Photos by Bobbie Cruzan Shelby 45 White Cloud 40 A successful season for the White Cloud team came to an end Friday when they fell to the Tigers in the District Final in Scottville. Shelby had bested the Cloud by double figures a couple of weeks earlier on the Tiger home court and came into the game on a 6 game winning streak. On Wednesday they dispatched the host and tournament favorite Spartans (Mason County Central) in a close matchup while WC arrived at the finals via a dominating win over Hesperia. White Cloud jumped out early taking an 11-6 edge in the first quarter thanks to a Mason Reuther triple and a Jayden Robinson bucket then went up 7 in the second when Kevin Strait scored a 2 and Noah Robinson filled the nets from distance. The Tigers rallied back, though and when the teams hit intermission the Cloud was clinging to a one point lead, 18-17. The third was a seesaw battle but when the dust cleared the Tigers ran off to a 34-28 lead heading into the final frame.
But White Cloud wasn’t done. They battled their way back pulling within a single point down the stretch. In the end the Tigers were able to hit their shots from the charity stripe and put the game away and end the season for White Cloud. Coach Jones: “ Tough loss for sure. The boys did everything right tonight, except from the free throw line. 1 for 11 will cost you a game like that every time. Give Shelby the credit they deserve, they are a well coached, hard working, and smart team. Hats off to them because they earned it. So very proud of our team and coaches and to the fans for showing up all year and supporting the team. We will be back.” Ruether paced the offense with 10 points while Noah and Jayden Robinson finished with 9 apiece and Kevin Strait and Jared Watson knocked down 6 each. Jason Ruether and Landyn McGowenhad some quality minutes off the bench for WC. White Cloud finished their season at 13-10. Shelby (14-11) will head to Lake City Monday to face the Highland Conference Champion Ramblers of Mc Bain (19-5) in the Regional Semifinals.
0 Comments
Packers prevail in a slugfest Photos by Alexis Mercer Story by Ken DeLaat Fremont 57 Sparta 55 In one of the more physical games in recent history the Packers held off a relentless Spartan squad to pull out a hard fought win, capture the District championship and advance to the Regionals for the first time since 2018. But it did not come easy. Early on the Spartans seemed to have no answer for the high octane Packer offense and when William DeBlake fired in a three late in the first quarter Fremont had built an 18-5 lead. But Sparta was far from finished. Behind some spirited defense and the pinpoint shooting of Jax Wilson and Landon Reister the Spartans fought their way back into the game pulling within 5 at intermission. Gatlin Mosby hit a triple to begin the second half to cut the lead to 2 but Ben Mellema answered with a missile from beyond the arc and after a stop Mellema took a pass from Chaz Miller and the Pack went up 7. Sparta went on a run scoring 10 points while Fremont managed only a Jordon McDonald bucket and when Wilson hit for 2 at the end of that run the Spartan fans went wild as their team inched into their first lead of the night. Miller responded with a triple and Gavin Richards and McDonald pushed the Fremont lead to 6. The Spartans went to the stripe twice splitting both times and Richards hit a 2 and the teams headed to the last 8 minutes with the Pack up a half dozen. The fourth quarter was an absolute war. The teams exchanged blows matching baskets for the first 4 minutes but a pair of consecutive shots by TaeShon Wisonn went down and we had a 2 point game with the Packers holding the slim lead. Reister tied it up and Miller hit one from somewhere in the next county to put the Pack up 3.Then McDonald who had been the go to guy all evening was called for his 5th foul and headed to the bench. Wilson hit a bucket then Fremont tried to freeze the ball with less than a minute left. Sparta needed to foul repeatedly to get the Packers to the line and it was DeBlake they sent to the stripe. With ice in his veins he dropped both to make it 56-53 Packers. Wilson drove in and scored while drawing a foul but he missed the game tying free throw and Mellema got the rebound and was immediately fouled. He split the pair to put the Pack up 2 but Sparta had one more shot at a win or a tie. After a time out the shot fell short but a scrum for the ball ended in a jump ball call and gave Sparta yet another chance with a second left. They got the inbound pass but the attempt failed to find the target and the Packers prevailed. Coach Bowen: “What a great game from our boys! I thought that was one of the best games we’ve played all year against a very good team. We got great contributions from everyone. Jordon had another great game despite being in foul trouble and finished with 21 points and 12 rebounds. Chaz played great on both ends of the floor. Gavin Richards had a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Will DeBlake hit a big shot late in the fourth and made two huge free throws, and Ben Mellema hit some big shots as well. I thought our team defense and rebounding was really good for most of the game. When Jordon fouled out with a couple minutes left, our guys really came together and collectively picked up the slack. I couldn’t be prouder of these kids for how hard they played and how they represented our school and our program."
Fremont (13-11) will travel to Hudsonville Monday to take on Unity Christian (16-9) on the Crusaders home court. Packers Hold Off Tiger Attack Team advances to District Final Fremont 54 Grant 49 When Grant defeated Newaygo Monday the Tigers sealed the deal by knocking down their free throws down the stretch. The charity stripe proved to be anything but charitable to the Grant team Wednesday when they faced the Packers. A wild and raucous game saw two teams battle back and forth at warp speed for much of the night. The momentum constantly shifted back and forth. At one point the Pack seemed in control with an 18-9 lead but these Tigers are resilient and scrappy. They took off on a 17-3 run led by Zak Barnhart and went up by 5. As the third came to a close Grant was up 7 but Chaz Miller scorched a shot from distance and Braiden McDonald dropped a 2 and the team would enter the final frame down just 2. Miller was center stage again at the start of the quarter, canning another triple giving Fremont the lead but Blake Rider converted a pair at the line and Austin Whitney ripped the nets from the corner for 3 and Grant was up 4. McDonalsd scored the next 10 Packer points while Barnhart and Oakley Obenauf kept the Tigers in front. With 4 ½ minutes left and holding a 4 point edge the Tigers went 0-4 their next 2 trips to the line while the Pack got a pair of buckets from Ben Mellema and Miller and the game was knotted at 47. In a key play with less than a minute to play Mcdonald missed a jumper but snared his own rebound, and scored. A turnover put the ball in Mellema’s hands after being fouled he drained a pair to put the Pack up 4. Rider answered with a pair from the stripe to keep the game within a bucket. Both teams went 0-2 from the line in the next few seconds but Grant needed to foul as time was running out and they sent Miller to the line. The Packer Junior sent his team to the District finals going 2-2 and Grant's season had come to an end. Coach Bowen: “Really proud of how our guys fought! Both teams played really hard I thought. It wasn’t the prettiest game at times but it was hard fought. I thought we had a lot of nervous energy in the first half. A lot of turnovers. We were able to settle down in the second half, but Grant made a lot of really tough, contested shots. Jordon really carried us down the stretch. He just would not let us lose that game. We had other guys who stepped too, and made winning plays down the stretch. Chaz Miller hit a couple of big three’s and three big free throws. Ben Mellema made two big free throws as well. Gavin Richards had a huge offensive rebound on a missed free throw and also a big steal. We definitely didn’t play our best game but we played hard and found a way to win. Sparta is going to be a tough game, we know that. They’re a very good team and we will have to play a much cleaner game in order to win.”
The Packers will play for a District title and a trip to the Regionals Friday when they take on Sparta. Game time 7pm at Comstock Park. Regionals will begin March 13th at Hudsonville Unity Christian HS. Photos by Bobbie Cruzan White Cloud 65 Hesperia 33. The Cloud punched their ticket to the District Finals Wednesday with a resounding win over Hesperia in Scottville. Coach Jones: “We didn't play our best defensive game but we are moving on to the finals. We will have to play a lot better,but we have a chance and that's all we can ask. Shelby is going to be a tough opponent and is well coached, we look forward to the opportunity to play hard and leave it on the floor. Should be an exciting game. Jared Watson led a well balanced offense finishing with 13 points while Noah Robinson, Jayden Robinson and Kevin Strait each dropped in 11 Kent City 55 Holton 35 The Red Devils battled the Eagles for much of the game entering the 4th quarter down 10 points but the Kent City defense and some ice cold shooting allowed them to pull away and advance to the District Finals where they will face North Muskegon. Coach Swanson: “I thought in many ways we played a pretty good game tonight. The guys finished the season with a lot of fight and that's what makes you proud as a coach.” Jayce McMillan led the Devs with 12 points with Keon McMillan hitting for 9 points to go with his 4 boards. Brodrick Fialek dished out 4 assists grabbed 6 rebounds and finished with 7 points. Tigers Dominate in District Showdown Grant 64 Newaygo 48 Twice this season the Lions took on the Tigers and twice it was Newaygo walking off the floor with bragging rights in these all important rivalry games. And as fate would have it the two teams would open their postseason play by facing each other again. And third time proved to be the charm for the Tigers as they ended the Lions season and advanced to Wednesday’s semifinal game matchup with Fremont. Grant was absolutely on fire from the get-go racing to a 13-2 behind a scoring binge by Oakley Obenauf and Zak Barnhart as well as a stifling defense that created major problems for the Lions. Newaygo roared back as Dyllan Bazzett broke the drought with a bucket and Jarryn Schmitt scorched one from distance. Caris Nelson followed with a basket then made it to the line where he converted both tries and the quarter ended with Grant clutching a 13-11 lead. In the second quarter the Tigers dominated, especially on defense. While giving up a lot of height on the floor Grant made uo for it by smothering the Lions offense. They forced turnovers and seemed to take Newaygo out of their game. On offense they were knocking down shots and as the half was winding down Obenauf put an exclamation point on a good first half by nailing a triple that gave the Tigers a 30-17 spread at intermission. The third saw Grant go up by 17 before the Lions made another run with Bazzett providing a lot of the energy as well as the points. Entering the final frame the Lions pulled within 9 but the Tigers were not to be denied on this night and when Obenauf drained yet another from beyond the arc Grant was again up by 17 halfway through the quarter then hit the free throws down the stretch to put this one in the books. Coach Schuitema: ‘I’m really proud of the guys and the way they came out and played really good defense to start the game, They sustained it for four quarters minus a few lapses but those lapses aren't really poor defense its just that Newaygo has a lot of strong action to the rim as well as very good players so you can’t keep them out the whole game.
“I thought we competed well and took advantage of our offensive opportunities multiple times to keep that lead and we closed it out at the free throw line. It was a complete game for us and I’m proud of them, The win pits Grant against another longtime rival Wednesday when they will match up with Fremont with the winner headed to the District Finals and a shot at the Regionals. “Fremont has so much size that poses a challenge for us and they have a good point guard in Miller so they have a lot of versatility,” said Coach Scuitema. “ When we played them it was pretty close so we would expect it would be close again and hopefully that give us a chance to win.” Obernauf knocked down 25 points to lead the Tiger attack with Barnhart and Austin Whitney each dropping 10. Nelson led the Lions with 14 points and Bazzett finished with 8. Midway through the 4th quarter of Fremont's penultimate game of the regular season Jordon McDonald hit a bucket as his team was on their way to a win over Manistee. Nothing unusual about Jordon scoring. It was just 2 of the 26 he put up on the night along with his 5 rebounds and 3 assists. But the game stopped. Turned out that basket gave McDonald the magic number as it proved to be his 1000th point as a Packer and following a bit of celebration he resumed his spot on the court and helped lead his team to victory. It wasn’t the first time a McDonald had reached the lofty number. Brother Braiden hit the mark during his senior year 2 years ago and finished his career with 1063 before taking his game to Grace University. The brothers are two of the 9 players in Packer history who have reached the milestone and Jordon’s basketball commemorating the occasion will join Braiden's in the Packer trophy case. We caught up with the talented cager for a few questions. N3- What was it like to join your brother in this exclusive club? Jordon- "It's pretty cool to know that me and my brother are both in the top 10 for players to ever score 1,000 points in Fremont's history." N3- Do you remember your first varsity basket? Jordon- "Yes, Sophomore year vs Big Rapids it was a layup." N3- What does basketball mean to you? Jordon- "Basketball has pretty much been my whole life. I started playing in 4th grade. Since then it's been me and basketball. Either through school, club leagues, AAU, local tournaments, drop in games or in my driveway." N3- Any mentors along the way who helped you hone your skills? Jordon- "Of course my big brother Braiden and all my coaches. Each one of them have helped me in different ways to become the player I am today." N3- Plans for post graduation? Jordon- "My goal is to continue to play basketball. I am undecided about my field of study at this time." Jordon added another 20 to his total in the Packers final regular season game. With tournament play starting this week, if he and his team make a run during post season play it could help him claim yet another honor if he reaches 1064. Family bragging rights. By Ken DeLaat, N3 Sports Photos by Mike Gesler, Alexis Mercer & Bobbie Cruzan Unfortunately our local girls teams didn’t make it past Districts this past week. Now the boys get their chance and we feature three of the Tournament sites with a bit of a preview and a few words from our coaches. Comstock Park District Monday Comstock Park (6-14) v West Catholic (3-18) 5:30pm Newaygo (13-9) v Grant (11-10) 7pm Wednesday Park/WC winner v Sparta (14-8) Newaygo/Grant winner v Fremont (10-11) Friday Finals 7pm The Comstock Park District looks to be an intriguing one. Opening with the third go-round between Grant and Newaygo Monday. The Lions took the first two blasting to a 20 point win on the Tigers home court then eking out a 6 pointer in the CSAA playoff opener. Newaygo has had a good year despite stumbling out of the blocks at 1-3 including a puzzling loss to an OV team who won only one other time all season and ended on a 17 game losing streak. Since then Newaygo has won most of the games they should have and played well against a potent Big Rapids team twice. They got beaten pretty badly by Hart a week ago but there’s a long line of teams that the Pirates have had their way with. Decker, Long and Nelson generally do the bulk of the scoring but Wells and Harkness are vital pieces of the starting 5 and the bench runs deep with Bazzett, Klomp, Grugett and Kerr among the players who deliver some energy when they enter. Coach Long: "This District should be competitive. There are a lot of teams that can beat each other so it should be a fun tournament. Sparta is the #1 seed so they are the team to beat but there will be some interesting matchups making it a fun week." Grant has a lot of weapons on offense as Obenauf, Swanson, Barnhart, Whitney, Rider and a few more can all put up numbers. The Tigers average 60 points a game and have been over 70 six times. They’ve been a bit streaky, though. After an opening loss to a really good Ludington team they peeled off 3 straight wins then promptly lost their next 4, followed by 4 wins in a row, 2 losses and another 3 game win streak. Coach Schuitema "We're hoping to shoot well, compete and avenge losses to Newaygo and Fremont and give ourselves a chance in the finals against the other side's best, which I suspect will be Sparta." Look for this one to come down to whether the Tigers can limit Decker on the glass and which team gets hot from outside. The winner gets a shot at Fremont. The Packers took a late January matchup with the Tigers on the Grant court but it didn’t come easy. The Packers have some strong leadership with the varsity veterans Coach Bowen mentions with one being the player that would be my number one choice in a pickup game, McDonald. I haven’t seen the Packers lately but after beating Grant they lost 7 of their last 9 games and while it was a tough run of teams… Coach Bowen: "I think Sparta is the favorite in our district. In order for us to be successful we need to rebound and play with great focus and intensity. We have been up and down all year and we will need to put everything together for two games to have a chance to win. We will lean on our three captains, Jordon McDonald, Chaz Miller and Gavin Richards, but we will need contributions from everyone." Comstock Park comes in having lost 11 of their last 13 including 5 in a row. They’re at home and playing a West Catholic team that has only beaten 2 teams. Allendale twice and Holland Christian once. Should the Panthers advance as expected they will play Sparta for the third time this season. The previous two games they failed to finish with 20 points of the Spartans The likelihood of the Spartans being the upper bracket team in the finals are more than a little good. Things can happen and upsets indeed do occur but neither the Panthers nor the Falcons can match the depth of Sparta Mason County Central District Monday Shelby (11-11) v Manistee (5-17) 7pm Wednesday Hesperia (4-17) v White Cloud (12-9) 5:30pm Shelby /Manistee winner v MCC (15-7) Friday Finals 7pm Give Hesperia Coach Worcester and his Panther team some credit for pulling out the wins they notched. Each was a close hard fought game. Beating White Cloud would indicate a 45 point improvement since they met nearly 3 months ago. Not saying there hasn’t been improvement but the Cloud hasn’t exactly remained the same team they were back then either. Coach Jones: “Mason County Central is the #1 seed and being at home,you would probably give them the nod as the favorite to win it all. But they have to get through the winner of Manistee/ Shelby first and Shelby just beat the host last week. Should be a fun week. In order for us to win it all starts with our starting five ( Strait, Ruether, Watson and both Robinson brothers) who must play well. But it's got to come down to the names that come off the bench like McGowen, J.Ruether and some you may not have heard of yet!” Holton District Monday Ravenna (8-14) v WMC (7-15) 7pm Wednesday Kent City (13-8) v Holton (1-21) 5:30pm Ravenna/WMC winner v.North Muskegon (17-4) Friday Finals 7pm Holton has not had a stellar year but barring an injury to one of their key starters they Hope to make a showing on their home court. Coach Swanson: "North Muskegon is the favorite in our district. I'd say Kent City would be #2. For us to do something in the tournament first we need Carter Brant healthy. He rolled his ankle tonight and we'll see how he looks at practice. We'd also have to rebound much better than we have this year, and keep our opponents out of the paint. When Carter Brant and Brodrick Fialek are shooting at a high clip our chances of hanging around go up significantly. A noteworthy stat for us is; in our only win this season Jayce and Keon McMillan combined for 29 points. If they could get anywhere near that we look like an entirely different team." Turnovers lead to road loss
Photos by Bobbie Cruzan Reed City 65 White Cloud 61 The White Cloud Boys wrapped up their regular season with another tough loss to Reed City, the team that barely edged them 2 weeks ago on the Coyote court. The Cloud finished the season with a 12-7 record while going 6-4 in league play placing them in a tie for 5th in the 11 team conference. The trams were competing in the CSAA second tier playoff final after WC bested Chip Hills on Wednesday and Reed City sent Tri County home. Coach Jones: “We played well enough to win, just had too many turnovers. But we should be battle tested for next week's district run. Proud of this group and the heart they bring every night and excited for next week.” Kevin Strait dropped a team high 15 points white Mason Ruether knocked down 13. Jared Watson hit for 9 and Noah and Jayden Robinson each finished with 7. District play begins next Wednesday when the Cloud will travel to Scottville for a semifinal contest with Hesperia. Lions Bit By 4th Quarter Blues Initial conference playoff title goes to the Cardinals Photos by Alexis Mercer Story by Ken DeLaat Big Rapids 60 Newaygo 45 Just 2 weeks ago these teams went at it on the Newaygo home court and the Cardinals pulled out a win to claim the CSAA title. This time it was to be in the Cardinal home gym where the BR team had not lost a game all season. And this time a different title was on the line. It was the inaugural CSAA playoffs and the 2 teams were the finalists in the top tier of the conference matchups. It was a heck of a game for 3 quarters. The Lions and Cards put on an epic show of basketball for about 25 minutes. They battled back and forth with the lead exchanging hands several times. The first half proved to be opportunistic basketball. A furious first quarter saw the teams take measure of each other and when the dust settled the hosts held a 12-11 lead. The second started with a 6-0 run by the Lions courtesy of buckets by Caris Nelson, Dyllan Bazzett and Blake Kerr. The Cards answered with a three by Zander Prince but Logan Klomp and Bryce Decker baskets sandwiched another Prince bucket then Bazzett rifled a half court pass to Klopm who converted and the Lions were up 6. Karlito McKinney split a pair at the line and Decker slid a shot in from down under and the half ended with Newaygo on top 25-20. The third saw the Cards begin to unleash some triples while Decker and Josiah Long handled much of the Lion scoring. By the time they entered the final frame BR was clutching a 41-40 lead, neither team had players in foul trouble and both teams wanted this one badly. Then came the fourth. Prince began the scoring with a basket and Long was fouled and responded by converting both shots. It was still a 1 point game. The Cards took over. They went on an 11-0 run that saw the Lions hit by turnovers and ice cold shooting. Nelson finally broke the drought with a 2 pointer but it was too little too late and the Cardinals prevailed.
Nelson finished with 12 points and 6 assists while Decker put in 11 and took down 7 boards. Long hit for 8 points and grabbed 6 rebounds and Bazzett finished with 7 points. Newaygo will head to Comstock Park Monday for a third game against Grant in their District opener, white Big Rapids hosts their own District facing off with another state ranked team when Ludington comes to town also on Monday. Photos by Bobbie Cruzan Coach Jones: "The White Cloud Varsity Boys Basketball Team hosted Chip Hills and came away with a 66/39 victory to close out our home games for the year and to send our seniors off with a guaranteed winning season. "All fourteen players saw action tonight and contributed to the win. First winning season here in a long time. Proud of how well they played tonight and all year. Quick turnaround as we head to Reed City tomorrow night. Jared Watson had a game high 13 pts, Kevin Strait 12, Jason Ruether 9, Noah and Jayden Robinson each added 8 pts. |
Archives
April 2024
Categories |