Inspired by others, Oakridge sharpshooter keeps firing away

MUSKEGON, MI – The inspiration is never that far away.

Not for Oakridge girls basketball standout Hannah Reinhold.

The bond remains close with former players Keyara Wiard and Morgan Giddings, who came before Reinhold and set the bar high during their record-setting careers with the Eagles.

The other comes from Reinhold’s 12-year-old brother, Landin, who has cerebral palsy. He is a big fan and never much farther away than one of Hannah’s long jump shots.

Together, they keep her grounded as a player and a person.

Hannah Reinhold is a long-range shooter for the Oakridge girls basketball team. (MLive.com file)

After a busy day, Landin is the first one Hannah checks on when she gets home at night.

“I’ve taken care of him since I was little. He’s my best friend. He comes to every single game cheering me on,” she said. “I always hear him when I’m out there. It calms me down a little bit. That’s someone I know is there and has my back 100 percent.”

In the spring, Landin will play wheelchair basketball again and it will be Hannah’s turn to watch.

“He’s not going to be able to walk any more. He’s been a big impact why I work hard,” she said. “I know if he can’t, why am I not? It makes no sense, someone is sitting there wanting to play and you’re not working hard. So it makes me push myself a little more than what I usually would.”

That has never been a problem, though.

Her first love was playing organized tackle football. A cousin, Mike, played at the University of Michigan in the mid-1980s.

Hannah said she liked the contact of the sport, but her mom, Gail, was afraid her oldest daughter would end up getting hurt.

So Hannah turned to basketball and softball. She has earned all-state honors in both sports, but basketball is her true passion.

She often can be found in the gym, working on her game and putting up shot after shot and plenty from well beyond 3-point range.

“When I was a freshman, Coach D (Oakridge coach Terry DeJonge) would have to kick me out of the gym,” she said. “I begged him for a key and that was my ultimate goal. He never gave it to me and I was very disappointed. It’s very hard for me to get out of the gym.”

Reinhold likes to set practice goals and then go beyond them.

“I just keep going and going. I can’t stop once I’m in the gym,” she said. “It’s just that drive, it’s a drive I can’t stop. … I pretend the championship game is on the line. I have those moments in practice. I’ve got to do this one more time, do this last jumper. I always have to work on something.”

It’s work for opponents to try to slow down Reinhold.

Through 11 games of her senior season, she is averaging nearly 18 points a game. With nearly half the season to go, Reinhold has 1,380 points. Oakridge’s all-time scoring record of 1,491 points set by Giddings is within reach.

“She’s a scorer, been one since her freshman year,” DeJonge said. “There’s not a lot of people that have a scorer. She’s a flat-out scorer. From the first day of practice, as a freshman, she had the green light.”

Early on, DeJonge even had to stop practice and tell Reinhold not to pass up shots. DeJonge puts Reinhold and Giddings in the same sentence as outside shooters he’s coached.

“She put in the time. Morgan was a senior, but Hannah deserved to shoot,” he said. “She’s spent many Sundays at open gym. It’s shot, shot, shot, shot and work on her game. She gets to shoot. If anyone is going to call her a ball hog, you’re out.”

Reinhold missed a recent varsity practice for a recruiting trip, but that’s a rarity for a workout or open gym or game. She hasn’t sat out a game in her four-year varsity career. She also helps out with the middle school program for players coming up, including Keyara’s younger sister, Sophia, now a standout sophomore guard on the varsity. Hannah’s younger sister, Grace, a junior, is a first-year varsity player.

“It’s really interesting to have two sisters on the team, they can get after each other a little bit, but then a lot of love,” DeJonge said. “I told them to embrace it. It won’t be like this next year, it’s fleeting.”

Grace is a grade behind Hannah and working to improve her own game.

“I haven’t played with her much. We tend to argue, but we will back each other up no matter what,” Hannah said. “She will listen to me if I come calmly to her. She is getting better and that’s my main goal, to get her better when I leave.”

The Eagles have a 10-2 record, but are looking to mesh after losing a strong senior core from last year’s district championship. Sophia Wiard suffered a midseason knee injury and that proved to be bumpy. She is back in the lineup after missing 2½ games, but not back to 100 percent.

“We haven’t got in a rhythm yet. This team is young and we have a lot of potential. We’re growing as the season goes. You can see some of our younger players get a little more confident and our bench players try to take on a role,” Reinhold said. “For the people that have been on the JV, they’re trying to transition to the varsity and it is hard, but I think we’re doing a pretty good job.”

Reinhold takes pride in the fact Oakridge has yet to lose a West Michigan Conference game in her four-year varsity career and she is determined to finish the season that way.

“No matter what team, I look at them and say you’re not beating me because this is mine,” she said. “I’ve worked hard for it and so have the rest of my teammates. We worked hard for that streak and we have to keep it going. For me to lose that would be really hard for me. It’s definitely a big thing to stay undefeated.”

Reinhold is an avid weightlifter and worked hard on her agility training for her senior season. She is receiving college interest for basketball and also is open to playing college softball. She plans to pursue a degree in secondary education and become a coach.

DeJonge has enjoyed the ride, watching Reinhold grow up from the youth ranks to team manager to four-year varsity starter.

“I’m not looking forward to the end of this. It’s been great to be a part of her life,” he said. “I pushed her pretty good at times. She’s getting mentally tougher and tougher every year. She’s done everything I’ve asked her to do, she’s stubborn and doesn’t like to lose. It’s going to be an interesting second half of the season.”