MUSKEGON, Mich. — March Madness is upon us, as basketball teams all around the country prepare for tournament time.
Recently, March Madness turned into 'March Unexpectedness' during and after a boys high school basketball game in Muskegon.
On Monday, Mar. 8, Kent City traveled to Muskegon Orchard View for a non-conference clash. OV was undefeated at the time, and state ranked, while the Eagles' squad is enduring a rebuilding year, featuring a young roster made up of five sophomores.
"We knew we were going to have our hands full in that game," said Kent City coach David Ingles. "They're a special team."
The game was bookended by two very special moments, both involving Ingles who is good friends with Nick Bronsema, the coach of OV.
Bronsema had each of his OV players wrap their wrists and write "LEE" on the tape. Just prior to tipoff, as each OV player was introduced, they ran over to Kent City's bench and shows Coach Ingles what was written on their wrists.
"That got me a little choked up," said Ingles.
The gesture was in support of Ingles, whose brother, Lee Ingles, died in a car crash in Indiana last October.
"Lee was my mentor," said Ingles. "He was a successful high school coach in Indiana and we'd talk on the phone before every game each of us had."
Orchard View ended up beating Kent City by mercy rule, 88-42.
But, rather than running to the bus and hiding after such a lopsided defeat, Ingles did something that is very rare in sports at any level - visit the opposing team's locker room and offer the team that just beat his by 46 points, a motivational speech.
"In my 20 years of coaching basketball, I have never spoken to another team after a game before," said Ingles. "Their team is trying to complete an undefeated regular season, which [Kent City] did in 2018.
"I wanted to share how we did it with OV's amazing team."
As the OV team sat in front of their lockers, Ingles began addressing them saying, "You're going to run up against teams that will be better than we were tonight and they're going to challenge you."
He followed that by saying, "Watching you on film, there's not many weaknesses. You're a unit and I love that about you guys."
Ingles then revealed that his brother's tragic death has been a rallying point for the Kent City team all season. Ingles turned his brother's name, Lee, into an acronym.
"It stands for, 'Leave Everything Elevated,'" said Ingles. "That's what Lee was really good at. No matter what he did or where he was, he left it better than when he started."
"That goes for in your classroom, in your relationships, when you practice every drill, you're leaving better, every quarter; every game."
Ingles closed by telling them, "I'm going to be your biggest fan. You have a great leader. Follow his lead and go get this thing."
The OV team erupted in applause as Ingles quickly exited the locker room and boarded the bus back to Kent City.
"Hopefully I gave them something they can take going forward for the next two weeks that may help them win it all," Ingles said.
►Make it easy to keep up to date with more stories like this. Download the 13 ON YOUR SIDE app now.
Have a news tip? Email news@13onyourside.com, visit our Facebook page or Twitter. Subscribe to our YouTube channel.