Basketball Friday: Packers, Cloud Split; Panthers, Devils Swept

Eagles claim a pair of titles

Girls

Tri County 48 Fremont 38
It was senior night in Fremont and the Packers got the home crowd going by jumping out to a 9-0 lead before the offense began to struggle. Fremont’s defense stepped up to keep them in front through 3 quarters but the Vikings took control in the 4th outscoring the hosts 20-9 to give them a sweep of the season series.
Coach Zerlaut : "Our girls played with great effort tonight, and things looked good early. We jumped out quickly with some made shots and solid defense. Then it seemed there was a lid on the basket. We struggled to make shots and began turning it over too much. The girls continued to play with great effort for 32 minutes, which I am proud of. We just didn't score it enough and once we fell behind TC did a great job of taking control of the tempo, forcing us to foul, and making their free throws.”
Mia Witte and Haley Zerlaut shared scoring honors with 10 apiece while Zerlaut also dished out a half dozen dimes and nabbed an equal amount of steals. Kaitlynn Bennett led the Pack on the glass finishing with 10 boards to go with her 6 points
Fremont (2-10, 2-16) will host Chippewa Hills on Tuesday.

Kent City 59 Holton 24
The Eagles made official what was a foregone conclusion Friday as they wrapped up yet another Silver crown with a win over a game but overmatched Holton squad. Coach Jordan's young team regrouped after a disastrous first quarter but could not overcome the offensive firepower and stifling defense of KC.
Coach Jordan: “Even though we got beat by 30 we had a much better outing against them this time around, and that’s all I was looking for as a coach. They’re a great team and make it tough on both sides of the ball
“We actually played pretty close with them in the second and third quarters. We just had another terrible first quarter of 16-0, and we missed a ton of shots, had several shots that just went in and out and we shot horrible from the free throw  line.  
“I thought our offense was decent tonight as far as execution and that is a step in the right direction, as last time we played we had zero offense flow. “ 
“I started 4 10th graders and my only junior last night so it was good to see that group out there playing the way they did.”
Ryan Robins paced the Devs in scoring with 10 while pulling down a team high 6 boards   
Holton (5-4, 11-7) will host Fruitport Calvary Tuesday in their last regular season home game.
Districts will be hosted by Holton beginning Monday February 28th.
 

Lakeview 39 White Cloud 36
The Cloud handled the Wildcats first time around  when they played at home but Lakeview evened the series as they held off a late charge by the visitors to secure the win in the conference contest.
Coach Wilk: “Tonight the credit goes to Lakeview. They came out full of energy, and  they took an 11 point halftime lead. After halftime we were able to cut that lead down to 1, but we made too many mistakes to win this one. Gaby Reeve led us with 14 points. Kiara Edwards and Abby Derks both added 7. 
“Next Friday we play our last regular season game against Kent City, and we will need to put together four perfect quarters to beat them at their place.“
White Cloud (3-6, 8-11) travels for the matchup with the Eagles 


Morley Stanwood 48 Hesperia 22
It wasn’t enough that the Panthers had to play one of the state’s top teams on the road. It had to come on the heels of the ‘Hawks narrow loss to D1 Mt Pleasant earlier this week allowing the Oilers to become the only team without ‘city’ in its name to defeat the talented MS squad.
The hosts took the floor and immediately took control behind a 19-3 first quarter. Hesperia saw more offense in the second quarter but still trailed 26-13 at intermission.. After the break MS once again dominated the floor outsourcing their guests 20-2  to cruise to the conference win.
Coach Grodus: “We played a better game against a good Morley team this time around.  Poor shooting and rebounding continue to plague us.”
Emmet Tinkham paced the Panthers in points hitting for 14 to go with her team leading 10 boards while Emma Joppich pulled another 9 off the glass.
Hesperia (0-8, 2-12) will travel to Fruitport Thursday before wrapping up the regular season with a rivalry game with Holton on Friday.

Boys

Fremont 62 Tri County 39
The Packers took care of business to stay within a game of first place Big Rapids as a strong defensive effort helped deliver the home win.
I thought we played with great effort.  I was proud of how the team responded after a disappointing loss on Tuesday.  It was senior night for us and I was really pleased that all six of our seniors were able to score in their last home game.  
Joey DeLong led the hosts with 19 points while adding  5 steals and 5 rebounds.  Logan Nelson knocked down 6 points and dished out  4 assists and Chase Rasmussen hit for 4 points.
Fremont (9-2, 11-6) will head to Remus Tuesday to face Chip Hills.


Kent City 47 Holton 30
It was a tight contest for 3 quarters as the Red Devils were looking to grab a share of first place.
Then came the 4th.
Up by a point at home the Eagles went on a 16-0 run in the final frame to claim the outright title.
Coach Swanson: “Nothing came easy tonight.  We got pretty discouraged from being aggressive early on which turned it into a perimeter game for us. Whenever that happens, if the shots start to dry up so does our offense, and that's what happened late for us.  Lots of credit to Kent City for making things difficult.”
Austin Fowler paced the Devil scoring as he hit for 11 while Wyatt Monette dropped in 7 to go with a half dozen boards.
Holton (7-2, 11-5) will head to Muskegon Tuesday to take on WMC.


White Cloud 54 Lakeview 31
Coach Jones: “We knew with it being the snow coming that we would have to come out hot to silence the crowd, and hot we were, outscoring Lakeview 31 to 2 in the first period. 
“It was pretty much cruise control the rest of the way. 
Kevin Strait led the way with a team and game high 14points while Taylor Bode and Jared Watson each hit for 11. Donavan Stevens fired in 6 and Romeo Johnson finished with 4.
White Cloud (5-5, 8-9) travels to Kent City Friday to face the Silver champs.


Morley Stanwood 53  Hesperia 17
Coach Worcester: “Tonight we could not get any offense going. Our defense kept us relevant, however without any offense of production we fell behind early and could not climb out of the hole. We will continue to play hard and develop as a team moving forward. We have a few tough games left and we look to use these games to improve in all areas. We have a young team and I’m excited to see these young men grow into the team I know they can be.”
Hesperia will host Fruitport Calvary on Tuesday.