Holton faces Shelby for District title Friday
The Red Devils moved on to a Friday final matchup with Shelby with a convincing win over the Panthers. Coach Jordan: “We jumped out to a 13-0 lead after the first quarter and we kind of took our foot off the gas a little . Our intensity level dropped and we coasted at times which allowed them a few easy buckets but we went into half up 30-12. At half we talked about picking it up to the needed level and I felt the girls responded better. We pulled the starters for basically the entire 4th and let several of the JV players that were pulled up get some decent minutes in a district game , which was nice to be able to do. It got my starters plenty of rest, something they will not get on Friday when we play Shelby for the title. “Our goal all year was to get a district title. Just one more game against a dangerous Shelby team who are way better than their record. We have beat them twice on the year but that means absolutely nothing come Friday as North Muskegon can attest to. “We know what it will take and we are up for it.” Ryann Robins continues to excel on the court knocking down 17 points and collecting 11 rebounds Aubrey Goyings finished with 8 points and 10 rebounds and Layla Cannady hit for 8 points, Holton will face Shelby Grisay at 7pm at Shelby High School. The winner advances to Regional play at Grand Rapids Covenant Christian
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Defense steps up to hold back Panthers Photos by Alexis Mercer Stroy by Ken De Laat Grant 48 Comstock Park 27 This one was a game for about 12 minutes . A plucky Park squad came out and played the Tigers tough early on, but the Grant defense rose up to keep the Panthers in check long enough to allow the Tiger shooters to heat up. Bella Welch opened the Tiger scoring with a bucket and Reese Gragg converted from the line but the Panthers answered with shots from Megan Pelfley and Sierra Fonseca. Jocee Pleune hit off a rebound for Grant and Lilly Wollen sank a pair from the line for Park. As the quarter wound down Julie Ashbaugh got on the board and Fonseca countered with a triple to bring a slow, turnover-ridden 1st quarter to an end with CP up 9-8. Gragg and Ashbaugh both hit to begin the second but Fonseca scored and the Panthers split in a couple trips to the line and CP was up 13-12.Nineteen Tiger points later it was deep into the third quarter and the Tigers had taken total command of the game. Liliana Krepps hit a bomb, Welch shoveled a steal to Emma Thompson for 2, Alexa Obenauf canned one from distance and Thompson found the hoop again and the teams hit halftime with Park down 22-13 and hoping the break might cool off the Tiger run. It didn’t. Another triple by Krepps and baskets by Ashbaugh, Welch and Gragg kicked off the second half before Fonseca hit one of her 2 free throws to finally end the 19-0 run. It was 38-15 entering the 4th and the Tigers kept the Panthers at bay the final 8 minutes to secure the win and move on to Friday’s finals where a rematch with Fremont awaits. Coach Delamater: “It was a good start to district play for us. We struggled to make baskets early and I equate that to nerves. We got our groove in the second and took the game over from there. I thought we played extremely well defensively, including making some key adjustments that kept CP from getting to the basket. At the midway point of the fourth CP still only had 15 points. Friday is a rematch of our January game with Fremont. We lost by 6 after being off for over a month without playing. Both teams have been battle tested since then and Pete will have them playing intense and well prepared for us.” Ashbaugh led a well balanced Grant scoring attack with 12 points. Gragg and Krepps counted 7 each while Welch and Obenauf hit for a half dozen.
Grant will play Fremont this Friday, March 8th at 7pm at the Newaygo High School gym. Rematch with Grant coming Friday Fremont 45 Sparta 32 In a game that saw a high level of physical play from both teams the Packers were able to finally shake loose from a relentless Spartan squad and move on to Friday’s District Finals But it wasn’t pretty Coach Zerfas: “It was probably the sloppiest game I’ve seen but we were able to come out of it with a win. We’re mostly a high scoring, up and down, shoot the ball team, but we’ve had a few like this against Ludington and Grant where we’ve had to grind it out.” Missing a key starter in Mia Clemance who is out with an ankle injury the Packers struggled early, not only missing shots but rarely getting off decent attempts. The free throw line was no refuge from futility with the Packers going 0-4 during that stretch. As a result the Spartans were able to build an 8-0 lead. Then 5 ½ minutes into the game Riley Chase wove her way to the basket to put her team on the board. After Sparta went 2-2 at the line Chase nailed 2 triples on successive possessions and suddenly the Pack were on track Fremont took the lead early in the second with Katie Ackerman hitting twice then Jessica Bennett joined in the fun finding net from beyond the arc twice. After Taylor DeKuiper pulled off a steal and score, Spartan Averi Peot popped in a 3 and the Packers hit halftime up 21-18. Peot was keeping the Spartans in the game accounting for 7 of the 8 Spartan points in the period. Sparta kept hanging close early in the third before Chase got to the line and converted followed by Khalia Noordyk taking an offensive rebound and muscling the ball in while also drawing a foul in the process. Her conversion made it a 6 point lead and the next 2 Spartan baskets were answered by another Bennett three and another Noordyk put back off a board. The teams headed to the final frame with Fremont holding a 35-28 edge. The 4th belonged to the Packers. Chase scored from the field and the line and Bennett also hit from the stripe down the stretch. The Spartan offense had gone mostly silent and their season came to an end and the hands of the Packers. Coach Z: “I thought two players in particular had really good games. Riley Chase had a monster game for us and I thought Khaila Noordyk came off the bench, rebounded and played extremely well in the middle. I don’t think we win without big games from Riley and Khaila.”
Chase finished with a team high 17 points to go with her 8 steals. Bennett hit for 14, rejected 7 shots and added 7 rebounds while Noordyk scored 6 and pulled 9 off the glass. DeKuiper was a demon on defense collecting 7 steals and battling for 7 boards Fremont will face Grant in the District Finals Friday at Newaygo High School beginning at 7 pm. The winner moves on to the Regional play in Sparta. Packers, Tigers hoping to advance; Red Devils look to sweep Panthers
By Ken De Laat D2 District at Newaygo Sparta vs, Fremont 5:30 pm The Packers record has few blemishes on it in what has become a breakout season under the tutelage of Coach Zerfas. A pair of close losses to MorleyStan, a defeat in the season opener to perennial powerhouse Spring Lake and a late season stumble against the Wren Nelson led MCC Spartans. Other than those, it’s been a magical year for this team. A pair of wins over a really good Ludington team helped them sweep the conference schedule and knocking off former CSAA rivals Grant and Reed City were part of the 18 wins they collected on the season heading into tournament play. There are a lot of ways Fremont can beat you. They put less talented teams away early with a bevy of consistent scorers and a couple of defensive gamers who have corralled some of the area’s best players. They also have a talented freshman who makes one recall other prominent Packer players who began their Girls Varsity careers just out of middle school. Sparta held off a gritty Newaygo group to get here. They can score in bunches but it tends to be inconsistent and they lapse into periods when turnovers become a problem. Not saying they won’t give Fremont a game. The Packers and Spartans have a long history of playoff matchups between them that ended unpredictably. But this looks to be a pretty good Packer squad and Coach Z won’t let them come in not prepared to win. Side note: For an aging sportswriter the Spartan uniforms with their dark blue numbers against a dark background aren’t a personal favorite due to the challenges it brings when attempting to ID players. Granted, they do look pretty cool though. Comstock Park vs. Grant 7 pm Park was 2-10 at one point in the season. Since then they are 6-4 and a pair of those losses were tightly contested games against 2 of the area’s better teams in Belding and Calvin. During that early slump Sparta bested them by 24 points. Less than a month later the Panthers played them at home and beat them by 8. Grant won 4 to start the season. Lost 3 in a row then peeled off 8 straight wins. Then Kent City took them in OT forcing a title showdown with MorleyStan a game they also lost in OT. A rematch with the Eagles saw them lose by double digits and they wrapped up the conference tourney beating the Coyotes by a point. Are the Tigers ready to make a run? They need to close games out and it has been a struggle these last couple of weeks. Ashbaugh and Welch can score. Rodriguez can get to the line and convert and while Pleune, Thompson and Krepps slap down some righteous defense, they can get it in the basket if needed. Obenauf, Gragg and others add to the depth on the Tiger bench. I like this Tiger team. Along with having the school’s all time leading scorer on the squad there are tenacious ballers who know the game and play it with a passion. When they are in sync the team seems unstoppable. When they’re not…? I think the Tigers will get by Park but they’d best be careful and not let the Panthers hang around. While we’re unsure why Grant hasn’t come close in their 2 OT games….well… They haven’t. D3 District at Shelby North Muskegon vs, Shelby 5:30pm The Norse beat the Tigers twice in the regular season but neither win was easy and this one remains anyone's game, Holton vs. Hesperia 7 pm In their previous 2 games this season the Red Devils have outscored the Panthers 110-25. Holton moves on. Spring Lake 56 Fremont 42 An ice cold first half put the Packers in a serious hole and despite a 4th quarter comeback it proved to be too little too late and Fremont’s season came to an end in Allendale.The Pack spent the first 8 minutes without a single bucket as the Lakers built a 20-3 lead by holding Fremont to just 3 free throws. The Packer defense dug in a bit in the 2nd but the shooting still fell silent and by intermission it was 27-9 Spring Lake.The second half saw the Fremont shots begin to fall but they were still losing ground to the Lakers. In a furious fourth Fremont fought back but the Laker lead proved to be too much to overcome and Spring Lake moves on to face GR Catholic Central on Thursday. Coach Bowen: “For the first time in a while our ball movement was not good. There was too much dribbling and one on one basketball which never works against good teams like that. When we did get open shots or free throws, we did not convert on those opportunities. We trailed by twenty three points entering the fourth quarter, but to our kids' credit we did not give up, and fought back to cut the lead to ten at one point. It's always disappointing when the season ends but this group has a lot to be proud of. This postseason run has been a lot of fun, and I'm proud of the kids for all they accomplished.” Will DeBlake led the Packers with 14 points while Chaz Miller hit for 13 and Travis McDonald came off the bench to notch a half dozen. Story by Ken De Laat Photos by Alexis Mercer Second Half Surge Sends Sparta To Semis Free throw futility costs Lions Sparta 40 Newaygo 31 Sparta scored first before Kija Schultz drove the length of the court to tie the game. Then the Lions went cold while Averi Peot, Miah Lamancusa, Jaleah Ross hit buckets followed by a Paige Wicox triple and the Lions were down 11-2. A late free throw by Addison Goodin ended the quarter with the hosts down 8. Maria Riddering opened the second by firing one in from distance and Naomi Schilman also banged home a three. Turnovers began to plague the Spartans and after Schultz hit a bucket and a determined Goodin muscled one in after a tough rebound, the Lions took their first lead of the night at 13-12. Lamancusa finally got Sparta back on the board and the teams went to intermission with the Spartans clinging to a 14-13 lead. In the second half Sparta went on another run, scoring 8 quick points to go up 9. The Lions fought back with some aggressive offense that got them to the free throw line but converting those opportunities proved to be a problem. By the time the teams entered the 4th Sparta held an 8 point lead in a game where points came at a premium. Ruby Hughes counted a pair of baskets in the 4th but the Lions once again could not hit from the charity stripe going 3-10 in the 4th and falling to the Spartans who scored enough in the final 8 to keep the Lions at bay and move on to Wednesday’s Semifinal game.
Coach Thomasma: "The last game of the season is always a tough one. I thought the girls played hard tonight and with great energy. We just had a tough start to the second half and couldn't quite dig ourselves out of the hole. We were aggressive and got the FT line but just didn't make them consistently enough (8-23). It's been a great group to be around. Ended up getting better throughout the year and got some good experience coming back.`` Riddering paced the Lion scoring attack hitting for 9 points while collecting 4 steals and 5 rebounds. Addison Goodin was a force in the paint, pulling down a team high 10 boards to go with her 3 points and Hughes came off the bench to score 8 points taking 8 off the glass and rejecting a trio of Spartan shots in the process. Newaygo ended its season with a 12-11 mark. Shelby 42 White Cloud 19 The season came to an end for White Cloud in their District opener at Shelby. The teams ended the 1st quarter tied at 5 but the Tigers inched ahead by halftime and ran away from the Cloud in the second half. Coach Wilk: “I told the girls after the game that I enjoyed every minute of the season because they are a fun bunch to be around. I'll miss coaching our six seniors, but I know they will be going off to do amazing things. In the same breath I told our juniors and underclassmen that if we want to make it further into districts then we need to put in more effort in the off-season. There is no easy way to becoming better players. We need to put the work in. “The 2024-2025 season starts tomorrow!” Jaden Gomez led the Cloud hitting for 8 points while Tanayah Klammer knocked down 5. White Cloud finishes with an 8-15 record. Girls Districts start Monday
Two of our coverage teams kick off District play Monday with Newaygo taking on Sparta and White Cloud seeing action against Shelby. Sparta is out of the OK Siver, home to a pair of GR area D3 powerhouses in Northpointe and Calvin as well as a pretty good Belding squad. But hey, the CSAA isn’t exactly chopped liver when it comes to tough conferences. Any of the top five finishers would be unsurprising entrants into the Regionals and believe me, there isn’t a team in the state who wants to play Kent City right now. While the Eagles have ridden the scoring talents of Geers it’s been their team defense that has paved their success when they’re not just outshooting teams. Their District includes Northpointe as well as WMC. The Spartans and Lions have both struggled at times on offense during the season although Newaygo’s production has amped up since they breached the 50 mark against Tri County. Was Riddering’s inspirational nothing-but-net missile from out of bounds in that game the catalyst for the increased production? We’ll never know. Seriously though, they have shown more confidence and the timely addition of Hughes seems to have helped. There are several on this team who can score and they are a truly gritty bunch. Sparta played Cedar tougher than the Lions did but it was an early game for Newaygo. The Spartans beat Big Rapids early, the Lions lost to the Cards late. Both were humbled by Kent City but they join a long line of teams in that group . The Lions have home court and if a fraction of the fans who filled Fremont on Friday show up it will be a rocking home crowd. More importantly, if they can avoid the mistakes and cold spells that have put them behind early their chance to advance rises considerably. Speaking of offensive struggles…White Cloud has not found that hot hand to shoot their way out of a scoring funk. They are averaging 21 points a game including a 32 point performance in a win over Chip Hills, the lowest output of any CH opponents all season. 21 doesn't get you many wins. Early in the season the Tigers beat the Cloud in the WC gym. That win gave them a 3-0 mark. From that point on they didn’t beat anyone not named Hesperia until their regular season finale win over Lakes Division cellar dweller Orchard View. But they do score more than the Cloud and they are at home. White Cloud can win this one but not if they don’t score early and often enough to stick around and give themselves a shot at the end. D2 District, Newaygo High School Monday Newaygo vs. Sparta 7pm Wednesday Newaygo/Sparta winner vs. Fremont 5:30 pm Grant vs. Comstock Park 7 pm Friday Survivors 7pm D3 District, Shelby High School Monday Shelby vs. White Cloud 6pm Wednesday S/WC winner vs. North Muskegon 5:30pm Holton vs. Hesperia 7 pm Friday Survivors 7 pm Story by Ken DeLaat Photos by Alexis Mercer Packer D Stifles Lions Fremont heading for Regional matchup with Spring Lake Fremont 50 Newaygo 45 It was most definitely a packed house at the Fremont gym. Not just the two overflowing student sections jammed into their areas, but a crowd that filled the seats as well as the balcony area and anywhere else they could find a spot to watch this one. District Finals, Fremont and Newaygo. It was on. The Lions drew first blood when Hunter Yearsovich stuck one from distance but Ben Mellema responded with a triple for the Packers. Yearsovich would can 2 more 3’s and along with a Blake Kerr free throw it was a 10-3 lead for the Lions. Then came the first of a pair of runs that would spell trouble for Newaygo. 10 straight points for the Packers highlighted by a pair of triples from Wil DeBlake and Gavin Richards took the game to quarter one’s end and the hosts in front 13-10. In the second Richards and Kyler DeKuiper each dropped a pair of buckets for the Pack while Logan Klomp scored 7 of his team’s 9 points in a low scoring run-up to intermission that ended with Fremont in front 24-19. After a Dekuiper bucket to open the second half, Kerr scored twice making in a 3 point game. Then the Packer defense shut down the Lions and another run ensued, this time a 14 point sweep that put the Lions in a 17 point hole. Kerr rang one home from beyond the arc just before the quarter ended and the teams went to the 4th with Fremont holding a 14 point lead. Once again as they had been in both previous District contests the Lions were staring at a double digit deficit with 8 minutes to play. The Packers took the air out of the ball forcing Newaygo to foul and Fremont’s foul shooters were able to keep the Lions at bay despite a trio of late 3 pointers by Josiah Long that allowed the Lions to pull within 3. With seconds left Chaz Miller was sent to the line and his 2-2 iced it for Fremont and delivered the Packers their second straight District title. Coach Bowen: “ Our defense was excellent for the second game in a row and that was the difference in the game. We are working so hard and communicating well on that end of the floor right now. I am so proud of these boys for how they have come together as a team this week. We've worked through a lot as a team this year, and to have it all finally come together at the right time is great to see. Richards notched 11 points and took down 10 rebounds, Miller finished with a dozen points and 4 steals and DeBlake also scored 12 points and added 6 boards. Mellema hit for 8 points and DeKuiper tallied 6. Klomp led the Lions with 13 points, Yearsovich scored 11, Long finished with 9 and Kerr added 8. Fremont will move on to the Allendale Regional where they will face Spring Lake Tuesday at 7pm. Undefeated Norse moving on
Photos by Cassie Rickert North Muskegon 54 White Cloud 39 In a District Final that closely resembled the first time these teams met a couple of weeks ago, the Norse were able to shake off a determined White Cloud squad to secure the win and move on to the Regionals. Coach Jones: ““We played them tough again going into the 4th but they are a damn good basketball team. We were tied at 33 but couldn’t hit down the stretch to keep pace with them.” NM outscored the Cloud 21-9 in the final frame. The loss ends a strong season for White Cloud that saw the team compete for a conference title right up until the end of the regular season. “It was a great run this year,” added Coach Jones. “So very proud of this group of young men. 17-7 and 11 wins in a row? I’d take that every year.” Noah Robinson led the Cloud with 12 points while KJ Strait hit for 11 and Jayden Robinson added 9. North Muskegon, still undefeated, will head to Pewamo Westphalia to take on the P-W Pirates Tuesday. |
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