 Captain Natalie Richardson celebrates her season opening goal Young Newaygo Soccer Squad Drops 2-1 Season Opener to Whitehall Photos and story by Tara Hefferan Newaygo Girls Soccer kicked off the 2024 season on Wednesday, March 27, falling 2-1 in a spirited match at home against Whitehall. Captain Natalie Richardson scored the lone goal for Newaygo, from a free kick issued following a Whitehall penalty. Newaygo Soccer has had tremendous success in recent years, winning back-to-back district titles in 2022 and 2023, as well as the conference title in 2023. Despite losing seven talented seniors to graduation, this year’s youthful team is full of promise, with eleven new players and seven returning players ready to make a big impact. Tonight’s game showed that this rebuilt team is full of hustle and heart, with a bright season ahead.
 Jaycee Mielke watches for the play Head Coach Matt Painter said, “After graduating several key players last year we knew we would be looking for young players to fill some big shoes. For a few girls, tonight was their first experience playing an official soccer game on a full field! Over the 80 minutes tonight I watched so much growth. I could see players seemingly having ‘ah-ha’ moments as they were figuring out how their individual play impacts the greater team. Obviously, we have a list of things to work on, but for a first game with so many newbies, I was proud of what I saw out there tonight!” Following spring break, the Lions play their next match at 5:00 PM, April 10 at home against Lakeview.
 Keeper Ella Soules directs her defensive line  German exchange student Lena Wagner has fan support
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 Photo by Matthew Zerfas
And a few words from their coaches
Well, that was quite a season with the Packers adding a couple hunks of hardware to the case and career scoring records tumbling in Grant and Holton. The Districts at Newaygo featured a thrilling final between the Tigers and Packers and the Red Devils captured their first District title in 9 years. Kudos to all the student athletes who compete on the floor during games and in practice. Despite losing some talented seniors to graduation this year our coverage teams have an impressive group of underclassmen ready to continue their own athletic journey. Fremont 20-5 Coach Peter Zerfas All Conference - Jessica Bennett, Senior. “4- Year varsity player. Jessica averaged 13.3 points, 5.4 rebounds, 4.5 blocks, 1.7 steals and 1.5 assists per game. Jessica was many things for us; great leader, extremely hard worker, but more than anything two things. She anchored our defense in the middle blocking or altering shots. She set the single game record for blocks in Fremont twice, with 12 against Whitehall and 13 against Grant in the district finals. The second thing was Clutch. In our first game against Ludington we were down 6 with 4 minutes to go and Jessica hit three big 3's in the last 4 minutes to help us take the lead and win. She did it again in our Conference championship game against Ludington. We were down again with 4 minutes to go and Jessica scored 7 of her 10 in that last 4 minutes. In the district finals she again came up big late, scoring 8 of her 16 in the 4th quarter. Clutch. In the district finals She had 16 points, 13 blocks and 10 rebounds. In the two distinct games combined she averaged 15 points, 10 rebounds and 9 blocks. She was the top vote getter for all-conference in our league.” All Conference - Mia Clemence, Junior. “Mia had an amazing Junior season for us doing pretty much everything on the court. She played equal parts shooting guard, point guard and forward. She was the middle of our press and middle of our press break. She could score outside or inside. Mia could play every position on the court for us. Mia averaged 10.5 points, 6.5 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 2.9 steals per game. In conference games Mia led us in scoring and assists. Mia's top game was at Manistee when she scored 20 points, had 10 rebounds, 5 steals and 4 assists.” All Conference Honorable Mention - Taylor DeKuiper, Freshman. “To put it simply, Taylor did everything for us. She had what has to be the best freshmen season in the history of Fremont. I believe the only reason Taylor was not voted 1st team all-conference is because she is a freshman, or they do not understand what value(+/-) means. When you add everything up to determine value in a game and season, both positive and negative things....points, rebounds, steals, turnovers, etc etc Taylor was a mind-popping +582. That is the highest number I have seen as a coach and over 230 higher than anyone else on the team. Taylor set the Fremont single season record for steals in a season with 133. She also led us in rebounding. On the season she averaged 8.4 points, 7.8 rebounds, 5.3 steals and 2.5 assists.” All Conference Honorable Mention - Riley Chase, Junior. “Riley had an amazing junior season for us, especially considering she was coming off a compound fracture in her ankle suffered in the spring and was not cleared to run until October. She is one of the most energetic and positive players I have been around. Riley's positive, can-do attitude rubbed off on the team daily. On the season she averaged 8.4 points, 5.0 steals, 3.4 rebounds and 1.3 assists. She had a huge district tournament averaging 14.5 points, 7 steals and 5.5 rebounds.” Holton 15-10 Coach BJ Jordan All Conference - Ryann Robins, Senior “Ryann had an amazing year. Averaging a double double for the 4th straight year is remarkable and leads you to the career numbers she has. She put the team on her back this year and was just a steady force night in and night out with her production. Over 20 double doubles this season despite being double teamed all year and playing more minutes this year due to our low numbers and lack of size. Most games she doesn’t even come out. Ryann has been a leader for this team for years and to say she will be missed is an understatement. This is the 4th year in a row she has been All Conference." All Conference - Abbie Fowler, Senior "Abbie had another great year distributing the ball. She broke her own school record (122) this year for assists with 128 total which comes to 5.1 a game. She will graduate with every assist record in the school. 10 in a game, 128 in a season and will end her career with 392. Her assists and Ryanns points have gone hand in hand over these past few years, their skill sets complimenting each other almost perfectly. Abbie averaged 7.8 points per game this year, and will graduate with over 600 points scored to go with her 393 assists. She is also up there as the school leader in steals as well. She impacted every game we played as the ball was in her hands as much as it could be, and she never came out. I mean never. This is her 3rd year with all conference honors. Another 4 year starter for this program that can not be replaced." All Conference Honorable Mention - Aubrey Goyings, Junior "Aubrey was a jack of all trades for this team, and she is the player that does all the dirty work that doesn’t show up in the stat sheet, but doesn’t go unnoticed. She was our energy player, and she plays as hard as she can every second she is out there. A very gifted defender who can play any position in our zone and can guard one through five in man if she has to. She provided a toughness that this team really needed and when she was out for those few weeks in February her impact was obvious. With her in the lineup healthy this year our team was 14-5. With her out we went 1-5. A very gifted rebounder who averaged 8.5 rebounds a game to go with her 6.5 points and 2.5 steals. She was very productive for us this year. A player who is all over the court with a high motor." CSAA White Cloud 8-15 Coach Caleb Wilk All Conference Honorable Mention - Jaden Gomez, Senior. "Jaden has been a 3 year varsity player for me and she earned this recognition last year as well. On the season she averaged 5.1 points per game and 4.7 steals per game. In her varsity career she swiped a total of 275 steals which is phenomenal. I would rank her as one of the best defenders in the area. Her closing speed and anticipation was top notch. It will be hard to replace her next year. " Newaygo 12-11 Coach Nate Thomasma All Conference - Amaya Lathrop, Sophomore. "Amaya was 2nd on the team in points and deflections, 1st on team assists and steals. She had the ball in her hands a lot. As the year went on, Amaya got more comfortable/confident on offense and it showed. She scored and took care of the ball more consistently. For her size, she gets her hands on the ball really well on defense. She has good instincts for the ball." All Conference Honorable Mention - Naomi Schillman, Junior. "Naomi was 1st on the team in points. She started to get more consistent as the year progressed. Naomi has a really positive attitude. She worked hard and always had a good, coachable attitude. If she can continue to develop on BOTH sides of the court, she can be a great player next year. " Grant 15-7 Coach Josh Delamater All Conference - Julie Ashbaugh, Senior. "Julie led us with 15.4 points and 8.5 rebounds per game. She broke 1,000 points late in the season and set the school record in points, ending with 1,159 for her career. She also averaged 2.4 assists, and 3.1 steals per game. She was a huge part of what we did offensively and defensively." All Conference - Bella Welch, Senior. "Bella led the team with 2.9 assists, and 3.3 steals, was second on the team with 7.2points a game , and averaged 3.4 rebounds. Bella was our energy girl. She is an amazing defender, coming up with huge steals for us all season long." All Conference Honorable Mention - Jocee Pleune, Junior. "Jocee was one of our most consistent players on both sides of the ball. She averaged 6.6 points, 2.5 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 2 steals and was our best 3 pt shooter averaging 37% on the season. She is one of the best defenders in the area, guarding from full to half court even though she is usually the smallest player on the floor." WMC-Lakes First Team All Conference Jessica Bennett Fremont 12th Anna Lundquist Oakridge 12th Addison Pranger Montague 11th Libby McCarthy Manistee 12th Kendall Osborne Whitehall 12th Peyton Welch Ludington 11th Mia Clemence Fremont 11th Jordyn Anderson Ludington 11th Jayna Edmondson Manistee 12th Lexi Daggett Whitehall 11th All Conference Honorable Mention Taylor DeKuiper Fremont 9th Emma McKinley Ludington 12th Braylyn Bultema Montague 11th Elianna Jeruzal Ludington 11th Alayna Edmondson Manistee 10th Riley Chase Fremont 11th Cambrie Hardy Orchard View 12th WMC-Rivers First Team Selections Addi Hovey Hart 12th Wren Nelson Mason County Central 12th Abby Hicks Hart 12th Mallory Miller Mason County Central 11th Ryann Robins Holton 12th Delaney Young North Muskegon 9th Molly Schultz Shelby 12th Rilyn Porter Hart 9th Abbie Fowler Holton 12th Eva Hradel Mason County Central 11th All Conference Honorable Mention Aubrey Goyings Holton 11th Ally Jensen North Muskegon 12th Kelsey Copenhaver Hart 11th Grace Weinert Mason County Central 12th Mattisen Crowley Ravenna 11th Sarissa Conkle Hesperia 9th CSAA 1st Team All-Conference 1 Amaya Lathrop 10 Newaygo 2 Casey Terryn 11 Reed City 3 Emily Putnam 12 Central Montcalm 5 Julie Ashbaugh 12 Grant 5 Molly Bowman 12 Reed City 10 Baylor Syrjala 11 Lakeview 10 Isabella Welch 12 Grant 12 Lila Hoisington 12 Morley Stanwood 14 Kendall Stout 11 Central Montcalm 20 Hailey Kamphuis 11 Kent City 21 Morgan Hammond 10 Reed City 22 Lynsey Biller 12 Morley Stanwood 22 Cailin Knoop 12 Big Rapids 24 Maddie Geers 12 Kent City 24 Marissa Warren 12 Big Rapids 34 Makenna Martin 12 Morley Stanwood Honorable Mention All-Conference 1 Karlie Bacon 11 Central Montcalm 3 Jocee Pleune 11 Grant 4 Jaden Gomez 12 White Cloud 11 Hadley Fox 11 Big Rapids 11 Addison Thayer 10 Tri-County 14 Alaina Christensen 12 Morley Stanwood 15 Naomi Schillman 11 Newaygo 21 Kiara White 10 Chippewa Hills 22 Kenzie Freeland 9 Kent City 24 Molly Willison 11 Lakeview 25 Kyleigh Week 12 Reed City
With a few words from their coaches
With another rousing basketball season behind us (including some epic District games at Fremont) the postseason accolades have been handed out in the two conferences our coverage schools compete in. While these competitors had seasons that led them to rise to the recognition level in their respective conferences many other parts go into a team's success. Their teammates on the floor as well as the bench players who spend their weeks preparing the starters for the competition ahead are to be commended for helping to put on the best mid winter entertainment to be found. In the CSAA White Cloud placed 4 players while Grant and Newaygo each saw a trio of players make the lists.In the WMC a pair of Packers were picked. We caught up with their coaches to share a few words Grant 14-8 Coach Joe Schuitema All-Conference - Zaiden Phillips, Sophomore. “Zaiden is a second year varsity player and led the team in our statistical formula this year. He is a quiet, coachable, persistent competitor. Zaiden is a great rebounder, aggressive to the rim with the ball and he added shooting beyond the arc. Looking forward to two more years.” All-Conference - Lucas Swanson, Senior. “Lucas is a third year varsity player and tied for second in our statistical formula this year. He is an outstanding leader, an unselfish player and an unbelievable teammate. Lucas is a great shooter from distance, a tricky defender and an overall competitive player. It's been a blessing having him on the team the last three years.” All-Conference Honorable Mention - Blake Rider, Sophomore. “Blake is a second year varsity player and tied for second in our statistical formula this year. He is coachable, determined and the primary ball handler. Blake has great basketball IQ, knows where to be and what to do. He can score, but chooses to lead the offense. Looking forward to two more years.” White Cloud 17-7 Coach Robert Jones All Conference - Jayden Robinson, Junior. “Jayden averaged 12.9 points and 8.2 rebounds. He will be a force to be reckoned with next season.” All Conference - Noah Robinson, Senior. “Noah averaged 13.7points and 6.5 rebounds. He filled the stat sheet every night and was a great defender. He's one of those players that only comes around once in a while.” All Conference - Kevin Strait, Senior. “Kevin averaged 14 points and 4.3 rebounds, 4.7 assists and 2.4 steals. Best point guard In the area. Was a honor coaching KJ. He will be greatly missed.” All Conference Honorable Mention - Jared Watson, Senior. “Jared is a four year starter. He can play any position and can score from anywhere on the floor. Averaged just under 11 pts a game. It's been an honor to be able to coach Jared the last four years.” Newaygo 16-9 Coach Jason Long All Conference - Caris Nelson, Senior. “Caris is a 2 time all-conference player and has become one of the best guards in our area. He has worked hard in the off-season and pushed himself to become the player he is. Caris is near the top or leads multiple team stats.” All Conference - Josiah Long, Senior. “Josiah is a 2 time all-conference player and was HM as a sophomore while starting all four years on varsity. Josiah is a unique player with his size and skill and created difficult matchups for the opposing teams. Josiah is one of the best leaders I have ever coached.” All Conference Honorable Mention - Logan Klomp, Senior. “Logan was a very exciting player this year. He worked hard in the off-season on his skill and with his athleticism became a very good player in our area. Logan works hard every day and earns the respect of his teammates and opponents by how he plays.” Coach Long added “All three players have left their mark on Newaygo Basketball and will be greatly missed.” Fremont 11-15 Coach Adam Bowen All Conference - Chaz Miller, Senior. “Chaz has been a big part of our program and put together a great varsity career. He is a two year team captain and has worked extremely hard to improve his game every year. He led the team in points, assists and steals this year and was a big part of our success in the postseason.” All Conference Honorable Mention - Gavin Richards, Senior. “Gavin is a three year varsity starter and two year team captain. He is someone who always leads by example with his work ethic, positivity and team first attitude. He led the team in rebounding and field goal percentage this year and his two double-doubles in the districts helped lead us to a second consecutive championship.” CSAA 1st Team All-Conference 1 Evan Rolston 10 Central Montcalm 1 Lucas Swanson 12 Grant 2 Caelen Kinnally 12 Big Rapids 3 Josiah Long 12 Newaygo 3 Max Hammond 12 Reed City 3 Jordan Hansen 12 Chippewa Hills 4 Spencer Hansen 12 Reed City 5 Caris Nelson 12 Newaygo 5 Zaiden Phillips 10 Grant 14 Jayden Robinson 11 White Cloud 14 Aaron Vanderwest 10 Kent City 20 Kevin Strait 12 White Cloud 21 Marcos Cuidad-Real 12 Reed City 23 Noah Robinson 12 White Cloud 24 Gabe Njenga 11 Big Rapids Honorable Mention All-Conference 1 .Jack Peasley 11 Lakeview 4 Logan Klomp 12 Newaygo 5 Riley Vennix 12 Big Rapids 10 Blake Rider 10 Grant 11 Dylan Walsh 12 Reed City 14 Devin Garbow 11 Morley Stanwood 21 Danilo Lopes 12 Central Montcalm 22 Andrew Lenon 12 Tri-County 23 Kayden Kamanu 11 Kent City 24 Gage Saathoff 12 Chippewa Hills 42 Jared Watson 12 White Cloud WMC- Lakes First Team All Conference Camden Thompson Whitehall 11th David Schillinger Ludington 12th Peyton Ruel Oakridge 11th Chaz Miller Fremont 12th Kal Koehler Whitehall 11th Isaiah Atchinson Montague 12th Camar Ready Whitehall 12th Cam Gunsell Ludington 10th Owen Raeth Montague 12th Spencer Holmes Ludington 12th Honorable Mention All Conference DJ Jamison Whitehall 12th Bryson Stephenson Oakridge 11th Gage Jones Ludington 12th Gavin Richards Fremont 12th Kyle Stratton Whitehall 12th Delaney Oakes Orchard View 12th Landin Sowa Manistee WMC- Rivers First Team All Conference Blake Weirich Hart 12th LaMarkis Graham North Muskegon 12th Adam Dugener North Muskegon 10th Jaxson Lisinski North Muskegon 12th Carter Schullo Ravenna 12th Bryce Billings Hesperia 12th Carter Brant Holton 12th James Young North Muskegon 11th Cole Vanderhaag Mason County Central 10th Caleb Ackley Hart 10th All Conference Honorable Mention Dylan May Ravenna 10th Phillip Hayes Shelby 12th Wyatt Dickman Shelby 12th TJ Byard North Muskegon 11th Nick Guacnier Hesperia 12th  The White Cloud Boys’ Track and Field team gathered at White Cloud Memorial Stadium Monday afternoon with renewed spirit in preparation for the 2024 season. After competing as one of the smallest schools in Division 3 last season, the Indians moved back down to Division 4 this season, and plan to capitalize on the shift back down at the important D4 meets at the end of the season. “Our boys are looking forward to being back at a D4 regional and state meets,” commented head coach Tod Reeve. “Even though we are the smallest school in the CSAA Conference, the stiff competition from the larger schools will only sharpen our skills for when we compete in Region 33-4, and hopefully when we qualify for the MITCA Division 4 Team State Finals and MHSAA State Finals at the end of the year.”. White Cloud were D4 Team State Champions in 2022. This year’s team will be led by four senior captains, all of whom will use the experience of winning the team state championship two years ago to set positive examples for the rest of the team. Lloyd Sebright-Johnson is considered one of the best throwers in the state, and will use his expertise to guide the other throwers. Noah Robinson, who tied the school record in the high jump last year at 6’5”, will again lead his fellow high jumpers as well as being an integral part of both the 4x100 and 4x200 meter relays. Degan Wawcszyk will be in charge of giving insight to both pole vaulters and hurdlers, and Carson Foondle will take the responsibility of guiding the distance runners. Carson and Lloyd have worked very hard in the off-season, and their improvements in their events set a shining example for the rest of the team. With an excellent blend of upperclassmen and talented younger athletes, White Cloud is poised to excel this year in Division 4. They will open the season March 26th with a scrimmage in Holton. Their first actual meet will be April 9 at home in the CSAA opener against Chippewa Hills and Tri County.  Photo by Dan Packard Devils season ends in loss to Mustangs
Northpointe 45 Holton 30 The Red Devils fell short in their Regional semi-final when OK Siver co-champ Northpointe opened up a lead in the second half and held Holton off to advance to Wednesday’s final. Coach Jordan: “Game was back and forth the entire first half and we had the ball down two with about 10 seconds left in the half. On what was supposed to be a last shot scenario turned into a turnover and a fast break layup for them going into half. We were down 23 to 19. We battled and played as hard as we could. We had some foul trouble for two starters that we worked through in the first half and I was very happy to be sitting where we were going into the locker room. “Third-quarter was a different story, a key starter picked up their fourth foul 30 seconds into the quarter and had to sit until the fourth. This played a factor In the 12-5 quarter It had us going into the fourth quarter down 11. They switched from a predominantly man defense in the first half to his zone in the second and we were unable to get as many quality looks as we did in the first half. “We knew there were two girls that we had to stop and thought we had a decent game plan to do that but they still scored 39 of the 45 points. We didn’t give them any open looks, most of the damage came off of rebounding and put backs, And a few deep threes which you can live with. That’s after those two girls they are phenomenal basketball players “My girls fought tonight. We took really good care of the ball in the first quarter and only had two turnovers but we ended the game with 22. Fatigue and a little bit more pressure on their end seemed to be a real difference maker in the second half. Our season ended tonight but as a coach I’m more than proud of what the team was able to accomplish this year, An absolutely great group of girls to be around and coach. Special group of ladies that I will miss. . “Ryann Robins had another double double(21st of the season) with 11 and 1. Abbie Fowler had 5 points 6 assists and 5 steals .We accomplished a lot as a team and individually this year. As a team we won the holiday tournament. We got off to best start in school history with a 7-1 start and finished with the second most wins in school history. And we captured the second district title in School history “Individually, Ryann Robins broke all time school scoring record , and with tonight’s 11 rebounds and now holds every single rebounding record at the school .24 in a game, 309 in a season and over 1000 in her career.Abbie Fowler broke every assist record this year 10 in a game, 128 on the season as well as the career assist records and there’s a good chance she has a few steal records as well that I’ll know over the next week or so. These two have been 4 year starters and are the main reason we have turned this program around the last few years.. they will be missed.”  Cold start proves too much to overcome Photos by Matthew Zerfas Story by Ken De Laat Spring Lake 58 Fremont 29 The Packers remarkable season came to an end Monday night in Sparta as they ran into a buzzsaw when they took to the court to face the Lakers. Spring Lake got on the board first and was quickly answered by a Taylor DeKuiper bucket for a 2-2 tie. Then the Lakers led by all-state shoo-in Erin Andree ran off the next 13 points to end the quarter with the Pack facing a 15-2 deficit.  In the second Fremont made a mini run early with DeKuiper hitting another basket and following it with a three pointer then Mia Clemance making a welcome return to the lineup also canned a triple. Eliana Vandenberg scored and the Packers found themselves within 10 and with the ball. A turnover, one of many that plagued the Pack on this night, led to a Spring Lake score and once again they finished the quarter running off the last 9 points to get to intermission with a 31-12 lead. Riley Chase, Jessica Bennett and DeKuiper all scored in the 3rd as the Packers played the Lakers even but the comfortable lead Spring lake had built proved too much to overcome.
Coach Zerfas: “We got off to our normal slow start but against a really good Spring Lake team, we were not able to come back and make it competitive. Bottom line is Spring Lake earned the win and was better than us. “ The Packers ended their season the same way they began with a loss to the Lakers.  Coach Z.: “It doesn't diminish from the historic season our girls had though. We finished overall at 20-5, the most wins in 46 years and second most in program history. We went undefeated in League at 12-0, also the first outright conference championship in 46 years and we won districts for the first time since 2009. Tonight wasn't our night, but our girls have a lot to be proud of. I would like to recognize the outstanding contribution of our seniors, who without such great effort and leadership we would not have been successful. Thank you Jessica Bennett, Katie Ackerman, Olivia Hansen and Elise Pfeiffer....you will be missed.” Dekuiper led the Packers with 9 points, Bennett finished with 7 and Clemance hit for a half dozen. There are 167 teams in Division 2. Fremont was one of only 32 who made it to the Regionals. And just one team of those 167 ends their season with a win.
  Photo by Alexis Mercer Packers look to avenge early loss to Lakers in Regional Semifinal By Ken De Laat, N3 Sports The Fremont Packer Girls team is the sole local survivor of 2 weeks of tourney play having captured the Newaygo District last Friday with a comeback performance over Grant. And now they arrive at the Regionals to find themselves facing Spring Lake, the team that delivered a thumping in the season opener on the Packer home floor. The 20+ point loss didn’t derail the Pack however. The team went on to win 10 of their next 11 games and enter this one with 20 victories under their belt. The Districts were no picnic for Coach Zerfas’ squad. They lost one of their key players when Clemance went down pre-tourney with an ankle injury that had her rooting for her Packer teammates from the sideline. She might be able to return to action tonight depending on her recovery status. Her absence may have been part of the reason for a pair of slow starts Fremont endured in the two District games. Fortunately the team regrouped both times behind some sparkling play by Chase, Bennett, DeKuiper Vandenberg and Ackerman and Noordyk was absolute money coming off the bench. But Noordyk also came off the floor with an injury in that final game and will not be in uniform tonight. Spring Lake competes in the OK Blue where 3 of the 4 teams in the Sparta Regional reside. The last time the teams met the Lakers were up 36-11 by halftime. The Packers held their own in the second half but their first half excavation made the climb out of that hole a bit out of reach. Laker sharpshooter Andree is a lot. She can light it up especially from distance as can Wrona. And Carter makes for a strong presence in the paint. Can the Packers stay with the Lakers? Well, they cannot start slow. I know, I know, we said the same thing about the Grant game and sure enough the Packers total scoring in Q1 came from a DeKuiper free throw while the Tigers took a 10 point lead. While they finally found some scoring they were still down 13 early in the second half. A furious run with some clutch shooting by Chase and Bennett and a strong defensive showing got them back in the game and led to an eventual win. I would be amazed if a similar script could be followed when they meet the Lakers. Spring Lake can squeeze the air out of teams with a stifling defense that holds teams not named West Catholic or Holland Christian to under 30 in most games. Being able to beat the Laker pressure and more importantly score off early opportunities would be vital since Andree likes to get on the board early and often. The defense will have to solve Carter and without Noordyk to provide some of her much needed blue collar work down under, other players have to step up. Bennett was hot from the arc last time out and Chase has played masterfully in this tourney. Both need to be on from tipoff to buzzer tonight. Then there are the officials. Fremont saw two vastly different types of calls in those 2 games. If this turns out to be like the Sparta matchup look for some physical play and a lot of banging underneath. If they are like Friday’s crew, the calls will be tighter and foul trouble could loom when trying to contain a pretty productive Laker offense. Of course the standard ‘minimize turnovers, hit the foul shots, play good defense’ cliches all fit the 'what we need to win' category There weren’t a lot of high expectations for the Packers coming into this season and some of those early wins left many unconvinced. But not the Packers. They seem to have believed in themselves since the beginning and the conference championship and District title they’ve collected make for a pretty good argument that they were right. Now they face the team that humbled them at home, their first game of the season and first game with Coach Zerfas at the helm. After Friday's hardware haul, Coach Z. brought up that opening loss to SL. “In the locker room after that game I told the girls if they worked hard, worked together and if they trusted what I was going to teach and coach them, we would see Spring Lake again in Regionals. Not sure they believed me then, but Here We Come.” Go Pack!  Photo by Alexis Mercer  Photo by Jayson Robins Holton heads for the Regionals
Holton 41 Shelby 39 (2OT) The Red Devils and Tigers were doing battle for the third time this season, this one for a District title. Holton had won their first two meetings but this was tournament time and the game would be played on the Shelby home court. And what a game it was. A 13-10 halftime lead by the Devils evaporated in the third as Shelby took over with a 13-4 run and the game entered the 4th with the Tigers up 6 in a game where points came at a premium. Behind 5 clutch points by Layla Cannady the Devils fought their way back and the teams finished regulation tied at 31. Coach Jordan: “OT was back and forth with both teams only scoring 3. The play of the game with Lexi Bart not giving up on a fast break layup and was able to contest it with only a few seconds remaining in the overtime to force a miss. If she doesn’t give it all out effort on that play we don’t win this game. “In the 2nd overtime Kenzie Greene came through with a huge 3 to start the quarter and we were able to get a lead of about 6 points with 50 seconds left. I thought we finally had it in the bag, but Shelby I would just not go away. Molly Shultz hit a deep three and got another two and trimmed a six point lead down to 1 very quickly. We had the ball, got fouled and Abbie Fowler split to put us up 2 with 10 seconds left.They had the ball and we were able to take away any good looks. They tossed one up at the buzzer and lucky for us it didn’t go in.” “First I want to give Shelby a ton of credit, those girls played hard and it was a back and forth game all night, that team is way better than their record. “If you believe in omens then we had a chance tonight. We only have one district title in school history and that was 9 years ago at Shelby where we played Hesperia on Wednesday and Shelby at Shelby. This week 9 years later it was the same layout.. Hesperia on Wednesday and Shelby at Shelby. So it was all lined up for us. “So proud of this team for the effort tonight. Several girls made big plays for us in this back and forth game and we earned every point.” Ryann Robins was a force on the glass hauling down 24 boards to go with her 15 points.Aubrey Goyings finished with 13 rebounds while Lexi Bart hit for 11 points and added 5 steals. Holton moves on to the Regionals at Covenant Christian where they will take on Northpointe Christian on Monday. Game time 7pm.  First Title since ‘09 sends Packers to Sparta Regional Photos by Alexis Mercer Story by Ken De Laat Fremont 49 Grant 40 The Packers notched their first District title since 2009 with a gutsy comeback performance against a determined Tiger squad. But once again, it did not come easy.  Grant took control early in the game behind a stellar first quarter by Bella Welch. After she hit the opening basket teammate Jocee Pleune popped one in from distance to make it 5-0. Welch then made it to the free throw line where she notched a pair, broke away after a stop to go the distance for a layup and after Packer Taylor DeKuiper finally got her team on the board by splitting her free throws, Welch scored again and the first quarter ended with the Tigers up 11-1. The second saw more of Welch as she answered the three pointer by Eliana Vandenberg with a trio of buckets. Riley Chase hit a 2 and Grant responded with a triple by Liliana Krepps giving the Tigers a 20-6 lead. The Packers responded with Jessica Bennett hitting the first of her clutch shots on the night, a missile from outside the arc and Khaila Noordyk knocked down a bucket bringing the game to halftime and cutting the Grant lead to 9.  The Tigers struck first after intermission with their all time leading scorer Julie Ashbaugh getting her first points of the night and Emma Thompson following with a basket to push the lead to 13. Then the Packers went on a run. Noordyk scored off a rebound, Chase wove her way in for a score and Noordyk hit again before going down with an injury. Her teammates responded by running off another 7 points and when Chase hit to tie it up Grant called time out to regroup having seen their double digit lead disappear. Bennett stuck a deuce and a three while on the Tiger side Natalia Rodriguez converted from the line and Pleune ripped another distance shot and a wild third came to an end with the teams knotted at 29.  Tiger Payton Bouwkamp scored and DeKuiper answered, then scored again after a steal. Reese Gragg tied it up with a 2 and Chase put the Pack back up. Gragg responded with a 3 pointer to give Grant the lead at 36-35. And it was the last lead they would see. Bennett was on fire scorching a three then going to the line and converting a pair. Chase hit a 2 and Fremont grabbed a 6 point lead with just under 2 minutes left. Forced to foul, Grant saw the Packers hit7 of 10 down the stretch to secure the win.  Coach Zerfas: “Our girls are just resilient and have no quit. I am so proud of them for not giving up or hanging their heads when we were down at least 14 points early. We have so many that contributed throughout the game. Riley Chase was again Huge just like Wednesday. Taylor DeKuiper scored 7 of her 9 in the 4th quarter and Jessica Bennett is just Clutch. She had 8 of her 16 in the 4th including a 27 foot 3pt shot after Grant scored mid 4th. She is fearless. “We play Spring Lake Monday at Sparta. We lost to Spring Lake in the first game of the season. In the locker room after the game I told the girls if they worked hard, worked together and if they trusted what I was going to teach and coach them, we would see Spring Lake again in Regionals. Not sure they believed me then, but Here We Come. “ Fremont (20-4) faces Spring Lake (17-6) Monday at 7 pm at Sparta High School. West Catholic (23-1) and Unity Christian (15-9) will play in the 5:30 pm game with the winners facing off Wednesday at 7 pm.
Photos by Alexis Mercer Story by Ken De Laat Fremont vs Grant District Finals. Friday 7pm at Newaygo High School Tough one to pick. Fremont has been a juggernaut all season, capturing the WMC-Lakes title and piling up 19 wins in the process. This is a group of players who know each other well, play to each other's strengths and aren’t afraid to mix it up if the game calls for it. Coach Zerfas makes use of a pretty long bench and there isn’t much lost on the court when he goes to it. The catalyst for this group all season has been Mia Clemance. And here lies the problem. The player Coach Z. describes as ‘the glue’ for his team is out with an untimely injury that will keep her in street clothes for this and any possible future games this year. On Wednesday her absence could be seen in the way the Packers started the game. Not just missed shots but few opportunities early on as Soarta used its physical style of play to silence the Packer offense. But it didn’t take long for the team to regroup. They went at the Spartans from distance to begin with, popping in enough triples to widen the floor a bit. Then they took over the glass. Chase was outstanding, Noordyk came in and provided a strong presence in the paint and DeKuiper could be found anywhere there was a scramble for the ball. Bennett and Ackerman hit some key buckets and they pulled away late to secure a spot in the finals. Now they have a game under their belt without ‘the glue’ and the talent on this team is augmented by the way they play together. Grant has had an interesting season to say the least. A second place finish (thanks to Kent City) in the CSAA is a mark of a good season for any team, but there were title aspirations in Tiger country and a pair of overtime losses took those away. The Tigers have Ashbaugh the all time leading scorer for Grant and to use an old expression, “You can’t stop her, you only hope to contain her.” She will get her points and teams know this. The strength of Coach Delamater’s team is the ability of other players to hit their shots when she is being doubled by opponents and they have the talent to do so. Gragg, Rodriguez, Welch and Pleune have no fear when putting up shots and Ashbaugh and Rodriguez both excel at pulling down offensive boards. Krepps, Thompson and Obenauf come off the bench ready to contribute and are also valid options when the team needs points. This should be a good one. Grant cruised in their semi game with an obviously overmatched Comstock Park team but with or without Clemance, Fremont is not Park. The first time these teams played it was a grinder. The Tigers were up a bit at the half but ran out of gas in the latter stages of the game, which is understandable given they were playing for the first time in almost a month. Cancellations and Christmas break delivered a far too long layoff and the team went on to win their next 8 straight. Officials really let the teams play on Wednesday. There was a lot of banging and bodies hitting the deck and I don’t recall seeing quite so many jump balls called in a game as I did during Fremont/Sparta. If the game is called tighter than those two games foul trouble might be a factor since Wednesday’s crowd saw about 30 more fouls than the referees seemed to see. The Packers will need to get off to a good start and not seem rudderless as they did in the early stages of Wednesday’s game. The Tigers have to get production beyond Ashbaugh and win the battle of the boards. Interestingly, whoever wins is probably looking at a rematch with Spring Lake next week in Sparta. The Lakers schooled the Packers in the season opener then took apart an undermanned Tiger team 2 weeks later. But there’s been a lot of season since then. Two good teams, District Finals, and a shot at advancing to the Regionals. Man. I love this time of year. Best show in town. |
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