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Long Lights Up Lakeview, Male Scorches Mohawks Newaygo 41 Lakeview 33 A huge 4th quarter propelled Newaygo past Lakeview and delivered their third consecutive win in a cross conference matchup with Lakeview Tuesday. The ‘Cats inched ahead early on and built a 6 point lead by intermission. The Lions came out of the locker room and clamped down on the defensive end, cutting the lead to 3 heading into the 4th. That’s when the Lions took over as they outscored the Wildcats 17-6 and came away with a solid win. Jaylee Long continues to show why she is fast becoming one of the areas top players in her first year. She canned a team high 19 points including a pair of timely triples and a 9-11 performance at the charity stripe while dishing off 4 assists. Madison Bush also reached double figures dropping in 11. Daisy Hagen continues to be a thorn in the side of opponents as she pilfered 6 steals while pulling down a team high 5 boards and notching 3 from the free throw line. Lillian Ruehmeier and Sophia Frisbie finished with 4 points apiece. "Another good team win for the girls tonight," said Coach Thomasma. "Everyone contributed in some fashion." "We must continue to improve. We got tough conference games the rest of the way out." And it starts Friday night when they head to Stanton. There are two Class B teams in the state without a loss. The Hornets are one of them. They have carved through their schedule with only 3 of their 15 wins coming by less than 15 points. They also hung the only loss of the year on a strong Big Rapids squad. The Lions (5-10, 2-7) will have their handsful and the Hornets are tough at home in the hive But this team has a bit of moxie and won’t be backing down from anyone. Undefeated or not. Grant 40 Morley Stanwood 28 The Tigers faced off against the the Mohawks in a cross conference game against the 2nd place team in the Silver. Both teams came out flat and struggled to get the ball in the basket in the first but the teams came to life in the second combining for 34 points. Grant hit on three triples in the quarter to take a 20-14 led into halftime. The Tiger offense continued to click after intermission but it was the defensive effort that kept the ‘Hawks in check while Grant behind the red hot hand of Cec Male continued to score in the second half pulling away for the win. Male finished with a season high 22 points on the night. BOYS Cloud Gets Number 1,Lions Make It 4 In A Row White Cloud 63 Evart 45 ]It’s been a tough couple of months for the Cloud cagers. They dropped an even dozen to open the season. There have been near misses including a heartbreaker in Hesperia and a couple games that were closer than the score indicates but they were still on the right column of the record with the left remaining empty. Until Tuesday when the Indians hosted the Wildcats of Evart and got off the schneid with a convincing win. “A total team victory tonight,” said Coach Jones. “Hopefully this is something we can build on going forward. Andy Newfer fired in a team high 24 points with Jared Elder hitting for 14 and Steven Holt notching 10. Friday they will get another shot at the Panthers to try to avenge that one point loss and this time it's on their home court. With a chance to make it 2 in a row. Newaygo 58 Lakeview 28 The Lions defense smothered the Wildcats to build a 30-16 halftime lead, then held the visitors to just a dozen second half points in notching the cross conference win. “We played with a lot of energy and focus tonight,” said Coach Barrette Connor Swinehart ripped in 14 points and Mitch Karrip knocked down 13 for the Lions. Newaygo (9-5, 5-4) will be looking to extend their winning streak to 5 Friday when they head for Stanton to take on Central Montcalm.
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Conference meet sets the table for Wednesday’s Districts
Fremont finished runner-up Saturday at the individual CSAA Conference Tournament to the host Champions from Chippewa Hills High School. The competition included all the schools from both the Silver and Gold Divisions. 8 Packer wrestlers earned 1st Team All-Conference and Honorable Mention honors. Parker Dalson was the 145 pound Champion. Alex Bordeaux was 2nd at 140 pounds. Elijah Rought was runner-up at 215 pounds. Placing third at 103 and 130 were Eli Beasley and Matthew Halasinski, respectively. Rounding out the Honorable Mention winners were Kyler Kolk, Chase Knudsen and Chaz Wheater. Grant finished 7th with Billy Ostyn 119lbs, Jimmy Montney 160lbs and Gabe Castro 285lbs all earning 1st team all conference honors. Ostyn lost in overtime 6-8 in the championship match to Connor Baird of Hesperia, Montney lost by decision to Zach Young, also from Hesperia and Castro lost a thrilling triple overtime match to Andrew Vinton from Chippewa Hills. Hunter Humphreys 140lbs earned honorable mention all conference by finishing in 3rd place, defeating Hunter Postma from Newaygo in the Consolation Finals. Final Results Chip Hills 265 Fremont 132 Kent City 124.5 Hesperia 104 Tri County 75.5 Lakeview 73 Grant 69 Reed City 60 Central Montcalm 59 Newaygo 58 Holton 26 Big Rapids 6 Team districts begin Wednesday. Division 3 At Newaygo the hosts will take on Orchard View while Fremont goes up against Holton with the winners competing for the title. In Kent City the Eagles will face Tri County while Grant grapples with Lakeview. Matches begin at 5:30pm Division 4 Hesperia will get a chance to advance with just one match as they host Mason County Central for the district crown. The match will begin at 6pm Story and photos by Alexis Mercer Girls Team Newaygo’s Varsity Girls team was coming off a solid win on Tuesday evening against Hesperia. Friday’s second consecutive home game would be against a team with a more aggressive approach and speed to back up their aggression. Chippewa Hills started the game just as anticipated: quickly moving up and down the court. But the Lions were ready and waiting with speed of their own. The first half of the game the teams were evenly matched. The Lions ran their plays, getting the ball where they wanted but not without pressure from the Warriors’ defense. The third quarter has been the Lions’ nemesis all season long, so it would be a true test if the Lions could make it through the whole game consistently. The girls set their heels in and proved that the 3rd quarter wouldn’t get the best of them. Going into the 4th it was a tied ball game. Freshman Jaylee Long took over. She was not about to let the game slip away. And the Lions were victorious over the Warriors with a score of 53-46. Jaylee Long had 19 points and 4 assists. Madison Bush had 10 points and 5 rebounds. Alexis Brocker had 5 steals. Lions Head Coach Nate Thomasma said about the game, it was a "great team win for the girls. They really gutted it out. We battled foul trouble all night and still kept our composure. It was a tie ballgame going into the 4th and we put up 22 points. Very happy for this team. We have dealt with a ton of adversity and they have stuck together. We had a good week of practice this week and it paid off." Newaygo improves to 4-10 (2-8 in the league). Boys Team
The last time the Boys Varsity teams faced off, Newaygo came out victorious with a final score of 69-54. The first minutes of the first quarter in the game on Friday night, it did not look like the same teams were playing. Chippewa Hills came out guns ablazing. And Newaygo couldn’t get the ball to the bottom of the hoop no matter what they did. With 2:36 left in the first quarter, Chip was up 13 points to 0. The crowd was quiet on the home side. It wasn’t looking good. The next 2:36 were a different story. The tables had turned. Newaygo went on a 13-2 scoring run to make it a game. The defense picked up the pace on both sides as well and the second quarter ended in a 25-25 tie. Coming out of the locker room in the 2nd half, the Lions were ready to dominate. The defense picked up, forcing turnovers and opening up scoring in the paint. A relatively quieted Connor Swinehart in the first half turned into an aggressive, scoring machine. Newaygo outscored the Warriors 24-15. The final quarter the Lions put the hammer down, working together and getting quality minutes from the guys on the bench rotating in. The final score put the Lions on top 69 to 47. Connor Swinehart and Mitchell Karrip both ended the game with 17 points. Cooper Heinzman scored 8. The boys improve to an overall 8-5 record. Patenge's winning shot caps emotional win
By Ken DeLaat Fremont 45 Reed City 44 There were only two blemishes on the record of the Reed City team coming into Friday’s game. After sweeping past the early part of their schedule with a 9 game winning streak that took them from November to mid January the Coyotes dropped two in a row, both at home and both to teams they are currently looking up at in the Gold standings. They responded by putting a pounding on an undermanned Newaygo team and knocking off Silver contender Morley Stanwood before heading into Packerland hoping to find a way back into the Gold race. Just two notches in the right column. Now there are three. Fremont put on an inspiring performance of grit and determination as they battled back from an early deficit against a quality team to hold home court with a dramatic win. The Coyotes possess many weapons and they had them out in force Friday. Kamryn Myers and Taylor Harrison are among the best backcourt combos in the league and Emily Libey can bust it up underneath. Then there’s sharpshooter Alanna Nelson who can can it from anywhere if given the opportunity. True to form the visitors started out strong with Nelson and Harrison connecting for three pointers early and a pair of trips to the line helped RC to a 9-2 lead. Fremont scored twice from the field and twice from the line to pull within one but the Coyotes stretched the lead back to 5. With seconds to play Sydney Noordyk grabbed a loose ball, stepped behind the arc and nailed a triple to end the quarter with the Pack trailing by just a pair 15-13. The second quarter started with Natalie Jamieson cutting through to the hoop for the tie. Myers and Liby answered before Chloe Shriver laced one form distance. Free throws put the lead back to 4. Paige VandenBerg hit both ends of a one and one and Calla Miller dropped in a pair from the stripe as well but it looked like the visitors would have the halftime lead when Alyssa Olds popped one in and her team got the ball back on a turnover but Riley Sweet dove in and caused a jump ball that gave possession to Fremont and Noordyk laced a pass to VandenBerg for the tying bucket. The officiating seemed to allow for a very physical game so players were bumping and banging throughout the first half and intermission did nothing to cool things down. Myers split from the line to start the scoring but when Swet fired a triple to give the Pack their first lead the crowd,particularly the student section, fired up considerably. Anna Patenge split a pair then Myers ripped another three. Shriver sent a perfect dish to VandenBerg who was fouled and converted then got the ball in her hands again after a stop banked one into the nets from beyond the arc. Myers responded with another triple and Jamieson answered with what appeared to be some version of a skyhook as she pivoted across the lane and flipped in in the hole for two. The Coyotes came on like gangbusters and with less than a minute left finally regained the lead when Myers their go-to player came out of a time out to make it 44-43 with a shot from the wing. Undaunted the Packers came down and worked a play but the shot missed. Patenge, who had been a force on the glass all night, pulled down her 14th rebound of the game and put it through the cylinder sending the lead back into Packer hands where it remained through the tense final seconds. Seconds that included a steal by Noordyk,an injury to one of the Coyote players, a missed free throw and a failed RC desperation shot culminating in a victory celebration for a game Fremont squad. The ever-improving VandenBerg led a balanced scoring sheet with 10 points but there were many heroes on the floor Friday. Patenge was a workhorse in the paint, Miller and Sweet were instrumental in breaking the Coyote press time and again, Noordyk and Shriver seemed to be everywhere on the court and Jamieson could be found wherever there was a loose ball or clutch shot to be made. Including that highlight-worthy skyhook. Fremont (8-7, 4-5) will face Big Rapids (14-1, 8-1) on the road Friday. By Mike Gesler Photos By Catalpa Photography Central Montcalm 57 Grant 32 An undefeated Central Montcalm team came into Grant to face the Lady Tigers tonight in a CSAA Gold match up. The last time these two teams saw each other, the Green Hornets topped the Tigers by 23 points. The Hornets are currently ranked in the top 25 for the state, and #7 in Class B schools. Yet despite Central Montcalm’s dominance on the court this season, Grant still came into tonight’s game believing that maybe they would be the team to hand Central Montcalm their first loss. From the opening tip-off, that conviction was exhibited. The Lady Tigers came out strong aggressively working the ball inside to junior center, Kylie Patton, who put the opening two points on the board. After a missed opportunity by the Hornets, the Tiger’s moved quickly, and found junior guard, Cecilia Male, open on the outside for three. Yet, like a cat toying with a mouse, that was enough for Central Montcalm. The Hornets settled in as junior forward, Hannah Putnam, drained two threes in a row that began a ten point run. But the Tigers were not about to get stung so easily by the Hornets, and managed some second quarter heroics to keep the game within nine at the half. The second half would be another story. Maybe it was a week off of play, or maybe Central Montcalm is just that good, but at times the Lady Tigers would look absolutely confused as to what was happening on the court. This led to some pretty easy scoring opportunities for the Hornets as they outshot the Tigers by 16 points with three players, Putnam, Vissman, and Wernette in double digits. It’s during these moments that it is not often easy to see the positives. But in the face of adversity, Grant was able to collect themselves, overcome some of their lapses of mistakes, and mount some encouraging play. As Coach Paulsen told me, “We just ran out of time.”
“I was especially happy with what we were able to do offensively and defensively,” said Coach Paulsen. “That is a great basketball team. I think we had a run out opportunity to get it within six, and we miss a layup. They come back down and get an and one. Those are big swings. We still got open looks. Miss some, and a team like that takes advantage of it. That’s what they did tonight. But truthfully no matter who was in there, we did believe that we could come back at some point.” The Tigers drop to 2-7 in the conference, and 3-11 overall. It would be Cecelia Male who would lead tonight’s Tiger effort with three threes for nine points, followed by Nichole Whan and Kylee Wemple with six and five respectively. Also scoring tonight for the Tigers was Emerson Cole and Kylie Patton each with four, and Kirstyn Throop and Alyssa VanSingel each with two. The Lady Tigers will now go on a three game road trip starting with Morley Stanwood this Tuesday, February 6, before returning home to see Tri County on February 16. By Mike Gesler Photos by Catalpa Photography Grant 64 Central Montcalm 45 “They’re going to throw everything at us tonight. Give us a bunch of different looks,” Coach McCorkle told me before tonight’s game against the Green Hornets of Central Montcalm. The Tigers were coming into the game after a conference loss to Big Rapids last Friday, and a week off to work out some issues and rest. “I really believe we’re better than a .500 team (conference),” McCorkle added. The last time these two teams met, the Tigers took home the win so there was a sense of expectancy from the home crowd tonight. Like déjà vu, the Tigers got off on a similar start as their lady counterparts did earlier tonight. Sophomore guard, Carter Chase, sank a quick two to put the first points on the board. An aggressive defense led to a quick Hornet turnover with senior guard, Tyler Naffziger, draining one from outside the arc for three. And that is where the similarity ends. The Tigers absolutely dominated the first half of play, and showed why they can be dangerous. Central Montcalm did their best to close in Carter Chase, but that left Naffziger free who scored 17 of Grant’s 35 first half points. The damage could have been much worse toward Central Montcalm. Grant’s aggressive press and speed created one turnover after another which the Tigers failed to take advantage. In fact this inability to capitalize on turnovers was probably the only chink in Grant’s armor tonight. “There were times when we couldn’t catch the ball, or we were forcing stuff inside trying to thread a needle and the pass wasn’t there,” stated Coach McCorkle. “That seems to be one of our calling cards on the year. We are almost unselfish to a fault. We’re trying to make too many passes rather than just go and score the easy bucket.” The second half of the game did not fare much better for the Hornets. While they were able to mount a couple runs late in the third and early in the fourth quarters, the Tigers would recollect themselves and dash any hopes of a Central Montcalm come back. In fact the last eight minutes of play would be Grant’s worst quarter, and even then Central Montcalm was only able to out play the Tigers by four points.
“I thought it was a good win,” stated Coach McCorkle. “We were really hoping to put together a nice full four quarter game. We got a little loosey-goosey in the third and fourth quarter. Maybe that’s because we didn’t have a game on Tuesday so you get used to practicing against the same guys, and it becomes kind of methodical. I’m pleased with the win.” Tonight’s game was glimpse of the team that Grant is growing into. One that could see a District championship if they continue to show the improvements they have been working on over the course of the season. Two Tiger guards found double digits tonight; Tyler Naffziger with 21, and Carter Chase with 17. Michael Frey came close to double digits with eight points. Also helping in the Tiger’s effort was Cole Chase (5), Conner Vanderwilt (4), Patrick Lancestremere (3), Frederick Hull and Alex Longcore with two, and Karlton Zerlaut with one. The Tigers go on a road trip next week starting with a non-conference matchup in Morley Stanwood on Tuesday, and then resume conference play against Reed City on Friday before returning home to face Chippewa Hills on February 13. Team stays tied in Gold title race
By Ken DeLaat Call it redemption. The last loss for the Packers was a smack down in Reed City so when the Coyotes cruised into town they knew it would be a game their hosts wanted badly to win. Though the visitors had dropped two in a row a win Friday night would keep them in the conference race while a loss would move them 3 games back and likely out of contention. Behind a stellar performance by Logan Karnemaat (18 points, 14 rebounds and 5 block shots) and a crunching defensive clinic led by Ben Schmidt, Riley Krim and a host of Packer players up and down the bench Fremont took care of business the way they've been doing it all season long. By somehow finding a way to close. The fan base might continue to have their nerves frayed by this group of Cardiac Kids, but say this for them, they know how to entertain. Reed City ran out to a 14-8 lead after one with triples by Zac Saez and Cody Kailing and the inside scoring presence of Karsten Koopman and Anthony Pelton. For Fremont it was Karnemaat who took passes from Schmidt Krim and Wyatt Kaastra for buckets and Schmidt sinking a pair from the line. The shots weren’t falling from anywhere else and the second quarter proved to be much of the same. Kaastra and Carter Moon scored on breakaways but the rest of the scoring was from the free throw line. The defense held their ground however and after Saez hit another from a distance it looked like a 4 point halftime edge until Micah Whittle nailed a shot at the buzzer to make it a 21-19 score at intermission.The second half began with a Karnemaat basket then after RC split at the line Schmidt fired a pass to Calvin Miller who gave the Packers their first lead at 23-22. The lead proved short lived as the Coyotes pounded the ball into Koopman who used his moves around the basket to stake a 7 point lead before Moon tripled in front of another Koopman bucket. 6 points down heading into the final frame Karnemaat scored and converted the foul shot to make it a 3 point game then he grabbed a board and rifled a pass to a streaking Krim who dropped it in. Another stop and this time it was Krim finding Kaastra who gave the Packers the lead..Fremont would tally another 5 points before the Yotes got back on the board with 2 minutes left. Reed City fought back with a Pelton jumper and a Kailing three pointer off a steal of an inbounds pass to tie it at 41. Karnemaat scored to make it a 2 point came and Krim followed with a steal but Reed City got the ball back. Down 2 with just 2 seconds on the clock the Reed City player was fouled when attempting a three pointer and went to the line with a chance to tie or even take the lead With a student section roaring at a level conducive to a noise ordinance violation the Coyote player missed the first. Unbelievably, the crowd got even louder and when he missed the second the place erupted. A purposeful miss on his final attempt was batted about and finally scooped up by the Packers who had the ball, the game, and a little payback for the mid month meltdown in December. “We talked at halftime that if we want to be a league champion, we have to continue to find ways to win close games even when we are not at our best or shooting very well,” said Coach Zerfas. “ Our boys continue to find a way when down and I couldn't be prouder of their grit and determination. “We have to continue to take them one game at a time and the next one is a big one. We do not play Tuesday so we will use the week to get healthy and be mentally and physically ready for our road game at Big Rapids Friday.” The Cardinals share the top spot in the Gold with tFremont and have but one loss on the season. To the Packers. |
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