DeBerry's Tulip City Tip Off showcases alumni basketball talent again: 'Thank you Holland'

Pro Am, men's and women's alumni games showcase Holland area's basketball talent as summer event continues to grow.

HOLLAND - Coreontae DeBerry has fond memories of growing up in Holland. The love he has for the city, Holland High School, and the local youth are the primary reasons he continues to look for ways to give back.

DeBerry helped out again in a big way on Sunday, as the first annual Tulip City Tip Off (renamed from Return 2 the Dome) took place at the Holland Civic Center.

"Of course this event started at Holland High the first two times we had it, but I wanted to do something a little bit different this year to get the whole community more involved," said DeBerry, a 2012 Holland High graduate. "There's no better place to do that then the Civic Center because there are a lot of schools that have history in this building throughout the years. I felt like this was just the perfect place to bring people together."

DeBerry participated in two of the day's three games, as he brought together some former local stars from Holland, West Ottawa, Holland Christian, and Zeeland East on his Tulip City White team. The White team pulled away from a 72-72 tie late in the third quarter to defeat the Tulip City Red team (composed of former college basketball players from throughout West Michigan) 118-98 in the first game of the day.

The Holland and West Ottawa basketball alumni teams squared off in the Tulip City Tip Off on Sunday, July 27, 2025, at the Holland Civic Center.

The second game featured the first-ever women's alumni game, as all 11 former West Ottawa players scored in a 54-32 win over former Holland players. Alyssa Karner, 2021 West Ottawa graduate, paced the Panthers with 15 points, 11 of which came in the first half.

"It felt really good to put the uniform back on and just be surrounded by my teammates and coaches that made a really big impact on my life," said Karner, who played two years of basketball at Calvin University and is close to earning a degree in a five year accelerated Masters program for Speech and Language Pathology. "It had been a while (since she had last played), so I was a little nervous. But it was just really fun to be back with my friends and my teammates. I've been playing basketball with Audrey Feenstra since we were two years old, so that was really cool to play with her again.

"I just came in wanting to have fun and to see people that I hadn't seen in a long time. The West Ottawa and Holland community as a whole really supported me not only as an athlete, but as a person and a student, so it was really great to get to come back and see so many familiar faces tonight. I would definitely do it again."

Alexis Smith scored nine points to pace Holland.

The final game of the night pitted Holland boys alumni against West Ottawa alumni. The Holland men jumped out to an early 14-4 lead midway through the first quarter, but Jake Van Tubbergen's 32 points (20 of which came in the second half) helped the Panthers eventually race away to a 116-92 win.

The Holland and West Ottawa basketball alumni teams squared off in the Tulip City Tip Off on Sunday, July 27, 2025, at the Holland Civic Center.

"This was my first time playing in this event because a few years ago I was injured and then last year I wasn't around," said Van Tubbergen, a 2017 West Ottawa graduate who will play professionally in Greece this fall. "Shout out to Coreontae for putting this together because it really shows the talent that we have here in Holland, which a lot of people may not know about.

"It's just very fun coming back home and kind of playing where you grew up, seeing a lot of old faces and having some conversations and laughs with them. It's always great seeing the guys that you spent all those times with and seeing the young guys who came up after you saying 'Hey, I remember watching you play back in the day,' or you saying that to guys that you watched when you were younger. I would love to be a part of this in the future. I love the game and having a good community behind it like we do makes it all the better."

Holland's Arthur Powell just graduated a couple of months ago, but he was more than happy to put on the Dutch uniform again for a good cause.

"It felt so nostalgic getting to come back here and play with all of these guys that I grew up watching," said Powell, who will suit up at Grand Rapids Community College this winter. "Before the game started, I was like 'What if I just get absolutely killed out there by all of the older guys.' But as soon as I started playing, it was just basketball, and it was fun. That's what Coreontae said to us earlier today about just being here to have fun and to not feel too much pressure. He also said he wants to keep bringing us together as a community because he just loves doing this and he wants to see how we grow over the next couple of years. I had a great time being here to support a great cause."

Powell scored 15 points, including nine in a row for the Dutch to close out the first half. One of his buckets was a highlight-reel dunk over a West Ottawa defender.

"The dunk felt great," Powell said. "I wasn't expecting it because I kind of fumbled the ball, but then when I went up and I was high enough, so I said 'I might as well just dunk it' and I did. I can't wait to watch that one (on replay)."

Kevin Ludwig, Shawn Trammell, and Marcus Hawkins all scored 13 points for West Ottawa. DeBerry had 19 to lead Holland, while Dante Hawkins added 18 and Demetrius Lake chipped in 16 for the Dutch.

The Holland and West Ottawa basketball alumni teams squared off in the Tulip City Tip Off on Sunday, July 27, 2025, at the Holland Civic Center.

DeBerry was presented with a distinguished alumni award from Holland Public Schools Superintendent Nick Cassidy before the start of the nightcap.

"I want to build attention around sports in Holland, Michigan, in general," DeBerry said. "Holland does have some history with great basketball players and athletes from other sports, so I just want to keep building on that. It's a community event and of course I want Holland to keep making this bigger each time. I'm planning on doing something similar to this again, so hopefully the community can continue to get involved in it because it can bring good attention (to the schools and athletic programs) and its good family fun. I just want to thank everyone in Holland for continuing to follow my events. I do this for the community and the youth because I like to bring people together. 

"Thank you Holland." 

This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Tulip City Tip Off showcases alumni basketball talent again: 'Thank you Holland'

Category: General Sports