Lion streak ends at 6, Packers keep share of 1st By Ken DeLaat Fremont 62 Newaygo 52 It took 3 minutes for the Packers to get on the board in the first quarter. And it took them 3 minutes in the 4th to build a 2 point lead into 13. Fremont kept their shared spot atop the Gold standings with a win on the road and halted Newaygo’s 6 game winning streak. A huge group of students and adults followed their team east and provided a strong cheering section to combat the “Jungle” inhabitants who are known to deliver strong vocal support to their Lions. The hosts scored the first 7 behind a Cooper Heinzman basket, a pair from the line by Mitch Karrip and a three pointer by Karrip before Wyatt Kaastra nailed one from distance, Connor Swinehart scored in the paint then after a Fremont turnover got the ball for two and added a free throw to make it 12-3 Lions. Enter sharpshooter Bailey Baddis who promptly fired in a triple, the first of 4 he would tally on the night. Defensive workhorse Ben Schmidt grabbed a steal and scored then Baddis hit pay dirt again. Meanwhile Swinehart was battling for points down low and the teams reached the end of one with the Lions holding a 16-14 advantage.
Newaygo pushed the lead to as much as 6 in the second before a late run of “Miller Time” saw Jax Miller score twice, and Calvin Miller adding a basket to pull the Pack in front at intermission 27-26. The second half began with Logan Karnemaat getting two buckets plus one at the line and Kaastra and Baddis connecting for threes. Swinehart did the Lion scoring to keep pace hitting a quartet of baskets and a twosome from the stripe but Carter Moon’s triple kept the Packers in front by 2 heading into the final frame. In the 4th the Fremont defense tightened and Newaygo could not get their shots to drop. On the other end Karnemaat connected twice more. The hosts were down 6 with 6 minutes left. The next 60 seconds saw a Calvin Miller triple, Baddis popping in another from beyond the arc and a huge rejection off a Lion shot by Moon a ball that landed in the hands of Schmidt for 2 points and a sudden 13 point lead. Newaygo’s only points came at the line until a Swinehart basket with less than a minute remaining. The Lions got within 6 but it was too little too late. Forced to foul they sent Kaastra to the line twice and Schmidt once with the teammates going 6-6. “A hard fought victory,” said Packer Coach Pete Zerfas”I thought our fans were great. Our student section, on the road, was so big it spilled into a second section. Our adult fan base was so large it spanned the entire section from baseline to baseline behind the benches. “That type of support gives us great energy.” Baddis finished with a team high 14 while Karnemaat notched an even dozen. Ben Schmidt was an absolute demon on defense and tallied 11 with Kaastra also reaching double figures with 10. Calvin Miller (9), Jaxx Miller(4) Carter Moon(3) and Micah Whittle (1) rounded out the offense for Fremont Swinehart dropped a game high 27 on the visitors while nabbing a dozen boards and Karrip hit for 12. Morgan Manlick scored all of his 6 from the line and Heinzman (4) Jacob Polasek (2) and Noah Cantu (1) also found the stat sheet. Fremont faces Grant on Tuesday while Newaygo (11-5, 7-6) will square off against Tri County who are still searching for win number one on the season.
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On Saturday February 10th Grant traveled to Belding for MHSAA individual districts. 5 Tigers qualified for regionals. Jagarr Jenerou placed 1st at 135lbs, Gabe Castro took home the championship at 285lbs, and Jimmy Montney was also a district champion at 152 lbs. Billy Ostyn lost in overtime in the championship match to finish 2nd at 112 lbs, while Kalub Bonter also finished up in 2nd place, defaulting to his teammate Jimmy at 152 lbs. These 5 Tigers travel to Fremont for individual regionals on Saturday February 17th. Top 4 placers from each weight qualify for the State Tournament. Fremont also had a strong showing at the Individual Districts The Packers qualified 8 to advance to Individual Regionals on February 17 at Fremont High School. Claiming championship titles were Cody Routley(103lbs) and Cade Breuker (140lbs). Both wrestlers faced opponents from Comstock Park and won by pin. Routley defeated Bailey Borgeld and Breuker beat Christian Maldonado. In the championship finals at 145 pounds, Senior Parker Dalson battled Seth Konynenbelt from Hudsonville Unity Christian and lost 8-1. At heavyweight, Chaz Wheater pinned Orchard View's Chad Tuttle to take 3rd place.Matthew Halasinski (130) pinned Blake Michael also from Orchard View in the consolation finals to finish in 3rd place. Finishing out the final three qualifiers that placed 4th were freshmen Eli Beasley (103), and Trey Breuker (140) and sophomore Kyler Kolk (189). By Mike Gesler
Photos By Catalpa Photography Grant 71 Chippewa Hills 52 oach McCorkle was not happy that the last time Grant met Chippewa Hills on the court, the Tigers headed home with a loss. Tonight, Grant had the opportunity to show the Warriors that the Tiger team they faced a month ago was a lot more ferocious than tame. The only difference tonight would be that Grant would have to overcome the absence of senior guard, Tyler Naffziger, who is on a one game team imposed suspension. Naffziger has been a crucial element in not only the Tiger’s scoring effort, but also controlling the boards. Freshman guard, Frederick Hull, opened up the Tiger’s scoring with a two point field goal which was followed with a three point bucket by sophomore guard, Carter Chase. And that basically became the theme of the first quarter. Of the Tiger’s 18 first quarter points, Hull put in seven and Chase drained nine. But Chippewa Hills’ coach, Eric McArthur, was not about to let this game get away so easy. Some poor defending against Chippewa Hills’ senior, Chad Schafer, by Grant, and some key adjustments by the Warriors brought the first quarter within three points. Within a minute inside the second quarter, Schafer and his Warriors had managed to take over the lead by one. That’s when junior guard, Conner Vanderwilt, answered back with three points that kick started the Tigers on a nine point run before a foul sent Chippewa Hills to the line. Despite a lot of sloppy play through the second quarter, the Tigers managed to survive thanks to the efforts of Vanderwilt, and went into the half with a narrow lead 35-30. “The first half I wasn’t very pleased with our defensive effort,” stated Coach McCorkle. “I thought we were giving up too many baskets in transition, and even our baseline out-of-bounds defense was not very good. We talked about it before the game what our assignments were. We knew #24 was a shooter, we knew #30 was a shooter, yet we kept leaving #24 open; he kept banging in threes. So I wasn’t very happy with that.” While these back-and-forth games are great for the fans and are full of drama, they are not a coach’s ultimate dream. The third quarter would be the fan’s quarter. Chippewa Hills managed to keep the game within easy reach even going up with a minute twenty-five left on the clock. Yet, once again, Vanderwilt found himself open outside the arc to help the Tigers regain the lead before the quarter ended with a 45-41 score. As one Tiger spectator said to me, “We have ourselves a game.” That fan spoke just a little too soon. The fourth quarter was all about the Tigers. Grant went on a ten point run, and then never looked back as they outscored Chippewa Hills by 15 points. Junior forward, Patrick Lancestremere, found himself much of the time in the right spot at the right time, and had a break out quarter both offensively and defensively under the boards. “I thought we did a much better job the second half of making sure we knew our assignments,” added Coach McCorkle. “We had some role player guys step up which was great for them. I’m pleased for Conner and Patrick in the way they stepped up because they work hard just like everybody else, and you hope they have those kind of games.” At the final buzzer, Grant walked away this time victorious with a score of 71-52. Grant moves to 6-5 in the conference, and 7-9 overall. Leading in scoring tonight were Conner Vanderwilt and Carter Chase both with 19 points. Fredrick Hull finished with 11 points. Also helping in the Tiger’s win were Patrick Lancestremere (9), Cole Chase (6), Alex Longcore (4), and Michael Frey (3). The Tigers will next face the Vikings of Tri County this Friday evening in Grant. Grant 44 Chippewa Hills 11
The Tigers came out with one mission Tuesday . Play tough defense. Mission accomplished as they held the Warriors to 11 total points including two scoreless quarters in picking up the win. “It was a great team effort,” said Coach Paulsen. Cece Male has had the hot hand for the Tigers of late and against the Warriors she knocked down 6 triples on her way to a game high 20 points. Tri County 53 Reed City 52 The Vikes took a lead early and stayed in front for much of the game but the Coyotes battled back to edge ahead and held a 3 point advantage in the final minute before Emma Overbeek knocked down a triple to knot the game at 50. Reed City came down and misfired but an offensive rebound and put them back in front with 24 seconds to go. TC came down and faced a strong defensive stand until the final ticks when Tricia Slavens fired a pass to Alicia Bowen who shredded the nets with a buzzer beating three-pointer for the win. "It was an unbelievable way to end an intense, emotion filled game,” said Coach Overbeek.” Our kids just kept battling. I'm so proud of our effort and the way we played through adversity tonight. “ TC avenged an early season loss to the Coyotes. Slavens finished with 12 and Bowen hit for 11. Grace Miller and Emma Overbeek each tallied a half dozen while Dayoni Mahlich scored 4, Julia Bice 3, and Errin Kamp Summer Longstreet and Taylor Reed 2 apiece. Tri County(9-8, 6-5) will travel to Grant Friday Big Rapids 55 Newaygo 34 The Cardinals have lost but once this season and with Cardinal senior Jayla Strickland completing her goodye tour through the league in style it was looking to be an uphill climb for the Lions. By halftime the Cards had built a 17 point lead. Newaygo came out hard in the third to gain ground on their hosts but could not get back into contention and dropped their second in a row. "We played better tonight than we did last Friday,” said Coach Thomasma “”We had a cold shooting 2nd quarter and just couldn't dig out of that hole. “Rebounding was the story of the night. We gave up too many second and third chance opportunities." Jaylee Long led the Lions with 15 points and 3 assists. Sophia Frisbie hit for 6 points. While Madison Bush and Daisy Hagen tallied 4 apiece. Bush led the Lions on the glass with 7 boards.had 7 rebounds. Strickland led Big Rapids with 21 points and 16 rebounds. Newaygo 5-12 (2-10) will host Fremont Friday. Newaygo 66 Big Rapids 64
Newaygo knew they were playing the top dog in the Gold Tuesday. Just last Friday the Cardinals took back sole leadership in the conference by defeating Fremont the only team to hang a loss on them this year. Until Tuesday. The Lions knew who they were playing and also knew they nearly came away with a win on the BR home court a couple of months ago. That game began a tough patch for Newaygo. A double overtime loss to the Packers was followed by an easy victory over winless Tri County, but losses to Grant and Morley made it 4 out of 5 in the right column and pretty much took them out of the conference race. After the loss to the Mohawks Coach Joe Barrette seemed to question the effort he saw on the floor an issue the team addressed during a practice session before the next game against Reed City.. They haven’t lost since. The Lions battled a tough Cardinal team from the tip-off to the buzzer and came through in the clutch to knock their visitors back into a tie with the Packers. Those same Packers who will be coming into town Friday. Newaygo edged to a one point lead after the first and the teams got to intermission with Newaygo doubling their lead to 2 points at the break. The second half saw more of the same with the Lions holding back the Cardinal runs and trying to contain Braeden Childress the primary offensive weapon in the BR arsenal. With the game tightening and a minute remaining Cooper Heinzman stepped in front of a driving Childress who committed the charge, his 5th and final foul of the game and the turnover allowed the Lions to hold on for the win. "Our kids played hard and were able to make enough winning plays down the stretch to beat a good Big Rapids team," said Coach Barette. Mitch Karrip fired in 21 points and Connor Swinehart grabbed 10 tough boards to go with his 17 points but there were many heroes on this night. Jacob Polasek set the table for his teammates and Morgan Manlick knocked down 10-14 from the charity stripe to finish with an even dozen. As to their 4 conference defeats the Lions have now delivered paybacks to two of those teams. The other two losses? Fremont (Friday) and Grant (a week later). And both are at home where the Newaygo team has yet to lose. Fremont 69 Central Montcalm 56 The Packers traveled to Stanton and came away with a win and a share of first place after the Big Rapids loss. Fremont jumped off to a 10-0 lead at the start and kept the Hornets at bay to secure the conference victory. “After coming off our first loss of 2018 on Friday, I wasn't sure what to expect tonight against a young, but athletic Central Montcalm team as we were without our two most athletic forwards and second and third leading scorers, Calvin Miller and Riley Krim,” said Coach Zerfas. “ We talked about how it would take a team effort to win and that's exactly what happened tonight.” Logan Karnemaat ruled the paint as he rejected 11 Hornet shots while dropping in a dozen points and ripping down 15 boards. Karnemaat also accounted for 4 assists on the night. Wyatt Kaastra and Ben Schmidt knocked down 16 points apiece with Schmidt adding 6 assists and Kaastra dishing out 5. Carter Moon also reached double figures finishing with 10 points and pilfering CM for 4 steals and Bailey Baddis was once again a force coming off the bench with 10 points and 7 rebounds. Micah Whittle also helped on the glass grabbing 7 boards. White Cloud 61 Mason County Eastern 51 Break up the Indians? The Cloud picked up steam after a slow start and pulled away from the Cardinals for their 3rd win in a row Monday night. “Not a pretty win “ said Coach Jones.”We were able to finish strong and pull it out. “ Andy Newfer ripped in 19 points, Steve Holt hit for 16 and Trent Jones finished with 8 as White Cloud continued to shake off a 0-12 start and keep their streak alive. 6 advance to State Finals
By Christi Evans The Grant High School Powerlifting team recently competed at the regional meet in Ionia, In the women’s JV class, freshman Heather Crosby, and sophomore veteran Abbi Konicki each captured 1st in their respective weight classes.. They will advance to the state finals on March 9th at Lake Orion High School. Varsity lifter Jaida Blair also competed well in a tough weight class, turning in some personal best lifts, but fell short of qualifying for the state meet. 15 men competed for Grant. JV lifters were Treyton Railling, Jonah Nelson, Brendan Keelean and Jarrett Railling. Jarrett took 2nd place in the 207 lb. weight class, qualifying him for the state finals on March 10th also at Lake Orion High School. Varsity lifters were Cody Cunningham, Emilio Garza, Marcos Garza, Chaise Konicki, Jake Phillips, T.J. Railling, Felipe Serafini, Jared Evans, and Tylor Perkins. Chaise Konicki took 2nd place in the 242 lb. class and Jared Evans was 1st in the 181 lb. class. Both advance to the state finals. T.J. Railling also qualified for state based on total weight lifted. The Tiger Powerlifters compete next at the Kelloggsville Regional on Saturday, February 17th and again at the Mona Shores Regional on Saturday, February 24th. By Ken DeLaat It was a festive atmosphere in the Cloud Friday night. A good sized crowd poured in and ‘80’s night’ had students and staff (including principal Ed Canning channeling some serious Miami Vice) celebrating that long ago decade I barely recall having been only in my 30’s back then. The school’s gym underwent a much needed facelift last summer and the refurbished facility provided an appealing and welcoming venue for the Silver Conference games on this night The always outstanding White Cloud Band was well represented as the pep band group kept that 80’s theme going all night with a superb selection of memories from the era encompassing everything from Arrowsmith to Michael. That’s Jackson, not Jordan. Both halftimes featured games between two substantial groups of pint-sized players who look to be the future of White Cloud basketball as they scrambled about the court passing, dribbling, defending and especially shooting. Shooting whenever and wherever they got the ball and though few possessed the oomph to get the ball to the cylinder one aspirant sank one bringing a hearty round of cheers from the crowd. It was indeed a festive atmosphere. And both teams won. Girls White Cloud 57 Hesperia 30 The girls team was looking to shake off a serious loss to Kent City whose Eagles are flying high and tearing through the Silver. The Indians came into that game last week having won 7 of 8 with the only blemish an overtime affair at Morley. The loss hurt and they were ready to start up another winning streak. They succeeded. After a few trips up and down the court with no scoring Alyssa Miller put the Panthers on the board and into the lead at 2-0. It was their last lead of the night. Hannah Brown rifled in a triple, followed a stop with another 3-pointer then stole a pass and sped downcourt for an easy layup. Her layup gave the Cloud a 7-2 lead and elevated Brown to the 1000 point club. The junior sharpshooter hit the milestone in her third varsity season and the game was momentarily halted as she was presented with the ball by Athletic Director Jan Tuman. The ball will be placed in the trophy case alongside the others who etched their names in the school’s record book. But there was a lot of game to play and the action soon resumed. The short break did nothing to cool down Brown who kept filling the nets including three more nailed from beyond the arc to reach intermission with 23 points. The visitors were staring at a 32-12 deficit as the teams headed to the locker rooms. The Panthers never stopped putting forth the effort but they were no match for the Indians Friday. When Brown wasn’t scoring Hallie Schultz was getting loose underneath and being fed passes from Alexis Strait or putting back one of her offensive rebounds. Strait twice broke away with steals ending in scores and Kayla Pasch came off the bench to add a half dozen as well. It was the Cloud defense however that was most impressive as they smothered the Panthers creating offensive opportunities again and again. “I tell you what that was a great team effort out there tonight,” said Coach Brown. “Our main focus tonight was energy. We’ve struggled with that at times but tonight we had it going on offense and defense. Our trapping worked well, the team just did a great job.” And Hannah’s 1000? “It's a tough situation being her coach and also being her father. I was glad to see it happen early so we could focus on the game but later tonight when we’re home I know I’ll appreciate it a lot more.” Emily Bayle scored a team high 14 for the Panthers with MaKenna Swisher connecting on a pair of triples to finish with 10. Boys White Cloud 63 Hesperia 44 Not This Time! When the Indians halted their season long losing streak at an even dozen with a win on Tuesday they focused on Friday’s battle with Hesperia. In the first game of the New Year the Cloud had the opportunity to stop the skid at 5 when they held a double digit lead on the Panther court. A late 4th quarter unraveling saw Hesperia escape with a one point win. Friday they jumped out to an early lead and never let the Panthers back in the game. Sophomore Steven Holt knocked down a dozen first half points and Anthony Newfer muscled in another 8 as the Cloud built a 31-12 lead. Hesperia continued to struggle scoring against the Indian defense. Scott Peters and freshman Isaac Parker connected from a distance but Newfer, Garret Ebert and Darrion Holland were effective in shutting down the Panther inside game.
Holt finished with an even 20 to lead a trio of Indians in double figures. Newfer tallied 12 and Jared Elder hit for 11. “We’re starting to play really well now,” said Coach Jones. “The stretch run should be a fun one as we .look to make it three in a row on Monday night in Custer when we play Mason County Eastern.” Big Rapids 58 Fremont 41
The two teams atop the Gold met Friday night on the Cardinal home court where they busted out to a quick 7-0 lead. From there the hosts never looked back as they built a 24-13 halftime lead and held down the Packers the rest of the way to halt the 9 game Fremont winning streak and knock them from the top spot they shared. “ We played hard and had many opportunities early in the game, but our shots would not fall.” said Coach Zerfas. “Because of the flu and other circumstances, we were not at full strength for the first time since before Christmas and we did not handle that well. Overall though we did create enough shots to be in the game, we just could not get them to go in.” Logan Karnemaat grabbed 11 boards to go with his 13 points and Ben Schmidt scored 8 with 4 assists. “Ben wasn’t at full strength and just gutted it out,” added Coach Zerfas. Carter Moon hit for a half dozen for the Packers (11-3, 8-2) who will host Central Montcalm on Tuesday before heading to Newaygo for the Friday game. Newaygo 77 Central Montcalm 61 The offense was clicking for the Lions as they hit intermission having staked themselves to a 45-25 lead and went on to notch their 5th win in a row to stay tied for 3rd in the Gold. “It was a good win on the road for us,” said Coach Barrette. Connor Swinehart led the scoring parade by raining down 19 points while snatching 11 boards. Jacob Polasek fired in 14 and grabbed a half dozen rebounds for Newaygo (10-5, 6-4). Big Rapids 37 Fremont 26
The Cardinal defense swarmed over the Packers holding them to just 4 first quarter points as they built a 9 point lead. The second stanza saw the visitors offense come to life a bit feeding off a defense that allowed Fremont to pull within a point at 18-17 when the halftime buzzer sounded. The second half belonged to Jayla Strickland who commanded the paint on both ends of the floor scoring 8 of her 14 while rejecting a quartet of Packer attempts in the process. The Cards pulled away for the win and remain in the hunt for the conference crown a game behind undefeated Central Montcalm. The same Hornets Fremont (8-8, 4-6) will hit the road to face this Tuesday. Natalie Jamieson led the Pack in scoring hitting for 9 points while Calla Miller dished out 4 assists and snared a foursome of steals on the defensive end. Central Montcalm 61 Newaygo 21 The Hornets are one of two Class B teams in the state without a loss. Friday night against the Lions they demonstrated why with a dominant defense, opportunistic scoring and enough depth to wear down opponents. The Lions scored 9 points in the first but it took more than two additional periods to equal that amount as the hosts stung them for 41 first half points and the rout was on. Newaygo hit on just 7 of 33 shots on the night. "Not a good game for us,” said Coach Thomasma whose team saw their 3 game winning streak halted. “We competed but didn’t play our best. Give credit to Central Montcalm. When we made mistakes, they punished us." “We'll regroup and get ready for Big Rapids on Tuesday.” Madison Bush led Newaygo (5-11, 2-8) with 6 points, Daisy Hagen finished with 5 and Jaylee Long and Lillian Ruehmeier notched 4 apiece. Tri County 55 Chippewa Hills 31 Freshman Alicia Bowen led the Viking crew with 13 points as Tri County evened its conference mark at 5-5 and moved their season record to 8-8 with a win over the Warriors. The Vikes jumped out to an early lead ending the first on top 10-4 then built on that advantage to hit intermission with a 16 point cushion. Emma Overbeek and Dayoni Mahlich reached double figures for TC notching 10 apiece with Mahlich adding 6 steals to the stat sheet. Tricia Slavens was everywhere scoring 9 points, pulling down 8 boards and snaring a half dozen steals. The Vikings will travel to Reed City Tuesday to face the Coyotes. Packers Prevail in Wrestling District
Story and photos by Alexis Mercer Four teams competed at the MHSAA Team District tournament at Newaygo High School on Wednesday, February 7: Fremont, Holton, Muskegon Orchard View and Newaygo. It was a single elimination evening, with the winner taking home the District trophy. In the semi-final round, Holton competed against Fremont and Newaygo against Muskegon Orchard View. Holton was outnumbered 7 wrestlers to 26, but took to the mats with pride. Of the 14 weight classes, Holton was forced to void 7 due to their small numbers. In the remaining matches, Fremont pinned their opponent in 6 of them. Christian Brooks of Holton won his match, earning the Red Devils their only points of the evening. Pins from Fremont were earned by Matt Halasinski, Cade Breuker, Trey Breuker, Chase Knudsen, Elijah Rought, and Jager Kibart. The final score of this match was Fremont 78, Holton 4. On the opposite mat at the same time, Newaygo and Orchard View were competing. Newaygo was also outnumbered, but not as significantly as Holton, with 8 wrestlers to OV's 12. Newaygo was forced to void 5 weight classes, while OV voided 2 (both teams left two additional weight classes open). Earning points for Newaygo while wrestling against opponents were Caleb Stevensen (3), Makiah McCracken (3) and Nick Simington (6). The final score was Orchard View 44, Newaygo 24. In the District Final, Fremont faced Orchard View. While OV was able to put more points on the board than Holton, Fremont dominated once again to earn the trophy. The Packers' depth allowed them to put a wrestler on the mat for each match. Earning points for Fremont while wrestling an opponent were Alex Bordeaux, Cade Breuker, Trey Breuker, Parker Dalson, Elijah Rought, Chaz Wheater, and Cody Routley. The final score was Fremont 60, Orchard View 19. Fremont will go on to compete at the MHSAA Team Regional meet. |
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