 Mystery Ref will not be working the NC Showcase Saturday Couple of rivalry games, a battle of cellar dwellers, and a Hoop filled Saturday awaits.
By Ken DeLaat Girls Newaygo (10-2) at Grant (7-6) Interesting game on many levels. There’s the forever rivalry of course. And one game separates them from each other in divisional standings. This Lion team is not the powerhouse Coach Thomasma took to the state finals a few years back. They haven’t got a shooter like Jaxi Long, a playmaker like Jayla Long, a defender like Kayla Fisk or a glass cleaner like Emmerson Goodin. But there is a similarity. They play a brand of team ball that keeps them in games when things aren’t going their way, they crush it on defense and they believe they can win when they take the floor. They are also similar in that they have gotten markedly better as the season has progressed. There are a lot of weapons here with Lathrop, Schultz, Schillman, Andres, Arney and others and when Hughes gets going she can wreak havoc on the opposition. She is one of a number of young Varsity players in the area who have begun to shine as the season progresses. Are the Tigers a different team than the one that was blown out of the Lion gym in mid December? That game was the start of a 4 game losing streak for Coach Delamater’s squad but since then they have won 5 out of 6 and their lone loss was to division leading Big Rapids. In that game the Tigers maintained a lead for most of the first 3 quarters before a Cardinal run early in the 4th sealed a win. Pleune, Obenauf, Thompson and Bouwkamp provide a solid defense and each knows how to put up points and Gee is all over the floor with a nose for the ball. Neither team puts big numbers on the board and both rely on a strong defense. The Lions have scored more than 50 just three times and the Tigers have gone over it twice. This will be closer than the one 6 weeks ago and if the Tigers play like they did against BR they could pull an upset. And yes, it would be an upset. Grant is 0-6 against teams with a winning record so far. Newaygo has a winning record. White Cloud (4-7) at Morley Stanwood (9-3) Another rivalry game that saw a blowout in their first go-round. White Cloud’s loss to MS was their third straight to begin the season. Since then they are a respectable 4-4. Coach Wilk is beginning to get some scoring from a few of his players but Vincent is the go to for points and despite being the focus of the opposition’s defense she manages to get the ball to the bucket. The team has gotten better but they will be facing a strong MS team fighting for a divisional title who play a methodical brand of ball that has worked well for them thus far. The Cloud averages about 30 points a game. The ‘Hawks average 50. It’s hard to see the visitors hanging with their hosts for long in this one. Fremont (11-2) at Montague (8-3) The Packer players are getting accolades even before the end of the season with Mia Clemence getting the Detroit Free Press Girls Athlete of the week while teammate Taylor DeKuiper leads the pack for Mlive athlete of the week. The two of them along with Chase, Noordyk, Shriver, Barnhart, Norris et al have been a powerhouse in the Lakes Division pounding the opposition. The closest any Lakes team has come was when Ludington lost to the Pack by 16. The last meetup with the Wildcats saw the Packers nearly tripled their visitors with a 68-23 beatdown. The Packers average 38 points in their 2 losses, about 30 less than their average when they win. Apparently if you hold them under 40 you have a chance. In this one it's not unlikely they’ll have 40 by halftime. Boys Newaygo (5-8) at Grant (12-2) Coach George has a good team. They’re fun to watch, they have a solid line of scorers in Hatch DeLong, and Phillips who each hit double figures most nights and they can be stifling on defense. The win over Big Rapids was huge and though followed by a couple of losses in non-con games they got back on track with a pair of wins over divisional rivals. They currently rule the Red with a likely showdown in Big Rapids looming in the regular season finale. The Lions fell a bit short the first time these teams met. 41 points short. The game was like watching a building being torn down as the Tigers never took their foot off the pedal and blew the Lions out of their own gym. In 7 of their 8 losses the opposition put more than 70 on the board and though the Lions can score behind Yearsovich, Miedema, Kerr, Toth and Reyburn they have to put up big numbers to win. In the last 2 games Newaygo scored 73 and 75 and lost both. A win by Newaygo would be the kind of rivalry upset that spawns stories for decades beyond the game. I have a hard time seeing it happen. The Tigers are a well coached, talented team. And while there are occasional lapses in their game when it comes to turnovers they seem to regroup quickly. If Coach Long’s squad can elevate their defensive game they might hang around a while but a lot would have to go Newaygo’s way for this one to be very close. White Cloud (8-6) at Morley Stanwood (6-8) That was a sweet win for Coach Jones’ team when they got by the ‘Hawks at home in the early part of the season. Cruzan, Robinson, Strait, Higgs, Zimmer and Canning along with their teammates had it going for a nice run putting together a solid 7-2 record. But Coach Jones was concerned all along with their inconsistent offense and they hit a 4 game losing streak that ended with a win over Hesperia earlier this week. Morley's going to score. In their recent run they are dropping 55-65 a game and the Cloud has only reached that number in 3 games. And it’s at Morley Stanwood, a tough place to play. I’m not sure the last time WC swept MS in basketball but they have a shot here if their own shots can find net early and often. Fremont (3-11) at Montague (3-12) The Packers have won three times and once was over the Wildcats. It proved to be their season high output of points by far. The Wildcats, like the Packers, have been challenged when it comes to lighting up the scoreboard although each have had one 70+ game. Fremont’s was over these Wildcats and Montague was against Newaygo. It’s a road game for the Pack and none of their wins have been captured away from their home gym. Tossup but slight edge to the Packers who seemed to have the Cats number in their first meetup. And if you can’t get enough of High School Hoops, Saturday is the Newaygo County Showcase, held at Newaygo High School. 6 schools, 12 teams, 6 games starting at Noon. Girls-Tri County vs. White Cloud 12pm Boys-White Cloud vs Tri County 1:30 G-Fremont vs Grant 3:00 B-Grant vs. Fremont 4:30 G-Newaygo vs Shelby 6:00 B-Hesperia vs Newaygo 7:30
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 Photos by Matthew Zerfas Fremont 80 Morley Stanwood 62 The Packers found themselves down by a point at halftime but overcame a spate of turnovers to run away from the host ‘Hawks in the second half. Coach Zerfas:” Throughout the game we would build a 5 to 8 point lead, then give it away with turnovers. After trailing at the half we again built a 6 point lead after 2 minutes of the third only to have 3 straight turnovers. After a timeout we regained our focus and ended up outscoring Morley 27-15.” Taylor DeKuiper continued to excel at the point for the Pack as she sparked the 3rd quarter rally by firing in 4 from distance and finished with 15 of her 27 points in the period. DeKuiper also took down 17 boards, dished out 6 assists and grabbed 5 steals on the night. Riley Chase knocked down 14 while Mia Clemance hit for 13 and added 8 off the glass. Taylor Johnson finished with 9 points and 5 steals and Ella Shriver tallied 5 points, 5 steals and 5 assists. Khaila Noordyk added 5 points, Brynna Barnhart counted 3 points and 8 rebounds and Anna Norris chipped in 3 points. Fremont (6-0, 11-2) will play their 4th road game in a row Friday when they visit Montague for a Lakes Division matchup. Newaygo 44 Ravenna 35 The Lions inched to a 21-18 lead at the break and the teams matched up in the third to enter the final frame holding that 3 point lead. The Bulldogs scrambled back and took a 3 point lead of their own midway through the 4th but the visitors exploded with a 14-0 run to secure their 4th straight win. Coach Thomasma: “Good tough win for the team tonight. Ravenna has good size and is physical and is a tough team to match up with. We tweaked a few things in our defense and got them to play speed up and we capitalized on some turnovers to finish the game. The girls made some free throws when we needed to finish the game off which was nice to see." Amaya Lathrop provided the hot hand hitting for 17 points and adding 3 steals and 4 rebounds. Ruby Hughes ruled the glass pulling down a dozen boards to go with her 11 points and 3 steals. Newaygo (5-1, 10-2) heads to Grant Friday for a rematch with the Tigers.
Tigers Stay Atop Red, Cloud Pounds Panthers Trojans Stop Lions Photos By Amanda Loucke-Booth Grant 53, Chippewa Hills 30 The Tigers posted their 6th straight CSAA-Red win to stay atop the standings a game in front of Big Rapids. Despite being held to under 60 points for only the second time this season the Hosts were able to hold the Warriors in check and secure the win. Coach George was somewhat less than glowing about the Tiger performance. "A win is a win. Our shots weren't falling and our offense was ugly but the defense played well to secure the W." Ziaden Phillips and Ethan DeLong shared scoring honors knocking down 16 apiece while Sincere Hatch canned 14. Grant (6-0, 12-2) will host perennial rival Newaygo in divisional play Friday Fruitport 83 Newaygo 73 The Trojans came into this one having won 6 out of 7 and fighting for the top spot of the OK Silver. The Lions had lost 4 out of 5 and nestled in the middle of the pack in the CSAA Red. And despite the loss the Lions battled the visitors in a game that saw Newaygo use some hot shooting to take a 46-34 lead into the break. The Trojans caught up and pulled away in the second half to secure the non-con win. Blake Kerr knocked down 24 points to lead the Lions. Three other Lions hit double figures including Hunter Yearsovich (17) Isaiah Miedema (11) and Ethan Reyburn (10). Newaygo (3-3, 5-8) heads south Friday to take on Grant. White Cloud 63 Hesperia 36 Coach Jones' offense has struggled recently but they kicked it in early during their visit to Hesperia outsourcing the Panther 22-9 and stretching that lead to 35-17 at halftime. Coach Jones:”We needed a win in a bad way after losing four in a row where we couldn't score consistently and became very lazy on defense. Tonight we looked to get back to basics and for the most part we did a pretty good job. Still a lot to work on but a step in the right direction.” Jayden Robinson led the scoring parade with 20 points, Kaleb Canning hit for 15 and Coleson Cruzan dropped a dozen. Others making it into the book were Brady Strait (6) Dante Michael (5) Reece Hewitt (3) and David Higgs (2). White Cloud (1-3, 8-6) returns to divisional play Friday when they visit Morley Stanwood.   
Vincent fires in 31 Photos By Brent Foondle White Cloud 56 Montabella 47 The Cloud made it 2 in a row with a win over Montabella and put their highest number of the season on the scoreboard as well. Both teams found opportunities early and the first quarter ended with WC up 16-13. The teams battled evenly the second and by intermission the Mustangs had trimmed the lead to 2. Coach Wilk:”While we were in the locker room at halftime we were able to strategize ways to limit some of their easier scoring opportunities. By switching up our defense after half we were able to go on a 19 to 9 run in the third to extend our lead to 44 to 32. During the 4th quarter we were able to find a nice rhythm while getting everyone some late game experience. We were able to take care of the ball, and for the most part we took good shots and finished with a win. “Overall I was really happy with the effort and intensity for most of the game. We executed when we needed to, and we were able to get some key turnovers on defense.” Andi Vincent had a huge night as she dropped 31 on the visiting Mustangs Addyson Cook also hit double figures knocking down 10 points and Payten Bird hit for 9. White Cloud (2-3, 4-7) will return to White Division play when they visit Morley Stanwood on Friday. 
 Grant 60 Tri County 33 The Tigers took control early in this one and never took the foot off the pedal as they evened their record on the season with their 4th win in the last 5 games. Coach Delamater: “We caused a lot of turnovers that led to points for us tonight. Jocee Pleune had several steals and led us with 17 points. She set the tone for us tonight. Alexa Obenauf had 16 points as well. I don’t think we played a great game. We still had too many turnovers and allowed too many layups when we pressed. The girls did a nice job of adjusting throughout the game. It was a good win for us.” Grant (3-2, 6-6) will host Newaygo on Friday. The Tigers are in 3rd place in the Red Division 2 games behind frontrunner Big Rapids and a game in back of second place Newaygo. 
Grant keeps top spot in the Red Photos by Amanda Louck-Booth Grant 79 Tri County 55 After seeing their 10 game winning streak come to an end with a pair of losses earlier in the week the Tigers were back in CSAA Red action Friday when they traveled to Tri County to face the Vikings. The first half saw the visitors bitten by the turnover bug and when the buzzer sounded for intermission the Vikes had grabbed a 3 point lead via their pressure game. The Tigers came out and solved the Viking press in the second half taking the lead then running away from their hosts and staying atop the Red standings. Coach George: "Tri County is much improved defensively since we played them earlier in the year. They play hard. We finally got it together with 47 points in the second half and played much better on the defensive end, too." Sincere Hatch led the Tiger attack with 26 points while Zaiden Phillips fired in 23. Also reaching double figures were Ethan Delong who hit for 11 and Zander Powell who canned 10. Grant (5-0, 11-2) will host Chippewa Hills on Tuesday before welcoming in Newaygo on Friday.
  Photos by Matthew Zerfas Fremont 72 Pine River 24 The Bucks were coming off a streak-ending win over a tough Beal City squad but despite taking an early lead they were just no match for a potent Packer team that eclipsed the 70 point mark for the 4th time in their last 5 games. After taking a 12-8 lead after one the hosts witnessed Fremont’s multi-weapon offense as they poured in 23 points in the second and held the Bucks to just 5. And they weren’t done. They blasted out of the locker room to fire in 30 points while the defense limited Pine River to just 2 and entered the final frame up 61-19. Coach Peter Zerfas: “It took us a while to get warmed up after the long drive up North, and we were trailing 12-8 after the first quarter. We had tons of good looks in the first quarter, we just missed them....then we got rolling.“ From her point guard position Taylor DeKuiper came away with 21 boards and added 9 points and 10 dimes. Mia Clemence (recently named the Detroit Free Press Girls Athlete of the Week) paced the Pack scoring dropping 21 points, adding 10 rebounds and grabbing 8 steals. Riley Chase canned 14 points and collected 7 off the glass and Khaila Noordyk continued her comeback from ACL surgery to tally 7 points and 7 rebounds. A long scorebook included Ella Shriver with 4 points, Anna Norris with 3 Ariana Tanner and Brynna Barnhart notched 2 and Barnhart also rejected 5 Buck attempts. Fremont (6-0, 10-2) will visit Morley Stanwood on Tuesday before returning to Lakes Division play Friday with a visit to Montague. Fremont leads the Lakes race by a game over Ludington  
 
Photos by Alexis Mercer Story by Ken DeLaat Newaygo 36 Reed City 25 The Lions went ahead early then held off a determined Coyote team to hold court in the CSAA-Red matchup. The early shooting was as cold as the temperature outside and with a couple minutes left in the first the teams were knotted at 4. Ruby Hughes hit a bucket and Naomi Schillman followed with a triple giving the Lions a lead they would hold throughout the game. But not without seeing the ‘Yotes make a couple of runs at their hosts. Midway through the second the visitors got within 3 with possession but a turnover and a basket by Amaya Lathrop followed by another deuce by Arney and the Lions went up by 5 at intermission. The second half saw Kija Schultz split at the line then hit a basket but Morgan Hammond scored from distance and was answered by a three from Arney. The 7 point lead took a hit from a basket then RC got a triple from Casey Terryn and it was a one possession game again. Schillman provided another clutch basket zeroing one in from beyond the arc to give the Lions a 6 point lead heading into the fourth. The fourth was all Newaygo as Hughes dropped 2 in a row and Schillman canned another three to stretch the lead to 13 The Coyotes fought back with a pair of buckets and another 3 pointer from Terryn but it proved to be too little too late and the Lions notched the win. Coach Nate Thomasma: "Gutty win for the girls tonight. Reed City threw a few different defenses at us and we responded well for the most part. We played well again on the defense tonight. Rebounded well and contested shots." Arney led the Lions with 10 points, 5 steals and 4 rebounds. Hughes hit for 8 points and grabbed 12 off the glass while Kija Schultz knocked down 7 points and Naomi Schillman finished with 6 from distance. Newaygo (5-1, 9-2) travels to Ravenna Tuesday before heading 5 miles south for the rematch with Grant on Friday.    Russell Toth fires from under the basket
Photos by Alexis Mercer Story by Ken DeLaat Reed City 80 Newaygo 75 The Coyotes hung on despite a last minute surge by the Lions and took the CSAA Red conference game. Down by 5 early Newaygo got buckets from Ethan Reyburn and Hunter Yearsovich to pull within a point but RC responded with a pair of their own. Russell Toth converted 2 from the line to pull the hosts within three but the ‘Yotes were controlling the glass on the offensive end and hitting from outside and by the time the teams headed for the locker rooms the Reed City squad held a 16 point lead. Heading to the end of the 3rd RC had a 15 point lead but the Lions ran off 6 straight to pull the team within single digits. Then the visitors went on a 12-2 run to start the 4th and the lead was up to 18. From that point led by effective pressure and the shooting of Blake Kerr, Isaiah Miedema, Yearsovich and the rest got the game down to 3 points. With seconds to go the Lions had one more shot at tying it up but it didn’t find net and they were forced to foul as time ran out. Yearsovich paced the Lion scoring collecting 18 points and followed closely behind by Kerr who canned 16 and Toth who fired in 15. Miedema, Reyburn and Sanborn each finished with 8. Newaygo (3-3, 5-7) will host the Trojans of Fruitport Tuesday in a non-con matchup.
 Coyotes look on as Isaiah Miedema lays one up  Newaygo High School Snowcoming Court  Mystery Ref hoping for a District assignment Lions at home while Tigers and Pack hit the road
By Ken DeLaat Girls Reed City (4-7) at Newaygo (8-2) The ‘Yotes have won 2 in a row for the first time this season but the Wildcats and Vikings are not the caliber a team as the Lions.It’s the second time around for these two teams and if the Reed City couldn’t beat the Lions on their home court they will struggle to even the series in the Lions Den. Newaygo has lost just one game since dropping their opener and it was against a Big Rapids team that has beaten up on the other CSAA-Red teams. Reed City is not Big Rapids. Not even close. This might be a play-in game come tourney time when the Lions and Coyotes head for a Fremont District that is absolutely loaded. Grant (5-6) at Tri County (2-8) The 2 Viking wins came against teams with a collective record of 3-17. The Tigers have won 3 out of 4 and in the loss to Big Rapids they held the lead for most of the game. Grant has yet to find their go-to shooter although one could make a case forGee who played an outstanding game against the Cardinals and looks like she is gaining confidence. I can;t see the Tigers losing this one and with 2 tough games ahead they need a win here. Fremont (9-2) at Pine River (5-6) The Packers didn;t take long to erase the Evart game as they pounded Lakes Division rival Manistee. Friday they face another Highland Conference team in the Bucks.Pine River is not the elite team Evart is but they have played well against a brutal schedule and can’t be taken lightly. The Pack will be ready for this one and should come home with a win. Boys Grant (10-2) at Tri County (3-10) The streak ended at 10. After losing twice in a row to teams from the River Cities Alliance (Sparta and Cedar) Coach George spoke to the need for his team to get better before Districts. Well, Sparta is one of the top teams in that District as is Forest Hills Eastern who beat Cedar Springs a couple days before Grant lost to the Red Hawks. Friday they play the Vikings, a team they beat by 42 points early on. Look for the scoring to return for the Tigers and likely a lot of court time for the bench. TC doesn’t have the horses to stay in this one for long. Reed City (3-11) at Newaygo (5-6) So which team shows up for Newaygo? They have had an up and down season and should have a good shot here but they will have to score early and often because teams put up a lot of points on the Lion defense. |
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