Are You Serious?

Story and photos by Mike Gesler

Montague 42   Grant 41

​If you are one of the Grant faithful, you knew going into tonight’s game was not going to be easy. The Tigers had a physical game against Sparta the night before in which they pulled off a 42-point second half come from behind victory. It’s also exactly the games that Coach Delamater wanted for his young squad. He wanted games that were going to test the mental and physical stamina of his team. He wanted games that were going to prepare his players for the more experienced CSAA teams. He wanted games that he could point back on in District play and say see how we competed then. Having Sparta and Montague back-to-back was certainly going to fill those challenges. The only question remaining was is there enough gas in the tank to compete against a Montague team that hasn’t played since December 20 and was on fresh and rested legs.

“So, I really value games like this because conference-wise it doesn’t matter, but in terms of us getting better, it really helps us,” Coach Delamater said. “We talked about that before the game. Even without Kendall [Osborne], they’re a great basketball team. They’re going to play us hard. They play in a tough conference, and they battle every single night and have a winning tradition. So going out against them and playing hard is a big deal for us.”

The first half gave little for Tiger fans to cheer over. It was apparent from the start that the game against Sparta the previous night had taken a toll on the Grant players. Couple that with the fact the Montague has some very athletic players who were eager to take home Tiger steaks, and one was just left hoping that tonight wasn’t going to be a complete butchering. While Ashbaugh had a couple trips to the line early in the first quarter which yielded the Tigers two points, it wouldn’t be until late in the first quarter that Emma Thompson would hit the first Tiger bucket for two. By then Montague had already put nine up. Thus, the first half went and as both teams headed into the locker room, the Tigers were trailing by thirteen.

The Tigers came out of the locker room ready for the second half. Like the night before, they were going to have to dig deep and show their grit if they wanted to claim another victory. But dig deep they did, catching Montague completely off guard. Like the previous night, they dominated the second half putting up twenty-seven while holding their opponent to fourteen. With one minute left in the game, the Tigers had once again come from behind to even up the game at forty-one a piece.

The Tigers controlled the ball for the next fifty-three seconds trying to get set up for that last minute game winning bucket before they were called for a double dribbling foul and giving Montague a seven second chance.

AND THEN IT HAPPENED.

​If you were at this game, you know exactly to what I’m referring. As time expired, the Tigers were called on a foul. A foul that was not called the entire night. A foul that the officials had let the players play through all night. A horrible call that would affect the outcome of this game, and have ramifications for Friday’s game against Newaygo. I wish I could say I’m just being biased here. Unfortunately, I am not. As an official, you have got to expect that when you make a game deciding call, right or wrong, you are going to elicit an emotional response from players and coaches. You have to have the professionalism to take a deep breath, allow for the emotion, and then bring the sides under control. Coach Delamater reacted with such immediate emotion to the call. Mind you, the call. Not the official who made the call. Yet rather than receive professional grace so to speak, Delamater received a double technical. Montague now had three chances to hit a game winner. Senior Haylee Schwarz went to the line and on her second attempt gave the Montague Wildcats another notch in their win column. 

​In a game that would have been fitting to end in a tie, the Tigers will need to find a way to set aside tonight’s game and prepare for their Friday game against near north rival Newaygo without Coach Delamater.

“We didn’t have the fresh legs especially with a couple of our starters tonight and so it was nice to see the younger girls getting out there and getting after it. Really, Emma Thompson, Alexa Obenauf, and Reese Gragg really brought the comeback. They’re the legs that got us back into the basketball game and put a lot of pressure on. Kudos to those girls for going out there, playing hard, and doing what they need to do,” stated Delamater. “Youthful inexperience at the end of the game. We’ll get past that. When you have Sophomores out there on the floor in the last seconds of games that’s a tough thing.” 

“Julie [Ashbaugh] played tough,’ explained Delamater. “I mean tons of minutes again with very little rest. Sprained her ankle right there at the beginning of the game, and then a minute in was like ‘let me get back out on the floor’. Teams are really starting to try different stuff with her so she’s got to learn how to play through that. I thought she did. I thought she did a better job of distributing the ball tonight to girls who were open with looks.”

Leading in tonight’s heroic efforts was Julie Ashbaugh with fifteen. Jayci Hance also had double digits with ten. Jocee Pleune contributed five, Alexa Obenauf had four, and Emma Thompson put up three. Reese Gragg and Makayla Zerlaut each had two apiece. The Tigers will host the Lions of Newaygo on Friday evening. Game time is 6:00.