Monette shot sends Holton to District Finals
Trailing 18-5 after the first quarter it looked to many like it could be the beginning of the end for the Red Devil team that had battled their way to a conference title and reached this game via a come from behind victory on Tuesday. But not to the players wearing the Holton unis. “We took a punch early tonight and we were able to get back up,” said Coach Keith Swanson. And get up they did. By halftime they had carved into that lead and gained the ever precious commodity known as momentum. The second half began with the Devs clawing their way in front behind the hot hand of Wyatt Monette and the Warriors responded with some balanced scoring from Owen Varnado , Micah TerHaar and Brekken Fairfield. When the third quarter ended the hosts were sitting with a 3 point edge. The teams traded punches throughout the fourth but it came down to one shot with seconds remaining. And Monette hit that shot. Coach Swanson: “Our guys are so mentally tough. They’ve been that way all year. Our defense, as a team, was outstanding, and our two leaders, (Aidan) Poling and Monette, came through huge for us” As a result the Red Devils avenged an earlier home loss to WMC and have been given the sweet opportunity to compete in a District Final on their home court. And should they keep the run rolling on Saturday? Even sweeter. Monette finished with 21 points to go with his 4 steals and 5 boards while Poling dropped in 13 and dished out 5 dimes. Varnado and TerHaar notched a dozen apiece for WMC.
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McDonald cans game winner; Team to face Coopersville in District Finals
Story and photos by Ken De Laat Fremont 47 Comstock Park 45 The Packers survived a determined Panther team that fought their way back from a 12 point deficit to take a late lead before Braiden McDonald sealed the deal with a game winning bucket at the 2 second mark. Park grabbed an early lead behind the scoring of Ben Ryan who dropped 10 first quarter points on the Pack. Braiden McDonald shook off three fouls in the second quarter to score 9 and after Jordon McDonald converted the three point play after a basket and foul, Chase Rasmussen and Joshua Zerfas each tallied and Fremont hit intermission with a 25-19 lead. The Packers scored the first 6 points of the second half and looked to put the game away but Etahan Rodriguez shot CP back into the game and when Kaden Tofferi hit a bucket before the end of the third it gave CP their first lead since early in the second quarter. Zerfas got to the foul line and sank 2 then Jordon McDonald scored then split from the line giving Fremont a 2 point lead, but Ryan tied it up again. Lane Converse converted twice from the stripe and Braiden Mcdonald split but Gonzales brought Park within one with a basket then after a missed Fremont free throw he drew a foul and split the pair to knot the score at 45. Coach Zerfas called time out and drew up the play that gave Braiden McDonald the ball the shot and the game winner. Coach Zerfas: “ Pretty exciting game. I thought we built up a nice lead and our bench had been doing well throughout the game. We struggled a little with size when Braiden and Payton got into foul trouble. "I’ll tell you what, Comstock Park is good. They played a tough schedule and that’s the quickest team we’ve played, especially their guards. We held our composure well even when we got tied late in the game. “The play we ran at the end they’ve never run. We drew it up in the huddle and all 5 guys ran it to perfection. Even if Braiden wasn’t open we had an option but he was able to get the ball and go. “Boy, what a money player he is.” And Saturday’s opponent? “Coopersville is a good team with a lot of height and quickness and they beat Ludington (who defeated Fremont) by 30. "We'll be ready to play on Saturday.” Braiden McDonald finished with 22 points while brother Jordon fired in a dozen to go with a dozen he took off the glass. Jordan also rejected 5 Panther shots. Zerfas dished out 8 assists while canning 6 points and pilfering 6 steals. Fremont will play Coopersville for the title and a trip to the regionals Saturday at 1pm. Story and photos by Mike Gesler Coopersville 79 Grant 48 After coming off a first round District win against near north rival Newaygo, Grant would need to get through a very good and athletic Coopersville team if they wanted a shot at the District title. The Coopersville Broncos came into tonight’s match up with a 12-5 record, and the number one seed in the District bracket. This was not going to be an easy game for Grant. Coopersville asserted their dominance right from the whistle. Grant’s pass in to start the game was picked off by Jack Castenholz who gave the Broncos their first points and the lead for the remainder of the game. Coopersville would go up three more before Seth Schuitema drained a three to give Grant their first points. Midway through the first, Grant managed to pull the game back within two before Coopersville opened the margin up again and closed the quarter with an eight point lead. The second quarter was not kind to Grant. They only managed to put four on the board, and three of those four were from an early three by Gage Burrows. Coopersville however did not slow down, and took an eighteen point lead into the half with the score 35-17. Grant came out of the locker room undeterred and ready to battle the Broncos for every point. In fact they almost doubled their first half efforts with thirty-one points in the second half. Now that would have been heroic against most of the teams Grant faced this season, but those thirty-one second half points were no match for the forty-four points that Coopersville put up. Thus when the final buzzer sounded, Coopersville left a statement for their next opponent that a District title runs through Coopersville and you better bring your A game. “I thought our guys played hard, and were trying to compete. I’m real proud of them,” stated Grant’s coach, Joe Schuitema. “I don’t think they gave up. The score was out of reach for quite a while, and they kept working at it and kept giving it their effort. We’re real proud of them. Obviously, it is always disappointing to lose. Real happy with the way the season ended for us in the last couple weeks. I think that was kind of the look we thought we would have all year. The only Tiger reaching double digits tonight was Seth Schuitema with twelve. Orion Evans had nine, followed by Cole Lesley and Gage Burrows each with eight. Brett Long, Payton Swinehart, and Elliot Butchart each had three, and Isaac Higgins finished with two. The Tigers will return four next year with only Seth Schuitema having starting experience. The other returning players will be Matthew Mansfield, Isaac Higgins, and Sawyer Carr. This will give the Tigers a young and inexperienced team. Carr should give the Tigers an inside body to replace Evans and Butchart. What Grant will need is to gain another shooter or two to take the pressure off of Schuitema, and a hustler like Brett Long who can work both sides of the court. Without that, the Tiger Nation could face a dismal season next Tigers Take On Broncs: Pack & Panthers Meet Again; Devils Get Rematch With WMC
D2 Comstock Park District Grant vs. Coopersville 5:00pm There is a reason Coopersville is the top seed in this district despite the presence of a strong Fremont squad. The OK Blue is one of the regions toughest D2 leagues and the Broncos placed three players on the all conference first team including Ethan Coady (repeater), Blake Stewart and Jack Castenholz. The Tigers are coming off an emotional win over Newaygo that saw Seth Schuitema deliver on the scoreboard and some inspired play in the paint by Cole Lesley as well as timely buckets by Orion Evans. The one common opponent the teams have faced is Holton. The Tigers nipped the Red Devils by 4 points while 5 days later the Broncos squeaked by with a 33 point win. Yes, that's thirty three. The Tigers are not a dominant team by any means but since about the halfway point of the season they have played really well outside of a stumble in Newaygo and a loss to conference champ Big Rapids. In both games the other team dominated the physical play and the Tigers corrected that in Tuesday’s rematch with the Lions. The Broncos will provide another challenge in that area as well as Coady’s wizardry at the point. The Tigers will need to find ways to get Schuitema free and find a couple of hot hands to keep pace with C-ville. Another performance in the paint from Lesley like we saw Tuesday certainly wouldn’t hurt either. Fremont vs. Comstock Park 7pm Interesting matchup given their recent history and a near miss at a district final last year courtesy of the pandemic. It was to be an attempt at atonement for the Packer players who remained from their 19-1 team toppled by the 5-13 Panthers in the district opener the previous year. Tonight they finally get that chance to get together again albeit with significantly different casts. We don’t know much about Park. They fashioned a winning record in a tough conference and beat the team they lost to in the season opener to get here. The Packers have developed a deeper bench as the season has progressed and they will likely need it if they are to make a run. Braiden McDonald can fill it up as well as draw a few fouls depending on the level of physical play being allowed in the paint. Joshua Zerfas does many things well and what he does best is provide the on court leadership a team needs when they get into trouble. It doesn’t always result in a win but it keeps everyone in until the buzzer hits. Coach Zerfas said in our tourney preview that he felt the team was peaking at the right time. Two tough wins stand between the Packers and a trip to South Christian for the right to compete in the Regionals You can be assured of one thing from the Fremont team. They won’t be looking past game one. D3 Holton District Holton vs. West Michigan Christian 5:30pm The Red Devils will look to contain Varnado and Fairfield and keep the scoring down. Outside of the 71 points the prolific scorers from Coopersville dropped on Holton only 2 teams have scored over 50 on their defense. But they need to score and last time out the Warrior defense held the RD’s to just 31. Monette had big numbers Tuesday against White Cloud in a game much closer than the 30 point win they laid on them the prior week. With the Warriors likely to give Poling more than a bit of attention Monette and Fowler and Fialek will need to be ready to put up points. The Devils pulled off a come from behind victory over WC but it wasn’t easy If they do the same against WMC and let them get the lead? It would look to be even tougher. This has been a great year for the Devs. They swept through the conference and have a shot at playing for a district crown on their home court. If they can outplay their visitors this time around. North Muskegon vs. Ravenna 7pm The Bulldogs have only lost to only one team not named Whitehall. Holton. Eagles, 'Hawks to meet again in Friday Finals
Photos by Sue Harrison Shelby District Mason County Central 44 Hesperia 25 The Spartans jumped out to an 8-3 lead after one and hit intermission up by 11. Coach Grodus: “It was an extremely physical game. we started slowly and couldn’t get any momentum going.” Emily Bayle and Emma Joppich each scored 7 points and Emmi Tinkham took down 7 boards in the Panther season finale. White Cloud District Kent City 57 White Cloud 14 The Eagles crushed White Cloud to move on to the District Finals and a third game with Morley Stanwood. Lions Roar Into District Finals
Sparta win sets up rematch from 2020 Photos by Alexis Mercer Story by Ken DeLaat Newaygo 61 Tri County 48 The Lions will be moving on to Friday’s District Final but despite the final score this one was anything but an easy win. The Vikings took an early 5-2 lead before Jaxi Long began her visits to the charity stripe. Three in a row to start as she converted 6 of 6 then after a TC score found sister Jaylee Long who scored to make it 10-7. The Vikes scored to pull within a point then sent Emmerson Goodin to the line where she sank both. Jaylee Long dropped in her signature reverse layup, Jaxi hit another pair of free throws and Jaylee scored again and the Lions finished the first up 18-12. Defensively Newaygo was on their game and Kayla Fisk twice rejected Viking shots in the paint. The second quarter saw that defense kick into high gear holding the Vikes to 3 points while Jaxi counted 6 (including another 4-4 from the line) Jaylee hit for 4 and Fisk and Grace Painter each added a bucket. The teams hit the break with the Lions firmly in control at 32-15. Well, not quite so firmly in control. As they did against Grant earlier this week the Vikings roared out of the locker room and rained down the triples as Ashley Bialek and Alicia Bowen each fired in three from distance while the Lions were struggling to score. Jaylee ripped a three and converted a pair from the line then hit again for 2. That and a late in the quarter bucket by Anna Brummel was all they could muster and TC crept back into contention narrowing a 17 point gap to just 4 with a quarter to play and Goodin in foul trouble. Two quick buckets pushed the edge to 8 and when Bialek cut it to 6 it was the closest TC would get as Jaxi Long scored and drew another foul. Brummel scored to make it an 11 point Newaygo lead and the Vikings began sending the Lions to the stripe in an effort to make up ground. The threes that had been pouring in became scarce as Fisk began tailing Bialek and keeping her from zeroing in from distance. Fisk also punctuated her defensive gem of a game with a monster block in the final minutes that drew an appreciative “Oooh” from the crowd. The most intriguing item from the final frame was toward the end when Jaxi Long who had drained 15 free throws in a row went to the line and missed both ends. Seconds later she returned to the line and started on another streak by converting both tries. Coach Thomasma “I thought we played a good first half. Actually I thought we played pretty good in the third but they just kept hitting those 3 pointers and what do you do when a team does that? We got a little tight offensively, Emmerson had a couple calls go against her and had to come out and that always hurts us on the boards when she's not in. “Tri County’s a good team, I think they have only 6 losses and 3 were to us. It was a good win and we’re just happy to move on. “Sparta and Comstock Park are also two good teams and now we’ll sit down and watch them and take a look at who we’ll see on Friday.” With Sparta’s win over the Panthers there will be a rematch of last year's District Title game that sent the Lions to the Regionals. Jaxi Long finished with a team high 23 points including that 17-19 from the stripe, Jaylee Long was all over the court and frustrated the Vikings with her ability to penetrate. Jaylee finished with 17 timely points. Brummel and Goodin each notched a half dozen. But as we said earlier it was the stifling in your face defense tossed out on the court by the Lions that made the difference. They ruled the inside game and only a couple of red hot hands from Bialek and Bowen in the third kept the game from being an early rout. Sparta 42 Comstock Park 21 White Cloud District White Cloud vs. Kent City 7pm. Big hill to climb for the home standing Cloud team. The Eagles have gone through teams like a buzzsaw this season. Only 2 teams have been within 20 points of the Eagles and neither one is named White Cloud. In their two games KC holds a 63 point edge. It is likely to be closer than their first two meetings but this Eagle team has a vision of where they want to go in this post season and it doesn’t include a stop in a district semifinal. But as Coach Brown said after Monday's win: “Everyone knows what can happen in March. Are the stars aligned?” Morley Stanwood vs, Ravenna 5:30pm The Bulldogs advanced by defeating a winless Lakeview team. Unless nearly everything goes the way of Ravenna the Mohawks advance. Wednesday Tourney Preview
Sparta District Newaygo vs. Tri County The Vikings battled back with pressure and physical play against Grant after the Tigers took charge in the first half. Behind the on court leadership of Siple, Bowen and Bialek TC made an aggressive and effective run to pull off the comeback against a game Grant squad. But Grant is not Newaygo. The Lions are rich in talent and deep in experience with the attacking power of Jaylee Long, the outside shooting of Brummel and Jaxi Long and, as we’ve said before, Goodin is playing like a woman on a mission. Toss in the dogged determination of Ruehmeier Fisk, Swinehart and Painter and you have a team that is pretty tough to beat. The Vikes, however, have lost just once since they took a lead into the 4th quarter on the Lion court only to see their hosts wrest control and escape with the W. In their game against the youthful Tigers they never lost their cool when falling behind and came out of the locker room seemingly confident of their ability to take back the game. And they did. The Lions have their eye on the prize. Their magical run last year got sideswiped by the pandemic and they dearly want another crack at putting their skills up against the best in the region. With Comstock Park’s 10-0 record looming as a possible finals matchup it might be easy to look past a team you’ve beaten twice. They won’t. Newaygo knows what a formidable opponent they will be facing Wednesday and were likely reminded of it frequently by Coach T. The Vikes, much like the Lions, go after it with the fearless abandon that accompanies teams who don’t merely want to win, but are driven to win. Teams that know what success tastes like and remain hungry for more. With a wealth of talent taking the floor it will be interesting to see who emerges to deliver the hot hand on Wednesday. The winner faces the survivor of the Comstock Park and Sparta matchup. . Holton 40 White Cloud 36 After a beat down on the Holton court last week, Cloud Coach Jones responded to our question about the team’s chances in the tourney stating ‘It depends on which team shows up.” Well, the right team showed up and did everything but win. The Cloud tossed all they had at the Devils, battling them all the way. Tied after one the Indians put on a strong defensive showing limiting the Red Devils to just 8 points and edging ahead 23-19. The teams entered the fourth knotted up at 30. In the end it was Holton that hit the shots needed for the win, but it was a rugged game to the finish with the Cloud coming close to sending the conference champs to the sidelines. Coach Jones: “Very proud of the effort from the team last night. That was a heartbreaking loss. We were in control of the game for most of it and lost it in the last 2 minutes. Coach Swanson:”A really tough game tonight. White Cloud did a great job of getting deep touches and converting them. I didn’t think it was our best shooting night but the guys refused to go away and we’re able to come out with the win.” Wyatt Monette came up big for the Devs with16 points, 5 rebounds and 4 steals. Aidan Poling knocked down 10 and Austin Fowler hit for 9. Sam Venema led the Indians with 14 points, Alex Elder, Mason Reuther, Taylor Bode each hit for 6 and Dexter Cox finished with 4. Holton advances to play West Michigan Christian Thursday at 5:30pm. North Muskegon 56 Morley Stanwood 52 In a back and forth contest the teams went into the final period tied at 40 before the Norse pulled away to end the Mohawks season and move on to the district semi-finals North Muskegon will face Ravenna at 7pm Thursday. Comstock Park District
Grant 59 Newaygo 56 What could be a better way to begin the Boys tournament season than with one of those classic Newaygo/Grant matchups? Nothing although when one of N3 sports writers fails to pay enough attention to see the game has an earlier than the usual 5:30pm start and arrives well into the second quarter… Editor Mercer who had been there patiently waiting, camera in hand, is thankfully a forgiving type and told said reporter “Well, at least it’s tied so… The game. The Tigers and Lions went back and forth with the lead but Grant pushed ahead 28-24 by intermission behind a 13 point performance by Seth Schuitema. On the Lion side Ashton Stephens, Josiah Long and Wyatt Mortensen each had 5 and Bryce Decker was holding his own in the paint against a determined Tiger front court. When the second half began Mortensen shoveled a pass to an open Decker, scored off a steal and drained a pair from the stripe to pull with in a point but Cole Lesley muscled in a shot, Orion Evans sank a putback after a miss and Schuitema ripped one from the wing and the lead was stretched to 7. But the Lions weren’t done. Decker kept them close with a pair of buckets that sandwiched a pair from the line by Mortensen then after a Schuitema basket, Hudson Harkness and Mortensen hit back to back scores to once again pull the Lions within a point entering the final frame. It was the closest they would be as an 8 point run at the start of the quarter put Grant in the driver’s seat and forced Newaygo to send Tigers to the free throw line. With the Tigers clearly having the game in hand and little more than a minute on the clock Ashton Stephens put a scare into the Grant crowd when he lasered in a pair of triples, one off a steal and in between Mortensen scored a 2 also off a steal. But by the time the second Stephens triple hit the nets less than a second was left on the clock and the Tigers would be moving on to face Coopersville Thursday at 5pm. Coach Schuitema``Well it was the kind of game you’d expect out of Grant and Newaygo and the kind of game you’d expect in a district game. I feel like we did our job to close out with a win. It got a little tighter than I like but that's ok. Newaygo competes. They keep competing and we knew that. They have a lot of energy, they’re athletic and we wanted to match that because last time at Newaygo we didn’t match up and it was disappointing. We wanted to make up for that and I think we did that tonight. “I’m proud of our guys.” Schuitema finished with a game high 25 points while Evans and Lesley dropped in a dozen apiece. Mortensen fired in 19, Decker ripped down 10 boards to go with his 14 points, and Stephens wrapped up his Lion career with 11. Mortensen Harkness and Hayden Mackenna also wore the Lion basketball uni for the final time. |
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