Cloud, Lions Notch Road Wins; Tigers Fall To Knights

Upcoming games to decide conference contenders
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It’s coming down to crunch time in the CSAA title race with a cluster of front running teams set to begin facing off, each with aspirations for a conference crown.
White Cloud has been on fire and will come into their Friday trip to Newaygo with 9 straight wins under their belt. They are 5-1 in conference play with the sole loss coming at home against Big Rapids. Following Friday’s game they will host Morley Stanwood a week from Friday but it’s the following week’s schedule that would test any team. 3 games beginning with unbeaten North Muskegon followed by conference contenders Grant and Reed City.
Newaygo is also 5-1 in league play and will begin their quest for the top spot Wednesday when they welcome in Reed City who sit alone atop the standings with a 7-0 mark. Friday will be the matchup with White Cloud and a win over the Coyotes would scramble the standings considerably.
Grant is the third team sitting a game behind the Coyotes at 5-1. Last week they knocked off Big Rapids who are now 4-2 and looking up at 4 other teams. They have 4 league games left with the Cloud the only title contender on that slate. They will face off with the Packers next week when they take the familiar trip to Fremont. Good to see these teams continuing to keep the rivalry going despite no longer competing in the same conference.
The conference race has been a good one and these next couple of weeks will see some serious separation given the upcoming schedule.
High school basketball is the best show in town. 

White Cloud 66 Ravenna 51
Looking to extend their winning streak on the road in Ravenna Coach Jones’ team found themselves down early as the Bulldogs grabbed a 10-7 lead after one. The visitors turned up the defensive pressure and began seeing some shots fall as they hit intermission with a 23-21 edge. When the teams came out of the locker room the Cloud took charge and built the lead to a dozen points heading into the final frame.
Coach Jones: “We definitely didn't play our best tonight, but we found a way to dig down and come away with our 9th win in a row. Give credit to Coach Kemp and his team. They played us tough all game. They’re a well coached team. 
Jayden Robinson led the scoring parade dropping 21 on the Dogs while Noah Robinson knocked down 19. KJ Strait (11), Coleson Cruzan (7) Jared Watson (5) and Jayson Ruether (3) all got into the book whieLandyn McGowen drew 3 charges and helped control the boards for WC. 

Newaygo 50 Fruitport 47
Newaygo and Fruitport faced off in a non-conference game at Fruitport High School on Tuesday night.  The score remained close throughout the night with Newaygo eventually pulling out the win.  Newaygo was led in scoring by Logan Klomp with 18 points followed by Josiah Long with 12 points and Blake Kerr with 9 points.  Caris Nelson pulled down 9 rebounds and dished out 4 assists.

Monday

Belding 67 Grant 52
The Tigers struggled with putting the ball in the basket and after falling behind early, could not catch the Black Knights.
Zaiden Phillips fired in 14 points to lead the Tigers with Lucas Swanson canning 13. Kyle Cook added 7 points for the visitors.
Grant (8-4, 5-1) will face off with Fremont (7-8, 3-4) on Tuesday.