By Ken DeLaat
With a conference title on the line the Packers took care of business early against their game but undermanned and undersized Viking visitors. Ben Schmidt took a Calvin Miller pass and scored the game’s first points and TC's Cameron Friend answered before Wyatt Kaastra scorched one from distance. FRiend hit for another 2 and it was Riley Krim who took his turn from beyond the arc. A Nicholas Poprawski basket pulled the Vikes within 2 but it was the closest they would be for the rest of the night. The Packers held a 20-12 lead after one and in the second began to get the ball inside to Logan Karnemaat who absolutely ruled the paint on both ends. Kaastra, Krim and Bailey Baddis all took turns feeding the big guy in the middle and TC had no one to stop him.When they dropped off to try to prevent incoming passes Kaastra, Baddis and Jax Miller rifled in triples and the rout was on. By halftime it was 43-18. To TC’s credit they came out of the break strong with Bryce Hallman and Chase Jelinski hitting triples but Fremont was scoring on nearly every trip down the court and Karnemaat was taking care of business on the defensive end swatting away numerous attempts made anywhere near the basket.When the dust cleared after the third the hosts had a 27 point lead and the Packer bench emptied. The win combined with the Big Rapids victory over Chippewa Hills gives each team a share of the Gold crown as the co-champion Packers and Cardinals finish with identical conference records of 11-3. The teams also split their season series each winning on their home court. "I'm proud of the resiliency this team has shown throughout the long league season as we have battled people being out for injury, sickness and other reasons and somebody always seems to step up in their place.," said Coach Zerfas. " Tonight was a total team effort." All 13 Packer players entered the scorebook led by Karnemaat’s 19. Kaastra hit for 9, Krim 7, Calvin Miller and Baddis notched 6 each and Noah Christensen, Carter Moon and Jax Miller finished with 5 apiece. Rounding out the scoring for Fremont were Schmidt (4) Ben DeVries (3)Caleb Koomen (3) Micah Whittle (2) and Julian Echavarria (2) For the Vikings Hallman paced the offense with 15 points, Jelinski hit for a dozen, and Poprawski finished with 10. Others in the book for TC were Friend (8) Jacob Kaltz (5) Macario Castillo (4) Hunter Merchant (2) and Hunter Blake (2). Fremont will host Ludington Tuesday and travel to Montague Thursday as they close out the regular season before heading to Tri County Monday March 5th to bergin District play against these same Vikings.
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Four Tigers, Four Packers and a Lion will be descending on Ford Field for the state individual wrestling tournament next Friday and Saturday. The Fremont Four competed at the Regional competition held in the Packer gym. At 103 pounds Cody Routley was the champion, defeating Bailey Borgeld of Comstock Park by a score of 5-2. Cade Breuker was also crowned the Regional Champion at 140 pounds after pinning Christian Maldonado, also of Comstock Park. Parker Dalson lost a tough finals match to Hudsonville Unity Christian's,Seth Konynenbelt, bya score of 3-0. He finished Regional runner-up at the 145 pound weight class. Matthew Halasinski rounded out the list of state-bound Packers, qualifying at 130 pounds defeating Blake Michael of Orchard View in the blood round to punch his ticket to state. Grant sent 5 regional qualifiers to Fremont. Senior Jagarr Jenerou took home a championship winning the title at 135 pounds getting 2 pins along the way before defeating Evan Jones from Kent City 8-1 in the finals. Senior Jimmy Montney finished 2nd at 152 pounds losing in the finals to Lane Allen from Lakewood 6-4. Sophomore Billy Ostyn also finished 2nd at 112 pounds, losing in the finals to Hunter Heath from Niles Brandywine. Senior Kalub Bonter took home the 3rd place medal at 152 pounds, winning in the consolation finals by tech fall over Tommy Shawl of Orchard View. Senior Gabe Castro 285 pounds came up just short losing in the third round, also known as the blood round, to his Grand Rapids Catholic Central opponent in quadruple overtime by a heartbreaking one point. Ostyn, Bonter and Montney are making their second appearance at state while Jenerou heads to the Motor City for a school record third run at state. Makiah McCracken of Newaygo will be the lone Lion heading east and will be joining Fremont’s Dalson in the 145 pound class. The tournament begins Friday March 2 at 11:45 with the Grand March before competition kicks off at noon.
Here are the anticipated matchups for the Near North Nine. Cody Routley vs.Nolan Rodriguez, Alma 103 Matthew Halasinski vs. Christian Killion, Dundee Cade Breuker vs. Cole Hansen, Gladstone Parker Dalson vs. Ethan Wyatt, Richmond Makiah McCracken vs. Alex Roberts, Richmond Billy Ostyn vs. Dawson Giesken, Chesaning Jagarr Jenerou vs, Maximas Kyser, Shepard James Montney vs. Garrett Morris, Ogemaw Heights Kalub Bonter vs. Jaycob Sharp, Chippewa Hills Another 6 Tiger Lifters Qualify for the State Meet
By Christi Evans 5 women and 10 men represented Grant at the Kelloggsville Regional Powerlifting Meet on Saturday, February 17th. Ten medaled or met the qualifying standard for the State Meet, six of whom were new qualifiers. In the women’s competition, JV lifters previous qualifier Abbi Konicki and new qualifier Emma Robeck brought home medals, Abbi taking 2nd in her weight class and Emma taking 3rd. Varsity women Kaitlyn Pascoe and Miriam Delgado both qualified for State, Kaitlyn by taking 2nd in her weight class and Miriam by meeting the qualifying standard for total pounds lifted. On the men’s side of the day, 4 men lifted for the JV. 8th grader Treyton Railing qualified for State with his 3rd place finish in the 165 lb weight class. Of the 6 Varsity lifters, 5 medaled: Jared Evans with a 1st place win in the 181 lb weight class, T.J. Railing with a 1st place win in the 194 lb weight class, Chaise Konicki with a 1st place win in the 242 lb weight class, Marcos Garza with 2nd place in the super heavyweight class, and Cody Cunningham with 3rd place in the super heavyweight class, just 5 pounds behind his teammate. Correction from the Ionia meet report: We learned that in the previous meet at Ionia, Varsity lifter Jaida Blair did qualify for the women’s state meet by meeting the standard for total pounds lifted. The Tigers now have 12 lifters who have qualified to compete at the State Meet on March 9th and 10th at Lake Orion High School. The women’s meet is on the 9th and the men’s on the 10th. Lifters who haven’t yet qualified will have one more opportunity at the final regional meet on Saturday, February 24th at Mona Shores High School. By Mike Gesler Photos by Catalpa Photography Grant 55 Fremont 46 Fremont came into Grant’s house tonight with one goal; take care of business. They needed a win to stay tied with Big Rapids atop the CSAA Gold conference. They also knew this was not going to be an easy task. The last time these two teams met, Grant came dangerously close to taking one away from Fremont. If it wasn’t for some heroic last minute steals by Riley Krim, Fremont would have lost to their Newaygo County rivals. But in order to secure a win tonight, Fremont needed to shut down Grant’s Carter Chase and Tyler Naffziger. In their last meeting, the Packer’s successfully kept Chase to one point, but Naffziger was able to run up 14 in the near loss. It would be the Packer’s center, Logan Karnemaat, that would find the net first, and put Fremont on the board well into a minute of play. Grant’s Fredrick Hull answered back with three for the Tigers, but that’s about as easy as the first quarter would go for the Tigers. While Grant was getting good looks against Fremont’s zone defense, their shooters struggled to find the hoop. Couple that with Fremont’s dominance off the boards, and the first quarter could not end soon enough for the Tigers. “We started awful, awful. Couldn’t find the hoop in the first quarter at least,” stated Grant’s Coach McCorkle. With only a pair of threes by Grant to show in the first, Fremont dominated 14-6. Grant finally settled in during the second quarter, and started chipping away at Fremont’s eight point lead. While they were still suffering at the hands of Fremont’s Karnemaat, a pair of threes by Grant’s Hull would pull the Tigers within two. A last minute run stretched the Packer’s lead back to 6 before the half buzzer sounded as both teams headed to the locker rooms with Fremont on top 27-21. “We could have been up ten to fifteen in the first quarter, and we just weren’t. We had an enormous amount of turnovers and missed shots early,” stated Fremont’s Coach Zerfas. Just like the start of the game, it would be almost two minutes into the third before either team could find the basket. Only this time it would be Grant to strike first finding junior Patrick Lancestremere inside for two. It didn’t take long after that for Fremont’s Karnemaat to answer back and put in two of his own. With two minutes left in the third after a quick little run, Grant found themselves with the lead for the first time since Hull opened the Tiger’s scoring effort in the first. Both crowds now on their feet and electrifying Grant’s gym, the two teams found themselves in a battle to gain or regain the lead. At the end of the third, Fremont still maintained the lead only now the margin was two points 36-34. The Packers probably wish that basketball was like hockey with only three periods of play rather than four quarters. As the lead would continue to change hands throughout the first half of the fourth, it would be a pair of threes from Grant’s Hull and Cole Chase that would give Grant a four point edge. Fremont was able to answer back until the Tigers went on a six point run before the Packers called a time out with a minute forty left on the clock.
“Same exact thing happen in the first game, and it led to us being down six with four minutes to go, I think we were tonight too, and we just made a big time comeback in that one,” Coach Zerfas expressed. The question would be could Fremont make another comeback. They certainly had been successful at shutting down Grant’s Carter Chase and Zaffzinger throughout the night. Only this time instead of having four minutes to work with, Fremont was limited to less than two minutes. With the clock down to fifty-eight seconds, like déjà vu Fremont’s Riley Krim found himself the thief once again with an open court layup only to be fouled Cole Chase. With a chance at a one and one, Krim missed his first attempt. With the Tigers back in possession, the Packers sent Hull to the line on a one-in-one with thirty-three seconds. Hull completed both shots, and the Tigers extended their lead 51-44. The Packers weren’t quite ready to pack it in just yet. Senior Ben Schmidt would net a quick two points for the Packers, and close the gap to a manageable five points. Unfortunately, Fremont fouled Grant’s Cole Chase who got the points and was sent to the line only to miss his bonus shot. Now down to twenty seconds, Fremont struggled to find the net. To add to Fremont’s misery, Schmidt fouled Naffziger moving Grant into double bonus with eight and a half seconds left on the clock. Naffziger converted both shots, and that was too much for the Packers. Grant defended their home court with a final of 55-46. “It was great. I was proud of the boys,” shared Coach McCorkle. “Got it together a little bit in the second half. We were missing free throws. We were missing layups. But defensively, I thought we really turned it around. Especially late third quarter when we made that run to get ahead. And the fourth quarter, Patrick played outstanding. He neutralized #50, Logan Karnemaat, really well. The guy still is still going to get his points, he’s 6’ 8”, but I thought we did a really good job. Everybody knew their assignments, and we kept attacking. Again, another night where Carter Chase had an off night. We had some other guys step up. Freddy Hull stepped up big. Cole Chase was big down the stretch with some minutes. Overall, I couldn’t be more happier for the guys. Senior night, last home game, that’s the way you want to go out.” “Grant completely outplayed us. They were more aggressive,” lamented Coach Zerfas. “Their pressure did not allow us to get the ball down low, or their pressure got into our heads and we did not get the ball down low is a better way to put it. I mean Logan had twenty-three, and he should have had forty. I thought that #3, Hull, was the best player on the court. He had a great game. He just played really well. His defense on the ball was very good, and we didn’t handle it well and get into our offense as well.” While Coach McCorkle was hoping to hand a gift basket to Big Rapids, Big Rapids didn’t take care of things on their end losing to Reed City. That means both Fremont and Big Rapids remain tied atop the CSAA Gold with only one conference game left a piece. Fremont will be at home Friday against a winless Tri County, and Big Rapids will at home against the 4-9 Warriors of Chippewa Hills. Two Tiger players saw double digits tonight. Freshman Fredrick Hull led with 20 points, and junior Patrick Lancestremere put up 12. Cole Chase and Tyler Naffziger each had six points, and Conner Vanderwilt and Carter Chase each shot four. Michael Frey also added to the Tiger’s win with three points. Grant will head north to their near north rivals in Newaygo Friday night before closing the season against Shelby in Shelby on March First. Junior Logan Karnemaat led the Packers effort with 23 points. Ben Schmidt and Carter Moon each contributed six points. Also scoring for the Packers were Riley Krim (4), Wyatt Kaastra (3), Calvin Miller (2), and Micah Whittle (2). By Mike Gesler Photos by Catalpa Photography Fremont 34 Grant 32 The last time the ladies of Grant and Fremont saw each other was on Fremont’s home court. Both teams battled it out, but it would be a 15-2 fourth quarter for the Packers that would elevate them to a victory over their CSAA Gold conference rivals. Tonight, on Grant’s home court, Grant would have the chance to pay Fremont back. With neither team in contention for the conference championship, this game would simply mean bragging rights or redemption. “It kind of went the way I thought it would tonight. I knew it was going to be a close tight game. Grant does a great job of playing defense. Their girls are very active hand wise; they’re always in the right position. It went the way I thought. I thought it would be a close game, and it was,” stated Fremont’s Coach Krim. Fremont drew first blood when Calla Miller put Fremont on the board off a steal and quick layup. With both teams in man-to-man coverage, finding the basket was not easy, but Grant’s Cecelia Male succeed inside to give the Tiger’s their first points. From that point on, it was game. Neither team was able to do much as defensively both teams shut down any opportunities. It wasn’t until the last two minutes of the first that Fremont’s Anna Portenge boosted the Packers with two hoops that contributed to a six point run, and ended the quarter with Fremont up ten to six. The Packer’s run continued into the second. Grant struggled to hold on to the ball. That allowed Fremont to amass six more points before Grant’s Savannah Passage ended the drought with a three point jumper. After that, the Tiger’s settled back into their game, and began to claw their way back. While Fremont won the battle of the boards, Grant managed to chip away at the nine point distance Fremont was able to create ending the half with the Packers leading 21-15. If the first half of play wasn’t exciting enough, the second half was a hold-your-breath-edge-of-the-seat-I’m-going-to-have-a-stroke exciting. Both teams picked up the battle defensively right where they left off. Neither team was willing to concede a basket. It would be two and a half minutes before Grant’s Jill Arends found the opening for a three point hoop, and started a six point run for the Tigers. But the biggest shocker for Fremont fans was the fact that Grant was able to hold the Packers scoreless in the third, which led to both teams tied 21-21 going into the fourth. “That third quarter was probably the ugliest third quarter I’ve seen. It wasn’t the greatest for them. I think we only gave up six points; six to nothing. We haven’t had one like that in a long time. It was interesting,” Coach Krim shared. With Grant having the momentum going into the fourth, something needed to change for the Packers. That something was again Anna Patenge who found the net for two, a quick Packer steal, and another two by Chloe Shiver, which swung momentum now in Fremont’s favor. But Grant was not about to concede the fight. With just over two minutes remaining in the game, Grant was able to pull within three points. The Packer’s found Patenge open under the net to boost their lead by five with only one minute remaining. However, with 46 seconds, Grant’s Jill Arends was quick to respond with three points, and bring the game within two. In the ensuing play, Grant’s Nicole Whan stole the ball with an easy layup opportunity only to miss. Fremont then overplayed giving the ball back to Grant who found Kylie Patton open inside again only to miss. With 0.8 seconds left on the clock, all Fremont had to do was inbound, and hold onto the ball. As the final buzzer sounded, the Packer’s breathed a sigh of relief barely escaping the Tiger’s den by a final of 34-32.
“It was a fun game; I mean it was really a fun game,” shared Grant’s Coach Paulsen. “I thought both teams competed very well. The first half, I think we got down eighteen to nine, and we were able to fight our way back fifteen to twenty-one. In the third quarter, we played a tremendous defensive effort; held them to nothing, and tied the game. Again in the fourth quarter another great back and forth battle where they ended up scoring two more points than we did. They made layups and got tough baskets when they needed to, and we did too, we just came one short.” The Packers were led by senior Anna Patenge with twelve points, followed by freshman Calla Miller with eight points. Chloe Shiver, Sydney Noordyk, and Paige VandenBerg each contributed four. Natalie Jamieson also added two. Fremont moves to 6-7 in the conference (10-9 overall), and will be at home Friday against Tri County. For the Tigers, junior Jill Arends led in their effort with eleven points, followed by Cecelia Male and Kylie Patton each with six. Also scoring for the Tigers were Nichole Whan (4), Savannah Passage (3), and Kirstyn Throop (2). The Tigers fall to 3-10 in the conference (5-14 overall), and will end their season before district playoffs against Newaygo on Friday night in Newaygo. Districts start next Monday
White Cloud 56 Ravenna 24 The Indians won their fourth in a row behind the high energy brand of shutdown defense that has fueled the streak. During the current run opponents have averaged just 27 points a game and with Hannah Brown on the court, the offensive emergence of Alexis Strait and strong offensive support from both starters and bench players the Indians have averaged over 50 in 2018 while winning 10 of the 12 games since the break Pacing the defense with multiple steals were Brown (6) Strait(5) and Elexis Plotts (4). Brown dished out 5 assists and led all scorers with 23 points while Strait canned 13 and Plotts hit for 8. Lanya Yeiter worked the glass pulling down a team high 5 boards. This Friday White Cloud will host Morley Stanwood before traveling to Scottville (Mason County Central) on Monday to begin district play against the Pirates of Hart starting at 7pm. Tri County 42 Newaygo 36 The Vikings moved into a third place tie with Reed City in the Gold with a hard fought win over a relentless Newaygo squad. Tied after the first, TC moved ahead to go in front by 4 at intermission. The teams continued to jockey for the lead before the Vikes went on a run late in the third to go up 8 entering the final frame. Newaygo clawed their way back to within one but the Vikings held back their visitors to lock up their 4th win in a row. "Give TC credit, they made the plays down the stretch to win," said Coach Thomasma. The Vikings well balanced scoring attack has been a key factor in their current streak of success and Tuesday was no exception with eight players tallying points led by Emma Overbeek (9), Grace Miller (8), Jessica Thompson (6) and Alicia Bowen (5). “I was really proud of our effort tonight,” said Coach Overbeek. “ We battled hard against a well coached Newaygo team. I love the effort and energy that our girls play with, but I also love the way Newaygo plays. It was great for our eight seniors to get a win in their final home game.” Julia Bice pulled down 9 boards for the Vikings with Tricia Slavens grabbing 8 to go with her 4 points. Alexis Brocker and Jaylee Long paced the Lion attack with 8 points each, Daisy Hagen hit for a half dozen while pulling down a team high 8 rebounds and Madison Bush took down 7 boards to go with her 5 points. Brocker also pilfered 6 steals with Long adding 5 thefts as well. Tri County visits Fremont Friday and Newaygo hosts Grant but on Monday these two teams who have already fought two close battles will hit the court again in the opening round of district play in Fremont. Game time 7:30pm. GIRLS
White Cloud 59 Holton 24 The Indians took care of business early as they ran past the Red Devils to give them 9 wins in the last 11 games. “We had good defensive effort and energy,” said Coach Brown. Hannah Brown continues to be a force on both ends of the court canning 18 points, dishing out a quintet of dimes and nabbing 5 steals. Alexis Strait hit for 15 points tallied 4 assists, and 5 steals while Elexis Plotts dropped in 12 points and pulled down 6 rebounds. Haley Foster came off the bench strong playing with tremendous energy and leading the team on the glass with 7 rebounds. The win sets up a battle for second in the Silver next Friday as long-time rival Morley Stanwood comes to the Cloud for the regular season finale. The Mohawks fell to Kent City as the Eagles wrapped up the conference title with a 61-35 win Friday night. Kent City tore through the league defeating all comers by an average of 35 points. Earlier this year the Indians battled Morley into overtime on the Mohawk court losing by a single point. But this Friday they’re playing on the White Cloud turf. The Indians want to head into the postseason on a winning note and while a share of second place might not be the same as a title? It’s better than third. BOYS Holton 48 White Cloud 46 The Indians have been playing with a lot more confidence of late and came into Friday’s game with the Red Devils looking to make it four wins in a row. They didn’t get it but they came close. Real close. Down 11 points halfway through the final period the Cloud battled back with a furious four minutes of play to tie the game in regulation before Holton edged out their visitors in the extra frame. “Tough way for our streak to end,” said Coach Bob Jones”This team has taught me alot this year and the never say die attitude is catching on.” Andy Newfer and Steven Holt fired in 10 points apiece, Jared Elder hit for 9 and Buck Seabrook added 8. Dalton Giddings had a game high 15 points to go with 8 boards Drew Trygstad tallied 11 and Nathan Slowik also reached double figures with 10. “On a more important note with the help and support from the Holton faithful and the hometown crowd we raised some were close to $1,500.oo to hand over to Team Connor.” “ I want to thank all the many people that helped in supporting such a great cause.” Team Connor is a funraising effort to help defray the cost of medical care for Hesperia student/athlete Connor VanBuskirk who is battling cancer. A gofundme page has been started for Connor who has been receiving treatment for stage four Hodgkin's Lymphoma since being diagnosed last month. By Mike Gesler Photos By Catalpa Photography Grant 85 Tri County 58 When you think of rivalries, you think of Grant/Newaygo or Grant/Fremont. Tri County is like the middle child; forgotten about unless they make some noise and act up. Nonetheless, Tri County came into Grant for a CSAA Gold Conference rivalry looking to capture their first win of the season. The last time these two teams met was on Tri County’s court, and Grant handed an 82-53 defeat to the Vikings. “They’re a scrappy bunch. They get excited to play us. There is a bit of a rivalry there. I don’t know, you expect games like that,” shared Grant’s Coach McCorkle. “All of these boys at Tri County have never beat a Grant team so it’s one of those things where we step on the floor and we’re already down in our minds,” stated Tri County’s Coach Delamater. “It’s a battle you’ve got to get through.” And with the Tiger’s only playing with eight men tonight as both freshman forward, Brett Long, and senior forward, Alex Longcore, were out of the lineup recovering, this may be the battle that Tri County has long awaited to break through. It would be two minutes into the first quarter before either team found the net, and it would be Tri County to find it first. However, the Vikings only lead for the night would quickly get squashed as Grant’s Michael Frey returned the favor with a three point shot. From that point on, the Tigers never looked back as the first quarter ended with a Tiger lead of 26-14. While the Vikings were able to double their score in the second quarter, and slow down the Tiger attack, it would not be enough to put the game within reach. Twenty-four of the Tiger’s 43 first half points would come off of threes. It was also the only quarter in which the Tigers would not score twenty or more points. With Grant’s freshmen guard, Freddy Hull, in foul trouble at the start of the third quarter, Tri County came out offensively attacking Hull hard. It would take just over two minutes before the Vikings succeeded in drawing a foul from Hull, and taking Grant from eight men down to seven. This opened up Tri County’s junior, Bryce Hallman, who became a one man scoring machine for the Vikings, and brought the game within single digits before Grant was able to adjust. However once adjusted, Grant took back control. By the time the final buzzer sounded, Grant handed another defeat to Tri County with a final score of 85-58. “I thought we battled hard; we played hard. We cut it down to I want to say single digits, or close to that, in the third,” stated Coach Delamater. “We just couldn’t sustain what we needed to to keep that going.”
“I’m happy we won,” expressed Coach McCorkle. “I thought with only eight guys again cause [sic] Alex has a foot injury at the moment, we got some nice contributions from some other guys. Conner Vanderwilt played himself a nice game again. Tyler Naffziger was outstanding especially with Freddy getting in foul trouble early. We did what we had to do. Not the sexiest win.” The Tigers scoring was led by Naffziger with 23, followed by 20 points to Carter Chase. Conner Vanderwilt also put up double digits with 15. Frederick Hull and Michael Frey each had nine. Cole Chase added seven, and Patrick Lancestremere scored two. The Tigers next game is at home on Tuesday night against Fremont as they move to 7-5 in the conference and 8-9 overall. Brice Hallman led the Viking’s effort with 32 of their 58 points. Chase Jelinski and Cameren Friend had seven and six respectively. Both Collin Kirkwood and Nicolas Poprawski shot four as Wil McClurken and Charles Hornack each sot two. Macario Castillo also added to the Viking effort with one point. Tri County will be at home for their next game on Tuesday night against Newaygo. The Vikings fall to 0-12 in the conference and 0-16 overall. By Mike Gesler Photos by Catalpa Photography Grant 27 Tri County 45 The Lady Vikings of Tri County came into Grant’s house tonight for a CSAA Gold Conference matchup. That last time these two teams faced each other was on Tri County’s court whereTri County handed Grant one of their nine conference losses. The Tigers were hoping to split the series, and return the favor since tonight would be on their turf. “I’ll tell you what, we used up a lot of energy and emotion on Tuesday in a one point win at Reed City. I was real nervous coming here tonight,” shared Tri County’s Coach Overbeek. Nervous may have been an understatement for the first quarter. Both teams played an equally matched intense press as they battled back and forth to exert their dominance. By the time the first quarter came to an end, fans were getting set for what looked like could be the battle of the century as Grant edged out Tri County by one point, 11-10. Lady Luck is fickle, and in the second quarter, she turned stone cold for Grant. Tri County switched into zone defense, and stepped up their intensity. Some sloppy play with turnovers gave the Vikings a six point run before the Tigers were able to find the net. Then a series of fouls would plague Grant, and give another six point run to Tri County. Mercifully for Grant, the second quarter ended as they limped into the locker room with only two points to show against Tri County’s 12 points as Tri County led 22-13. The third quarter would once again find both teams trying to best each other as neither team was able to do much. Tri County kept trying to work the ball inside only to find the long reach of Grant’s Kylie Patton denying any shot opportunities. For Grant, it would be four minutes before they would finally warm up and find the board. In the end, both teams only added seven to their score with hopes of a better fourth quarter. If the first half foreshadowed the second half, then it would be Grant fans that should be nervous. Once again, the Tigers couldn’t buy a bucket as they watched the Vikings adjust to Patton’s inside denial and begin to extend their lead. And while it gave the Viking faithful plenty to cheer about, the Grant fans were eerily silent on their side of the court. “We did get good looks, but I thought we allowed our missed shots to dictate how we play defensively and that’s never a good thing,” stated Grant’s Coach Paulsen. “In the second half, I think it did the same thing and carried over. Some missed shots and not being able to get anything going on offense kind of dictated how we played. Tri County took advantage of it; emotional, physically, and as well as on the scoreboard.” In the end, Tri County added 16 more points to their score, and walked away victorious stealing one from Grant’s house with a final 45 points to Grant’s 27. “Grant had one of those nights where they just didn’t hit shots. I’m not sure it was so much what we did. Sometimes you run into those nights in basketball, and they’re a better team than they played tonight,” explained Coach Overbeek.
Three Lady Vikings, Alicia Bowen, Grace Miller, and Jessica Thompson led the scoring tonight with eight points each. Emma Overbeek put up seven, and Tricia Stevens had four. Dayoni Mahlich, Julia Bice, Summer Longstreet, and Mickalia Sprik each had two. Taylor Reed also helped in the Viking’s effort with one. Tri County now moves to 7-5 in the conference, 10-8 overall, and will be back on their home court against Newaygo on Tuesday night. For Grant, it would be Nicole Whan who would lead the Tiger’s scoring with eight points. Cecelia Male, Kylee Wemple, and Kylie Patton each had six, five, and four points respectively. Savannah Passage and Alyssa VanSingel would each score two, and Emerson Cole and Brooklyn Presler each added one. The Tigers move to 3-9 in the conference, 5-13 overall, and will stay at home against Fremont on Tuesday night. Youth is served in conference clash By Ken DeLaat Fremont 46 Newaygo 30 The Packers prevailed over the host Lions in a game that showcased some of the area's top young players. Nearly 3 minutes into the game Chloe Shriver finally broke a scoreless tie with a pair from the charity stripe and was answered by a Lillian Ruehmeier bucket and free throw. Calla Miller canned a couple from distance with Paige VandenBerg and Sydney Noordyk following and the quarter ended with the visitors up 12-5. The Lions are a scrappy bunch and Madison Bush matched shots by Shriver and Anna Patenge. Jaylee Long sliced through a traffic jam for a layup and Alexis Brocker followed her own shot with a rebound and put back and the half ended with Fremont holding a 3 point edge. Ruehmeier hit the first shot after intermission to make it a one point game but that was the closest Newaygo would get as Natalie Jamieson scored twice followed by a Sophie Frisbee answer and two more Packer baskets by VandenBerg and Jamieson. Brocker laced a spot on pass to Daisy Hagen for a score byt VandenBerg tallied twice more and the teams entered the final frame with Fremont in front 31-19 Patenge split from the line and hit for a pair then Miller put a cap on it with a three pointer that drove the lead to 18 and put the game out of reach. Miller and Shriver tossed a blanket on Long and successfully contained her scoring while VandenBerg proved to be a tough assignment inside. “Our defense was solid tonight,” said Packer Coach John Krim. “It was a continuation of our second half performance at Central Montcalm where we give up just 13 second half points.” "We had a pretty good game defensively but the other side of the ball we struggled to put it in the hoop from field and from the line," said Lion Coach Nate Thomasma. "It's really hard to beat a solid Fremont team shooting 24%."
Miller led a balanced offense with 11 points with Shriver hitting for 9 VandenBerg 8,Patenge and Jamieson 7 and Noordyk 4.Patenge also grabbed 8 rebounds and rejected 5 Lion shots, Noordyk dished out 5 assists and Miller pilfered 4 steals. Newaygo got 7 points from Long with Ruehmeier scoring 6, Frisbie 5, Bush and Hagen 4 and Brocker and Mya Berwald 2.Long also pulled down 8. The game featured 3 starting freshman (Miller, Long, and Ruehmeier) and 4 starting sophomores (VandenBerg, Frisbie, Shriver and Jamieson). Newaygo (5-13, 2-10) will go on the road Tuesday to face a surging Viking squad while Fremont (9-9, 5-7) travels to Grant |
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