 Teams move on to postseason play WC photos by Brent Foondle White Cloud 51 Mason County Eastern 29 White Cloud ended its regular season play on a high note with a convincing road win over the Cardinals. The visitors went up by 6 in the first 12 minutes and inched their lead to 22-15 by the break.The second half saw the Cloud take charge outsourcing MCE 29-14. Coach Wilk: “Tonight we battled through adversity to come away with a good team win. Things didn't go exactly to plan tonight, and our girls adjusted and played their game.Another good team win where we were able to get everyone involved on the court. ” Andi Vincent had another high scoring night knocking down 25 points and grabbed a team high 7 steals. Addyon Cook led WC on the glass taking down 10 rebounds while Brooklyn Foondle hit for double figures with 11 points. Courtney Coon had a solid game finishing with 6 steals and 9 points. Now it’s tournament time for the WC team and on Monday they will head for Scottville to take on the Mariners of Manistee. Game time 7pm. Grant 60 Oakridge 31 The Tigers have been in need of more offensive production of late and on Thursday Jocee Pleune (16pts) and Payton Bouwkamp (14pts) delivered, combining for half of the Tiger points in a game that saw Grant match their highest output of the season. Coach Delamater:”We played some great team defense and did a great job of boxing out. It was a good game for us to set the tone going into districts next week. The Tigers took an early lead and never let the Eagles back into the game as they hit the break up 26-11 and outscored the visitors 34-20 in the second half. Their tournament season begins on Wednesday when they will face Comstock Park at Tri County. Game time 5:30 Fremont 72 Tri County 19 The Packers ended their regular season by cruising past the Vikings to make it 12 in a row in the win column. TC was never in this one as the hosts built a 30 point lead by intermission and a few minutes after intermission a running clock was put into play. Mia Clemence poured in 20 points, Riley Chase hit for an even dozen and Taylor DeKuiper rang up 11. Khaila Noordyk pulled down a team high 8 boards to go with her 7 points. Clemence and DeKuiper each finished with 7 rebounds. Grace Evans (6), Ariana Tanner (5), Breven Powell (5), Ella Shriver (4) and Taylor Johnson (2) rounded out the Packer offensive output. Fremont finished the regular season with 20 wins for the second consecutive year and now the team will begin post season play at home on Wednesday when they take on Newaygo. Game time 7pm.  
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 Newaygo 39 Cedar Springs 46 The Lady Lions hit their home floor for the final time this season in a showdown with non-conference Cedar Springs. With relatively similar records, the two teams were geared up for a battle. Tough defense was played by both sides the entire game. Despite the fast pace, all the way until the final buzzer sounded, the teams were sprinting the court and searching for steals. It was Cedar Springs that came out on top, but not after having to earn every point the hard way. Kija Schultz led the Lions with 16 points, 12 rebounds, and 5 steals. Amaya Lathrop 10 points, 4 steals and 5 rebounds. Ruby Hughes 4 points and 12 rebounds. Newaygo was down 11 points going into the 4th quarter and made a good rally and cut the lead to 3 points with three minutes left but couldn't hit the big shot to take the lead in the 4th quarter. "Tough loss tonight for the girls. We played hard and executed pretty well but we just missed way too many shots in the paint and from the free throw line. It wasn't from a lack of effort but you won't beat a good team like Cedar Springs. I'm proud of this group though!" Newaygo ends the season 18-4. Cedar Springs ends the season 17-5.    Pine River 47 White Cloud 29 Coach Jones: “We traveled to Shelby once again to face the #1 seeded Bucks of Pine River and held them to 47 points. The problem was, we could only muster 29. Offensively we struggled again with too many missed opportunities to make shots tonight.. Their length had a lot to do with it, but we held them in check. It was a ten point game or less for most of the night, but the fourth quarter they pulled away and our season came to an end. “Proud of this team as they fought every night even when we struggled to score. Thank you to our seven Seniors. You will be missed. Jayden Robinson led the way with 9 pts, Coleson Cruzan had 7, David Higgs 6, Brady Strait 4 and Kaleb Canning 3.    Photos by Matthew Zerfas Ludington 71 Fremont 49 The Packers came in huge underdogs to the Orioles, a team that had soundly defeated them twice already this season But to their credit Frmont stayed in the game in the first half slowing the pace down and displaying some excellent defense to hit intermission within 2 points of the O’s at 29-27. Ludington roared out of the locker room after the break and poured on the gas taking advantage of turnovers to run away from a game Packer squad. Mossen Green led the Packers with 20 points. Coach Powell:”I thought the kids executed the game plan well. Especially the first half. The second half we were late a couple times on rotations in the first 4 minutes or didn’t value the ball and that allowed Ludington to get the lead to around 10 early in the half. Ludington is a very talented group, with a great coach and they rushed us a bit in the second half which allowed them extra possessions. You can’t allow Ludington to have extra possessions and be successful. “The steps we took this year with a young and inexperienced group was great to see. Kids really started to adapt to the varsity level and compete. For a team that returned one rotation player off last year's team I really think they played well towards the end of the season. I think we built a pretty good foundation to build off of for next season. I am really looking forward to it!”  
 Photos by Amanda Louck-Booth Story by Ken DeLaat Boy did I get this one wrong or what? In the preview of this game I wrote,”I’m thinking a rout but it is, after all, the tournament and while odd things can happen, I don’t foresee this one being close by the second half." While currently on the 30 day DL I couldn’t make it to the game but I’d watched this Tiger team in action and knew what they were capable of. DeLong, Phillips, Hatch, Booth, Rider, Swanson and more took the floor 22 times during the regular season and delivered 20 wins. 20 wins and an outright conference championship. Granted there had been no opportunity to see the Panthers in action but in looking at their record I saw they had won once in November, went 0 for December, then collected another win in late January before taking out Tri County on Monday. And then in the semi they pulled off the win over what has been a really tough Tiger team. Grant has had a great season and no one can take that away from them. They gave their fans a lot to cheer for and Coach George has been masterful guiding them to their season-long success. In the end they might have come up short but to put it in perspective there are 755 high school teams playing basketball in the state and there are only 4 who don’t end their season with a loss. Coach George: “"We needed to be better tonight in several areas, probably including my coaching, but I'm very proud of these guys and the season we had. We will continue to get better. “On behalf of the team and my coaches I want to thank the families and members of the Grant community who supported us all year. You're the best." Blake Rider led the Tigers in scoring with 15, Zaiden Phillips hit for 14 and Jack Swanson finished with 10.  
 Newaygo District Fremont vs. Ludington The Packers got past Reed City Monday behind a strong defense and a well balanced offensive attack led by Reddick Powell’s 20. Now they face an Oriole squad who has owned them this season with 2 lopsided wins by an average of 32 points. That’s a lot of points to make up. This would be a gargantuan upset if the Packers were to prevail and there is a reason Ludington is one of the top two seeds in this District. Here’s hoping Fremont makes a game of it long enough to come out of the break within shouting distance. One thing for sure, they will give it all they got, but an upset is likely asking for a lot. A whole lot. Big Rapids vs. Hart A battle between runners-up in the WMC Rivers and the CSAA Red Both teams lost to Grant (BR twice) and both beat Newaygo (BR twice). Big Rapids has only faced 4 teams with a winning record and lost 3. 4 if you count both losses to the Tigers. Tough one to call. I haven’t seen the Pirates play but saw enough of the Cardinals to know how explosive they can be so I’m going with them to set up what should be a fun final with the Orioles. Forest Hills Eastern District Grant vs. Comstock Park The Panthers have lost 20 games this season. The Tigers have won 20 games this season. I’m thinking a rout but it is after all the tournament and while odd things can happen, I don’t foresee this one being close by the second half. Shelby District White Cloud vs. Pine River Coach Jones’ guys would have to have one of their best games…no, make that their best game of the season to challenge the Bucks who play in the loaded Highland Conference. Pine River’s defense is exceptional so Robinson, Cruzan, Canning and co. need to get points on the board early and often to have a decent shot.  Photos by Brent Foondle White Cloud 54 Hesperia 25 It took a while to get the offense rolling but White Cloud caught fire in the second quarter then ran away from the Panthers in the second half to nail down the win at home. Coach Wilk: "Offensively we were getting good looks tonight, but we didn't make enough of our open shots especially early on. However tonight was a good night for the team because everyone was able to get in on the action.” Andi Vincent added to her freshman scoring record, dropping 24 on the night. Payten Bird (7), Courtney Coon (6), Kayla Burgess (6) and Brooklyn Foondle (5) all added to the scoring parade for the hosts. White Cloud (6-15) wraps up their regular season with a trip to Mason County Eastern Thursday to face the Cardinals. They begin tournament play Monday hen they take on Manistee at Mason County Central in Scottville Note: Vincent came in second in Mlive’s Top Muskegon-area winter sports underclassman athlete Newaygo 50 Coopersville 31 The Lions and Broncos battled in a tight matchup for 3 quarters before the hosts took charge in the 4th and notched their 4th straight win. Coach Thomasma:” Much better game on the offensive end of the court tonight for the Lions. We shot the ball much better than last Friday and were able to get to FT tonight. I thought Ruby did a great job inside tonight against some stiff competition and I thought we had a good response in the third quarter after Coopersville made a little bit of a run on us.” Ruby Hughes led the Lions with 12 points, 10 rebounds and 2 steals. Kija Schultz had 10 points, 8 rebounds and 6 steals. Amaya Lathrop had 9 points and 5 steals. Naomi Schillman chipped in 6 points and 4 rebounds. Newaygo (18-3) wraps up their regular season Thursday when they will host a red hot Cedar Springs squad before beginning tournament play next week.   
Fremont 70 Reed City 59 The Packers roared into the semifinals of the Districts with a solid win over the Coyotes. Fremont took a 2014 lead after one and pushed their edge to 10 points by intermission. By the time the teams entered the final frame the Pack held a commanding 54-34 lead then held off a late charge by Reed City to secure the win. Coach Powell: “I thought we came out a little anxious and rushed early and didn't value the ball. We finally were able settled down towards the end of the first quarter and early second quarter, hitting some shots and getting into a better rhythm. We talked rotations and switched some things up at halftime defensively and the kids really came out and executed well to extend the lead after 3. I give Reed City a lot of credit as they fought hard and got to the line in the 4th to cut it back to 11. In the end, I’m very happy for our guys, I really thought we fought hard and played well enough to win and are able to move on.” Redick Powell paced the Packer scoring with 20 Points and added 5 rebounds and 4 steals, Mossen Green hit for 11 points and took down a team leading 8 boards, while Brayden Crosley dished out 5 assists to go with his 10 points. Carter Sherman added 9 points and grabbed 6 off the glass. Fremont will face a familiar foe on Wednesday when they square off with the Orioles of Ludington.
 Big Rapids 74 Newaygo 42 Newaygo and Big Rapids opened up District week in Newaygo with BR taking the 74-42 win. Newaygo was led in scoring by Hunter Yearsovich with 13 points followed by Isaiah Miedema with 10 points. White Cloud 53 Shelby 43
WC took control early and kept the pressure on to move into the Shelby District Semifinal A 4 point lead after one increased to a 23-16 advantage by intermission. The teams exchanged baskets in the third and the Cloud held off the Tigers in the 4th for the win. Coach Jones: “ We will definitely have to play a lot better on Wednesday night against Pine River.” Jayden Robinson finished with a game high 17 points. Coleson Cruzan hit for 16, Brady Strait knocked down 11 and Kaleb Canning added 7. Reece Hewitt hit a pair of clutch free throws down the stretch for WC White Cloud will face Pine River Wednesday. Game time is 5:30pm.  A look at the upcoming tournament games for Newaygo, Fremont, Grant and White Cloud.
By Ken DeLaat Newaygo District D2 Monday Fremont (6-16) vs. Reed City (5-17) 5:30pm Big Rapids (15-6) vs. Newaygo (9-13) 7pm Wednesday Ludington (13-8) vs. Fremont/Reed City winner 5:30pm Hart (15-7) vs. Big Rapids/Newaygo winner 7pm Friday Finals 7pm If you want evidence of how loaded the top of this district is note that Big Rapids, the second place team in the CSAA Red, isn’t one of the top two seeds. Reed City has a few quality games under their belt as does Fremont. Both teams struggle when it comes to putting the ball in the basket, The Packers have lost by more than 25 points 9 times, the Coyotes 7. Fremont has won 2 of their last 7 and Reed City has won 1 so neither comes into this one with any momentum. I’d say it’s anyone's game but whoever gets off to a good start offensively will have the edge. Big Rapids has had no problem with the Lions in their two meet-ups. Newaygo has had issues with their defense all season yielding over 70 points 11 times. The only time the Cardinals gave up more than 70 was in their last game when Grant scored 79 but it took 3 overtimes for them to get there. Friday was an emotional loss for BR but Kent Ingles (667 career wins) still roams the bench area for the Cards so I doubt there will be enough of a hangover to affect the outcome. Forest Hills Eastern District D2 Monday Tri County (6-16) vs. Comstock Park (2-20) 7pm Wednesday Grant (20-2) vs. Tri County/Comstock Park winner 5:30pm Sparta (11-11) vs. Forest Hills Eastern (7-15) 7pm Friday Finals 7pm This District is Grant’s for the taking. The #1 seed plays the survivor of Tri County, who they defeated twice by a total of 66 points, and the Panthers who won their opening game and have gone 1-20 since. The Tigers won’t come in over confident though. Not with Dan George on the bench. Their practices this week will be as intense as ever and they will be ready and focused on Wednesday. If all goes as expected the interesting game will be Friday. Sparta is one of 2 teams (Cedar Springs the other) who dealt the Tigers a loss and should they get past the Hawks it will set up an interesting rematch for the finals. Interesting note: The Spartans play in the River Cities Alliance conference and finished in 5th place, Teams from the RCA are 12-0 when playing teams from the CSAA. Shelby District D3 Monday White Cloud (10-12) vs. Shelby (3-19) 5:30pm Manistee (12-10) vs. Hesperia (6-16) 7pm White Cloud nipped Shelby back in early December holding the Tigers to just 26 points while they managed only 30.Defense, for the most part, has been solid for Coach Jones’ squad. Their problem has been using that defense to score points.They’ve hit for more than 55 just 4 times and yielded more than 55 just 4 times. They also come in having dropped four in a row. Shelby has also lost 4 in a row and fallen short in 13 of their last 14. WC should be able to advance against a team whose 3 wins include 2 over an offensively anemic Holton team and an early January win over Hesperia. If they do they will have to tangle with the Bucks one of the 4 powerhouse teams from the Highland Conference The Mariners come into their matchup with the Panthers riding a 4 game streak including an upset win over a strong Whitehall team on the road. Wednesday Pine River (17-5) vs. White Cloud/Shelby winner 5:30pm Mason County Central (13-9) vs. Manistee/Hesperia winner 7pm Finals 6pm  Players from the 1975 team were honored at halftime of boys game L-R: Stewart Sanders, Gregg Lovell, Dennis Wawsczyk, Dan Jones, Jeff Taube, Kelly Alger  Record setting cager Andi Vincent Vincent sets record, ‘75 squad takes the court once again. Photos by Brent Foondle Girls: Central Montcalm 41 White Cloud 31 Boys: Central Montcalm 47 White Cloud 37 It was a big night in White Cloud as they honored both the seniors that play on the current teams and the 1975 WC squad who had gone undefeated in their regular season before collecting the school’s last Regional title. In the girls game the hosts inched ahead after one by a 9-8 margin and traded baskets with the Hornets to hit the break still in front 21-20. The second half however saw the Cloud hit a cold streak and they managed just 11 points while CM was able to take the lead and hold it until games end. Coach Wilk:” Luckily we have one more home game to hopefully send our seniors out with a win on our home court.” Andi Vincent, the leading scorer for WC throughout the season scored 17 more on Friday to smash the school record for points by a freshman with 308 points with 2 games left to play and then the Districts. The previous mark was 291 held by Hannah Brown who went on to play at Olivet College. “This is a phenomenal achievement, and I know that she will continue to work hard,” added Coach Wilk. White Cloud will host Hesperia on Tuesday before wrapping up their regular season Thursday at Mason County Eastern. The boys squad dug an early hole and despite making a run at the Hornets could not gain enough ground to overcome the early deficit. Coach Jones: “Senior night and recognizing our 75 Team was a success. But might have been too much of a distraction for our players because we came out cold and when I say cold I mean ice cold.” The hosts managed just 3 first quarter points and by halftime found themselves down 24-9. The second half saw the offense get some life and at one point WC pulled within 6 of the Hornets but could not get over the hump and dropped their 4th straight. Brady Strait (9), Kaleb Canning (7) and Jayden Graves (5) were the top scorers for WC. On Monday White Cloud will travel to Shelby to take on the Tigers in the District opener. Back in early December they defeated Shelby at home.
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