Taylor’s absence by dropping 16 points.

Heritage will return to NAC-6 play on Tuesday night with a home tilt against Knightdale. Ravenscroft will be back in-action on Friday at Durham Academy. That contest will have huge NCISAA Triangle regular season championship implications.