Staff photo / Brian Yauger Grand Valley junior Carter Turk (1) blocks a shot by Kennedy's Henry Phillips during the first quarter of Saturday's Division VI district championship game at Salem High School.

SALEM — For the first time in program history, the Grand Valley Mustangs are district champions.

The sting of losing in the final game last year drove Grand Valley through the season and helped the Mustangs take down Kennedy, 71-57, on Saturday at Salem High School.

“It’s certainly a culmination of a number of years. I think this is year number 11, and the goal was always to get our program to this point,” Mustangs coach Justin Turk said. “We certainly knew, starting at the younger ages and building it. I’m really proud of these guys, because most of these guys, I started coaching in third or fourth grade, and to see these guys reap the rewards is outstanding. But really it’s about community. That’s what I’m most proud of.

“When I took this job, the goal was never for me to win a district championship, it was for Grand Valley to win a district championship and to go to heights that they’ve never been.”

Last season’s loss was motivation, but experience was a major factor for the Mustangs as well. Kennedy is no stranger to big games, so having experience on this stage was crucial.

“You certainly can’t replace experience, so coming down here (last year), you get your feet wet,” Turk said. “It’s kind of like the NBA, right? You’ve got to earn your way up. We got here last year, but we said the goal this year wasn’t just to get here, it was to win it.”

The Mustangs’ scoring duo of Solomon Schultz and Carter Turk led the way for Grand Valley, scoring 24 and 23 points, respectively.

Schultz took over the game in the fourth quarter, scoring 12 points in the final frame. He was a major factor in the Mustangs pulling away from Kennedy late in the game.

“We told him that you have got to be aggressive early,” Turk said of Schultz. “We certainly know going into games, Carter’s going to draw a ton of attention, so when that happens, it leaves (Schultz) open. It’s kind of disrespectful to him, because he can go get his at any point.”

Kennedy senior Preston Geracitano and Grand Valley junior Carter Turk both scored their 1000th point in the first half of Saturday’s game.

Senior Henry Phillips paced the Eagles with 19 points. Geracitano and Andrew Lapolla followed closely behind with 17 and 13.

While from the outside, the Eagles’ record looked underwhelming, finishing the year at 6-18, every game was hard-fought, and every win was hard-earned.

That effort was rewarded with the program’s seventh-straight appearance in a district title game. If there was any doubt that they belonged in that game, it didn’t come from inside the program.

This past season reminded Kennedy coach Mark Komlanc of the first season of that streak (2019-20), where the Eagles started 2-11, but clawed their way to a district championship.

“It was one of the more trying seasons I’ve had, but it’s also one of the more rewarding ones, because they earned their spot here,” Komlanc said. “We talked about how a lot of people would define us based on our record, and at Kennedy, we don’t do that. We define ourselves based on how we handle situations and how we handle that adversity.

“What they did throughout this season was get back up every single time. Even today, there were times that they could have given up, and they kept battling. They kept battling, and it’s unfortunate that it came to an end, but I am very proud. I can’t be more proud as far as the season is concerned. Getting to this point shows who they are, what they were capable of, and this is more defining than what our actual record is.”

Grand Valley will face off with Kirtland in the Division VI regional semifinals on Tuesday. Start time is set for 6 p.m. at Canton Memorial Fieldhouse.