 Photo by Mike Gesler By Ken DeLaat- N3 Sports Girls Tri County (2-2, 4-3) at Newaygo (1-3, 4-4) The Lions keep knocking on the door but thus far they have either won big or lost close ones. The defense keeps teams within reach and when the team is hitting their shots they are unstoppable but when it goes cold it seems hard for them to regroup.Still, the team has a lot of talent and should they solve the ongoing 3rd quarter letdown that has plagued them the season should produce a good share of wins. The Vikings have played two one point games in a row losing to the Coyotes and nipping the Tigers. If TC looks at tape they will focus on shutting off Jaxi Long so Jaylee Long,Goodin, Ruehmeier, Mathis, Frisbie et al. will likely get some scoring opportunities early on. If they can force the Vikes to call off the double team the Lions chances will look a lot better. Especially if they hold their own coming off intermission. Grant (3-1, 3-6) at Fremont (4-0, 5-3) The Tigers haven’t played at home in nearly a month and now they visit a tough, albeit closer,venue in Fremont. Four of their games have been decided by 2 points or less. They stung a good Hornet team, outlasted the Coyotes and ran past the Warriors in their 3 Gold wins before TC knocked them from the conference top spot they shared with the Fremont.Throop, Rider and Longcore are among a bevy of Tigers who can find the hoop with regularity The Packers are relentless. Shriver and Jamieson are all over the court, Miller does a nice job at the point and Curnett is a defensive demon. Then there is Vandenberg who is putting together a run of dominant games. They go deep into the bench and seem to believe in themselves and their teammates. The Pack doesn’t get rattled and twice we’ve seen them shake off early deficits to take control of games. We said early on the conference race would be wide open and thus far the Packers have taken charge. The Tigers sit alongside BR one game behind. They need this one because a loss would put them 2 games behind a team that doesn’t look to lose many going forward. Lakeview (0-3, 0-9) at Holton (0-3, 2-5) Likely to be a low scoring contest. The Red Devils average only 28 points per game. The Wildcats? Just 17. White Cloud (2-1, 5-3) at Morley Stanwood (2-0, 7-0) The Cloud is a solid team and they should give the ‘Hawks a good game, but MS is home, undefeated and can light it up while playing good defense. They have taken apart lesser teams and earlier this week outlasted the previously undefeated Trojans of Lake City. Should Strait,Bowman, the ever scrappy Scarlavai have huge games and the Cloud post players hold their own they might be able to grab one here with Morley having their sights on a trip to the Aerie next week. But it looks to be an uphill climb in a tough venue. Hesperia (2-1, 3-5) at Kent City (2-0, 7-1) The Panthers have improved as the season has progressed. The Eagles are simply a really good team whose only loss was earlier this week to the Big Reds of Muskegon, a game they nearly won against the co-leader of the OK Black a D1 power conference. At Muskegon. Coach Grodus has done a good job with the Panthers and taking down the Eagles in a conference game on their home court might be a bit too much to expect, but if you want to see perhaps the premier player in the CSAA come to the game take a look at KC’s Kenzie Bowers. Boys Tri County (1-3, 2-4) at Newaygo (1-3, 2-6) How do you figure the Lions? They haven’t won much and the teams they have beaten have only won a single game between them, but outside of the blowout at Morley they have given their opponents all they could handle including nearly pulling off a huge win on Fremont’s home court earlier this week. Close may not count in the win column but this team seems to be getting to where they want to be. Rios, Mortensen, Magana et al. are scrappy players who can bang it with bigger teams and they have one of the best bench coaches around. The Vikes can score but seem to struggle when it comes to keeping their opponents from scoring more. They have yielded 162 points in their last 2 games and BR dropped 85 on them in the season opener. Newaygo doesn’t possess that kind of firepower but look for them to put more on the board than the 41 they have averaged the last 3 contests. Grant (3-1,3-5) at Fremont (4-0, 7-0) The Tigers have quietly climbed into second place but they have yet to beat any of the top tier teams in the Gold, though they took CM to the wire before losing by a bucket. Chase, Schuitema and Long can rain down the points and the Tigers don’t get cheated in the paint though usually at a height disadvantage. The Packer express nearly got derailed Tuesday when the Lions found a way to slow down the fast paced Fremont offense. They survived and it may have been a good experience in the long run for a team that has sprinted past a number of opponents enough to empty the bench on more than a few occasions. Coach Zerfas will want to get his juggernaut offense going early meaning McDonald, Moon, and Campbell putting early numbers in the book or spreading the wealth enough to scatter the Tiger defense.The last thing the Packers want is for the game to be tight at the end given the propensity of the Tigers to hit from distance. Lakeview (1-2, 2-5) at Holton (2-1, 5-3) The Red Devils ran their winning streak to 3 on Tuesday and return to Silver play at home against a Wildcat team that has won two in a row but doesn’t score much and struggles against the better teams on their schedule. Holton is one of those better teams and while they may not pour in the points they score a whole lot more than the ‘Cats and are playing in front of a friendly crowd on their home court. Holton has Kent City coming in next week, a game that should provide a good gauge of where the Devs are at in terms of possibly challenging for a title, but Coach Houseman will ensure his team doesn’t look past this one. White Cloud (1-2, 2-4) at Morley Stanwood (2-0, 6-0) The defense of MS has been outstanding this season. Only the Hornets of CM have scored over 50 and the offense feeds off their play on the other end of the court. The Cloud is coming off a tough OT loss to Hart. They don’t generally score a lot and are facing a tough defense on the road against a team that is undefeated. The ‘Hawks have been idle for a week and a half and have a big game coming up Tuesday but a whole lot would have to fall WC’s way for them to have a decent shot against a team that has rolled past some good teams in their last 3 games. Hesperia (0-3, 0-7) at Kent City (2-0, 3-2) The Panthers are struggling through a tough year and average under 30 points a game. The Eagles are at home, have a lot of shooters, and have a Saturday contest before hosting co-contender MS on Tuesday. Look for the Eagle starters to get some rest early on. 
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 L-R .Jim Millett, Joe Millett, Ann Millett Kasi Ostyn, Billy Ostyn , and Roscoe Ostyn (Assistant Coach and dad). Millett, Ostyn capture wins on Senior Night
On Wednesday January 15th it was Senior Night at Grant, as they hosted Fremont in a CSAA gold conference match. The teams hit the halfway point tied before the state ranked Packers pulled away in the 2nd half of the dual. Fremont currently holds the #7 spot in D3. Seniors and four year Varsity wrestlers Billy Ostyn (125lbs) and Joe Millett (130lbs) won their matches to lead the Tigers. Also winning were Kaiden Pascoe (112lbs), Brady Jacobs (135lbs), and Caleb Thompson (215lbs). After the Senior Presentation the crowd was to an amazing performance by the Grant Competitive Cheer team. Grant now sits at 17-4 as a team on the season, 3-2 in the CSAA gold conference. The Tigers travel to Lakeview Saturday January 18th for an individual tournament.  B-Packers Survive Lion Attack, Tigers Tame Vikes, Devs Make it 3 in a Row
G- Long, Vandenberg Put on Offensive Duel Boys Fremont 46 Newaygo 43 The Packers came in undefeated, averaging 74 points a game and playing on their home court. The Lions arrived with just 2 wins under their belt and those came against teams with a combined record of 1-11. A mismatch? Not so fast. The Lions stifled the high powered Packer offense frustrating them inside and creating enough opportunities for themselves to nearly pull off an upset win Coach Zerfas: “We were flat out lucky to win. Newaygo came in and completely outplayed us for 30 of the 32 minutes. Newaygo owned the paint tonight, got most of the 50/50 balls and had twice as many offensive rebounds as us even though we had a size advantage. I thought Coach Barrette was the far better coach tonight with a better game plan to start the game breaking our full court traps and attacking our half court defense. Newaygo also played as a team while we played a very uncharacteristic selfish game. From the first minutes we were behind and trailed most of the game except for briefly in the third quarter. Early in the 4th we were behind by as many as 10 before we were able to make a run. We took a lead with under 2 minutes to go and were able to hold on despite missing 4 of 6 free throws after being fouled.” Coach Barrette: “Great effort and team defense slowed a talented offensive team down, we just were not able to finish enough plays. We let one slip away tonight, but took a big step toward where we want to go.Backcourt Wyatt Mortensen and Francisco Rios handled full court pressure all night getting us easy looks. Braiden McDonald led the Packers with 16 points with Carter Moon adding 14. For the Lions Mortensen hit for 11 while Rios dropped in 10 while taking down 7 rebounds. The Packers (4-0,7-0) host Grant Friday. Newaygo (1-3, 2-6) will be at home against Tri County. Grant 87 Tri County 63 Up 15-11 at the end of the first quarter, the Tigers played brilliant team basketball with seven players scoring in the second quarter to take a 49-28 half time lead. The 3rd quarter was similar as six players scored and the lead was extended to 73-40. Leading the way for the Tiger offense was Carter Chase with 21 points. Seth Schuitema hit for 18 and Brett Long dropped in 14. Orion Evans chipped in 8, with Diesel Rose adding 7. Luc Flinthoff led the Vikings with 18. Grant (3-1, 3-5) currently tied for second visits Fremont Friday to take on the first place Packers. Holton 58 Black River 22. Coach Houseman: “We played great team defense tonight. The score at the half was 30-6 Holton. Nathan Slowik had 24 points, Aidan Poling had 14. Everybody got playing time. We are now 5-3 on the year!!! Thanks Coach Houseman.” The Devs (3-1, 5-3) will look to extend their winning streak to 4 when they host Lakeview Friday. Oakridge 91 Hesperia 22 Girls Fremont: 50 Newaygo 44 The Packers and Lions mixed it up in an exciting conference contest Tuesday with Fremont pulling out the win to stay atop the Gold standings. But it didn’t come easy. Both teams had big first halves scoring the ball in this game. After Fremont took a 5 point lead at the end of one when the dust cleared at the break the Lions had crept to within 2 behind the red hot hands of Jaxi Long who poured in 22 first half points for the visitors. The beginning of the second half saw the shooting cool off with the Lions only managing 4 3rd quarter points allowing Fremont to push the lead to 8 entering the final frame. Newaygo came back and started to see some shots fall but the Packers were able to hold them off with some clutch shooting down the stretch. “Jaxi Long was phenomenal in the first half,” said Coach Zerlaut. “ We couldn’t slow her down. In the second half, Chloe Shriver and Avery Curnett tag-teamed to play fantastic defense on her. “Paige Vandenberg had a monster night. She was huge for us on both ends of the floor and we got contributions from all of our players, right to the final buzzer. “ It was a good team win for us.” Vandenberg drained 24 points grabbed a dozen boards and ruled the paint on the defensive end rejecting 5 shots from the field. She hit 10 of her 16 shots including one from distance and ended with a solid 3-5 from the stripe. The Shriver/Curnett combo limited Jaxi Long to 2 second half points after her huge contribution before the break and Natalie Jamieson finished with 11 rebounds and 3 assists. Coach Thomasma: “I thought the girls played hard but Fremont played a better game tonight and made some key plays down the stretch. All the credit to them." Jaxi Long led the LIons with 26 points and 8 rebounds while Emmerson Goodin and Lily Ruehmeier each had 9 boards for the Lions. The Packers (4-0, 5-3) have now won 5 of their last 6 and will host the Tigers of Grant Friday.Newaygo (1-3, 4-4) will be looking to improve their conference mark when the TC Vikings come to town. Tri County 41 Grant 40  Bayle has monster game in Pentwater, Venema nets 21 in Hart
Hesperia 63 Pentwater 41 Emily Bayle fired in 30 points, ripped down 11 boards, nabbed 8 steals and dished out 7 dimes in a decisive non-com win over the Falcons. Coach Grodus: “This was a great team effort both offensively and defensively. We played good defense in the 2nd quarter to open up the lead. Rachel Romero got us started with 9 in the first quarter.” Romero finished with 16 points and Emmie Tinkham collected 8 rebounds. The Panthers (2-1, 3-5) will visit undefeated Kent City Friday for a Silver matchup. Hart 54 White Cloud 48 The Cloud took the Pirates into overtime in their Monday night game in Hart but the hosts broke way in the extra frame for the win. Sam Venema lit it up for WC dropping in 21 points to lead all scorers while Alex Elder hit for 9 and Steven Holt added 7. White Cloud (1-2, 2-4) will return to conference play Friday when they visit the undefeated ‘Hawks of Morley Stanwood.  G-Shriver starts the Packer engine, Lions struggle in 3rd, Doornbos helps Tigers go 3-0 in Gold, Bayle cans 22 in Hespo win, Cloud breezes past Devs. B-Pack wins again as Moon & Campbell dominate inside, Lions go cold in 3rd. Coach less than thrilled in RD win,Tigers win big, Panthers lose big. Morley Stanwood and Kent City are scheduled for Saturday night but weather looms over a possible cancellation. Girls Fremont 51 Central Montcalm 44 Chloe Shriver opened the game with a bucket and added a free throw giving the Packers a 3-0 lead. The Hornets then took charge canning the next 13 points and building a 10 point lead before Shriver scored again just before the period ended at 13-5 in favor of CM. Shriver scored the first points of the second and Maddie Wagner hit for the visitors before Calla Miller scored off a steal From there until the break the teams exchanged points as the Packers aced it at the charity stripe with Shriver, Kaitlynn Bennett, Natalie Jamieson and Miller converting 8 of 8 to keep the Pack within 5 at intermission. Fremont came out hot after the break with Shriver and Paige VandenBerg hitting shots to get the hosts within a point but London Eldridge and Bailey Vissman scored and stretched the lead back to 5.Jamieson Miller and VandenBerg answered giving the Packers the lead and the teams seesawed back and forth with the Hornets clinging to a one point advantage going into the final frame. In the fourth the teams battled for the lead and after Miller canned one for a 3 point lead Vissman found the nets from long range to tie the game with 4 minutes left. Jamieson then came up big snaring a steal and finishing with a basket while being fouled. She converted to push the lead back to 3. On the next possession for CM VandenBerg came up with a huge rejection on a Hornet shot and took a Miller pass on the other end to push the lead back to 5. Eldridge answered then Miller and Eldridge exchanged buckets before Shriver split 2 from the line. With the Packers up 48-44 the Hornets pushed the ball inside but Jamieson came up with a big steal then got the ball to Haley Zerlaut who was fouled. Stepping to the line she cooly canned both to put the game out of reach and notch another come from behind win for Fremont. Shriver led the Packers with 14 points, while also playing great defense. Miller had 12 points and 6 steals Jamieson hit for 10 points, and grabbed 4 steals, and Vandenberg finished with 9 points. Eldridge led Central Montcalm with 12 points, and Vissman scored 11. The win improved Fremont's overall record to 4-3 and 3-0 in conference play. The Packers continue conference play at home on Tuesday against Newaygo. Big Rapids 45 Newaygo 39 The Cards outscored the Lions by 6 points in the third and held off their visitors to grab the conference win. Emmerson Goodin had 10 points to go with 9 rebounds, Jaxi Long hit for 11 points and Sophia Frisbie finished with 9 points, 4 rebounds and 4 steals. Coach Thomasma:"Big Rapids played a good game tonight and made some key plays down the stretch. All the credit to them.” Newaygo (1-2, 4-3) will visit Fremont on Tuesday. Grant 54 Chip Hills 27 The Grant Tigers were back in conference action tonight, traveling up to Chippewa Hills. The Tigers were in control from the start, jumping out to a 17 to 4 lead after 1 quarter of play. Grant would continue to keep distance from the Warriors over the course of the next 3 quarters to earn their 3rd conference win. Kassidy Doornbos led the Tigers with 13 points. Grant (3-0, 3-5) heads to Tri County Tuesday to take on the Vikings. Coach Paulsen:"We played a great team game where everyone scored and played hard. It was a great win to start up the conference season after the new year." Hesperia 46 Lakeview 20 Emily Bayle knocked down 22 points while dominating the glass with 14 boards and snaring 8 steals as the Panthers built a 28-10 lead by intermission and kept the ‘Cats at bay in the second half to secure the win. Emmi Tinkham also reached double figures dropping in 10 for the visitors and Becci Castillo dished out 4 assists. Coach Grodus: “This was a great team effort both offensively and defensively. Our defense played well with 18 steals.” Hesperia (2-1, 2-5) will travel to Pentwater Monday to take on the Falcons. White Cloud 59 Holton 21 Reed City 61 Tri County 60 Boys Fremont 78 Central Montcalm 64 The Packers showed no signs of rust despite a 3 week layoff as they thundered to an 8-0 lead in the first minute and a half, then held off a number of Hornet runs to remain undefeated. Tristan Campbell opened the scoring followed rapidly by buckets from Carter Moon, Braiden McDonald and another by Campbell. Asher Vissman put CM on the board with a triple and Micah Johnson followed with a 2 to cut the early lead to 3 before Christian Kennedy and Moon scored to push it back to 7. Moon tripled and hit a 2 pointer followed by a Campbell three and another bucket by Moon. CM got buckets from Evan Shaffer and Gunner Hill but McDonald hit for two and Jacob Visser canned one from distance and the firstended with Fremont holding a 27-13 lead. The Packers pushed the lead to 18 midway through the second and it took an 11-2 run by the Hornets to keep them in striking distance as the half ended with the home team up 43-34. After the break Hill split a pair at the line to get CM within 8 but it was the closest they would get the rest of the night . Although they made a couple of runs in the 4th the Packers came up bi when they needed to including a thunderous slam dunk by McDonald off a steal. “It took a total team effort in the win to beat a very talented and deep Central Montcalm team,”said Coach Zerfas. Moon led the team with 19 points while pulling down 10 rebounds and Campbell was a monster on the glass finishing with 15 boards and a matching 15 points. Kennedy finished with 16 points and 5 steals and Joshua Zerfas was all over the court collecting 6 assists 6 rebounds and 8 points. McDonald added 13 points to the cause. The Hornets were led by Trey Chapin who hit for a game high 21 points with Shaffer hitting for 17 and Hill adding 11. Fremont (3-0, 6-0) hosts Newaygo Tuesday. Holton 56 White Cloud 30 Coach Houseman: “We didn’t play very well tonight. I am always thankful for the win, but I am trying to challenge our kids to develop the mindset that we are competing against ourselves. Each day we step on the floor, we are trying to execute to perfection. Obviously perfection is unattainable in basketball, but the closer we get to it, the better we are as a team. We need to focus on what we do, not who our opponent is. Each player and coach does their job to the best of their ability and we can’t lose. We need to Win the Day everyday!” Nathan Slowik led the Red Devils in scoring with 21 points, Lukas Ramaekers hit for 17 and Aidan Poling added 9. Big Rapids 52 Newaygo 41 The Lions held tough on the road against the Cardinals trailing by just a point at the break but the hosts took charge in the third building a 7 point lead the visitors could not overcome. Coach Barrette: “We played hard, but could not find the bottom of the basket tonight. We were outscored by 11 from the free throw line.” Wyatt Mortenson led the Lions with 10 points, Ashton Stephens hit for 9 and Dave Gonzalez finished with 7. Newaygo (1-1, 2-4) travels to Fremont Tuesday to face the Packers. Grant 69 Chippewa Hills 32 Lakeview 45 Hesperia 23 Reed City 75 Tri County 61  Photo by Alexis Mercer Boys Newaygo at Big Rapids The Lions have won twice. Those teams have a combined record of 0-8 Big Rapids has lost twice. Those teams have a record of 10-0. They’re in BR, the Cards have a very strong starting 5 and don’t lose a lot with the first few off the bench. Newaygo will give it all they’ve got, but it is going to be an uphill battle trying to contain the speed and firepower the Cardinals possess. Central Montcalm at Fremont The Hornets have faced one team with a winning record and that was 3 days ago when Morley took them down in Stanton by a 16 point margin. Granted the ‘Hawks are a good team but so are the Packers. Add to that the visit to the Packer home court. Few places can match the crowds that fill the gym on game nights and the boisterous student section makes their presence known with authority. Look for the hosts to come out using their speed and stifling defense to grab an early lead and if any of their sharpshooters are hitting it will be tough for the Hornets to put any sting into their game. Grant at Chippewa Hills The Tigers need a win. They have knocked on the door in their first 3 without a win then after taking down Reed City they went south to face a couple of strong OK teams losing big to a D-1 Chix team and falling a bit short against the Falcons of WC. This might be the game they need to get back in the W column. None of the three teams the Warriors have lost to possess a winning record and only once have they been within 20 points. The Tigers as we have said, are a better team than their record indicates and this is the third of 5 road games in a row before facing Newaygo at home a week from next Tuesday. Holton at White Cloud The Red Devils have looked strong in the early part of the season. Though their 3 wins came against squads with losing records they have been most impressive in the games they have lost holding leads and staying close to 3 teams with a combined record of 17-0. Finishing has been an issue in those games. Tonight they visit White Cloud, a team that has improved a good deal but doesn't look to have the horses to keep up with the Devils. Holton is averaging over 10 points a game more than the Cloud who struggle on the offensive end and the RD’s have played a rougher schedule going in. Not saying WC can’t pull one out on their home court but a lot would likely have to go their way. Hesperia at Lakeview One team will get off the schneid as both sit at 0-5 thus far. The Wildcats don’t score much but the Panthers average under 30 a game including managing just 13 points at Newaygo earlier this week. Morley Stanwood at Kent City A battle for early Silver supremacy. The ‘Hawks have torn through their schedule thus far but that schedule has been easier than the path KC has taken. While they look to be pretty even going in the Eagles are at home and the two losses before the break came against high quality teams with postseason aspirations. Should be a really good one. Tri County at Reed City The good news is the Vikes have won 2 in a row making them undefeated against teams who are winless. The not so good news? Against the better teams on the schedule the results were not so good as MS and BR each won handily. The other good news? They play another winless team tonight. The other not so good news? They play at Reed City, traditionally a tough place for visiting teams. Girls Newaygo at Big Rapids The Lions have a chance to step up on the road when they face a Cardinal team possessing a good defense and a sporadic but occasionally prolific offense. The Lions also can slap an in-your-face defense on opponents and can score in spurts so it could well be a back and forth battle. With as many as 5 teams in contention for the title this one looms large for both teams. It’s on the Cardinal court but the road doesn’t seem to trouble the Lions. They have a toughness to them and when the offense is clicking they are tough to beat. Central Montcalm at Fremont Two more teams who will battle for the top spot in the Gold. The Packers were impressive in the way they clawed back against the Cardinals and grinded out a low scoring win with defense and sheer resilience. The Hornets have filled in their graduation gaps pretty well and while not the powerhouse of last year they know how to win and staved off a serious late run by the Lions. While the comeback against BR was admirable the Pack needs to score early tonight or CM will creep ahead and suddenly be up 10 points and game management is one of the Hornet strengths. Grant at Chippewa Hills As always the Tigers are having another enigmatic season with the lone win coming against a formidable Hornet squad. Three of their losses saw them in the game until the end and the other two were to teams with a combined 12-1 mark. The Warriors have trouble scoring and Grant has a good defense. If the Tigers can spread their scoring around they should be able to put up enough points to have a good shot at a win. Holton at White Cloud The Cloud has a bevy of scorers and can press a team into submission if they grab an early lead.They beat a pretty good Shelby squad earlier this week and we saw them take it to Kent City before the Eagles began raining home threes. The Red Devils don’t possess the scoring power to match WC and haven’t the defense to contain them. Hesperia at Lakeview The Panthers have yet to score less than 30. The Wildcats have yet to score 30 though they came close against Kent City and still lost by 53 points. Morley Stanwood at Kent City Two undefeated teams and while the ‘Hawks have a pretty tough defense it would be mind boggling if they could hold down the Eagle scoring machine, a team able to fire from distance with astounding accuracy. Morley can score as well and they will definitely have to if they want to stay close enough to pull out a win. Tri County at Reed City The Vikes have lost twice to teams with a combined 12-1 mark. They have beaten three teams with a combined 4-17 record. Reed City is 0-5  Newaygo 68 Hesperia 13 The Panthers are struggling to be sure. They’re not scoring much and they’re giving up a lot of points. Tuesday they faced the Lions. They hit a season low in scoring while yielding more than in any game thus far as they fell for the 5th straight time. The Lions took control early and never let go despite emptying the bench early. Wyatt Mortensen led the team in scoring with 16 all in the first quarter. David Gonzales finished with 9 and Carlos Magana grabbed a half dozen boards and fired in 10 points. Coach Barrette: “A good team win. We did a good job of sharing the ball tonight.” Newaygo (1-1, 2-3) faces another Silver team Wednesday when they travel to Morley Stanwood to face the undefeated ‘Hawks. The Panthers (0-2, 0-5) will visit Lakeview (0-3, 0-5) on Friday. Holton 61 Wyoming Lee 35 Coach Houseman: “Everyone got minutes and it was a nice team win.” Nathan Slowik hit for 23 points, Aidan Poling drained 21, and Lukas Ramaekers also finished in double figures with 10. The Red Devils (1-1, 3-3) return to Silver action Friday when they visit White Cloud. Girls Holton 49 Wyoming Lee 16 The Devils picked up win number 2 defeating the Rebs on the road.  By N3 Sports
An abbreviated return to the court for area teams Monday with the Lions traveling south to Kenowa Hills to take on the Knights and the Panthers heading north to face the Spartans. Newaygo- 47 Kenowa Hills 15 After edging out to a 12-10 lead entering the second quarter the Lions shook off the rust from their holiday layoff and ran away from their hosts going 35-5 the rest of the way to nab the non conference win. Jaylee Long led the Lions with 12 points, 7 assists and 5 steals. Emmerson Goodin had 8 points and 9 rebounds. Coach Thomasma: "Happy to get the win coming out of Christmas Break. The girls played hard against a well coached Kenowa Hills team." Newaygo improves to 4-2 on the year while Kenowa Hills drops to 3-.3. The Lions return to league action Friday when they visit the Cardinals of Big Rapids Mason County Central 40 Hesperia 32 Both teams came into the game hoping to grab win number 2 on the season and despite a late comeback by the visitors the Spartans kheld on for the non-con victory. Emmi Tinkham contines to work the glass for the Panthers snaring a dozen boards and Emily Bayle notched 16 points to go with her 3 steals. Coach Grodus:”This was a very physical game. We cut the lead to 2 points in 4th quarter but we ran out of gas.” Hesperia (1-1, 1-5) looks to add to the W column when they resume conference play Friday with a visit to Lakeview to take on the Wildcats (0-2, 0-6).  Photo by Alexis Mercer By N3 Sports The Gold Fremont 5-0, 2-0 The Packers are a good team. A really good team. The way they wrested control of the game from Big Rapids and triumphed over a very physical Oriole squad gives their fans a taste of things to come this season as they strive to match last seasons undefeated run to the Gold crown. Their other wins were against less impressive teams but gave the entire bench significant playing time without missing a beat. Try to shut down McDonald? No problem. Give the shooting sign to Zerfas, Kennedy, Moon Miller, et.al. There are numerous weapons on the floor and on the bench for this group of Packers and they are clearly the team to beat in the Gold. Newaygo 1-1, 1-3 The Lions got slammed by graduation and have a lot of new faces in their starting lineup. They are not going to matchup talent-wise with the best in the conference but Coach Barrette will get the most out of his players and Magana, Gonzales, Mortenson, etc. are scrappers Teams that go up against the Lions, particularly in the Den, will know they’re in a game. They return with a trio of tough road games against teams with a combined 11-1 record. Grant 1-1, 1-5 The Tigers are a better team than their record indicates. N3 Contributor Mike Gesler: “Coming off the break the Tigers just need to grow comfortable with each other as a team, and cannot rely on Chase and Schuitema to carry them.. When they distribute the ball and take it inside, they are a tough team as shown against Reed City.” Their schedule has been brutal with a bevy of teams deep in talent delivering a few lumps along the way but outside of a runaway by the Chix of ZE they have been in every game. They travel to Chip Hills and Tri County this week before heading a bit west to face the Packers.Their next home game isn’t for another 2 weeks when Newaygo makes the short trip south. Central Montcalm 2-0, 3-0 The Hornets have continued the success they had on the gridiron to the court with a trio of wins to start the season but they haven’t beaten anyone with a winning record yet and will face the MS ‘Hawks, The Packers and the Cards to start the new year. Those games should tell the tale of CM going forward Big Rapids 1-1, 1-2 Coach Ingels team will likely have an eye on their early February rematch with the Packers on the Cardinal court but in the meantime they look to be able to do some damage along the way. They have some talent, some strong bench players and while a bit streaky can run away from teams when things are clicking. Tri County 1-1, 1-2 The Vikes beat the Warriors but so has everyone else so far. They were out of the game early against BR and Morley handled them without a lot of trouble.TC resumes play against 2 teams without a win then play Newaygo and Grant who have 2 wins between them. Reed City 0-2, 0-4 Averaging less than 40 points a game is not going to translate into success on the court. It’s early but the ‘Yotes might be in for a long season. Chip Hills 0-2, 0-3 The Warriors will win some games. But likely not a lot of them. The Silver White Cloud 1-1, 2-2 The Cloud has a few players with lengthy varsity experience in Holt, Venema and Foster and a few newcomers as well. While they are unlikely to challenge the ‘Hawks and Eagles for the Silver crown they have a chance to win more games than the past couple of years and build a bit on that success. Holton 1-1, 2-3 A good team that has been close in early season losses to very good teams. The Devs might be looking up at the aforementioned KC and MS but they won’t be looking up too far and a win over either of those squads would not be a huge surprise. Holton will be in the winning column more often than not this season. Hesperia 0-2, 0-4 32 points a game won’t get you a lot of W’s but the Panthers went without a win throughout the regular season last year then made a nice run at tourney time. They face Lakeview in their first game back and this could be their best shot at breaking into the left side of the standings since the Wildcats are also struggling on offense. Morley Stanwood 2-0, 4-0 Tough defensive play has kept opponents under 50 a game and forged an early win streak.They return with 2 cross conference games against the Lions and Hornets before their faceoff with Kent City. Kent City 2-0, 3-1 The Eagles will battle MS for the Silver title once again and they have a tough non-con schedule which should help come tourney time. Hudson and Carlson can score but the defensive play of the Eagles that impresses the most. Lakeview 0-3, 0-4 The Cats are going to struggle. They are yielding over 30 points a game more than they are scoring. Granted, those were all pretty tough teams but 30 is a lot of points. None of their next 6 opponents have a winning record thus far so maybe things will turn around. But man, 30 is a lot of points.  Boys
Ravenna 58 Holton 48 Coach Houseman: “ It was a tight game all the way with a number of lead changes but I felt we ran out of gas in the fourth quarter. Ravenna did a good job of getting the ball inside and we didn’t execute well defensively. My kids played tough. We are very close to becoming a very good team. Our 3 losses have been to Sparta who has not lost and we led for a lot of that game, Morley Stanwood who is undefeated and where we led by as much as 12 or 14 but couldn’t finish it out and now tonight. “We have to get in better shape, have a couple of guys off the bench step up and give us a few solid minutes. We will continue to fine tune everything and by March we will be a very solid team. I am excited to see our progress each day in practice and every game we play. Ravenna has a nice team and I hope we get another shot at them in the districts.” Lukas Ramaekers scored 14 points, Nathan Slowik had 12, Aidan Poling had 9. Girls Manistee 37 Grant 31 |
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