Fremont - Newaygo Split Varsity Games

Jaylee Long in the 2020 District game vs Fremont

Newaygo 57 Fremont 37
 
Newaygo girls blew open a close game over the final 10 minutes to win 57-37 at Fremont. In an uptempo and entertaining first half the Lions held a 14-10 advantage after the first quarter, and a 23-21 lead at the half. The Packers scored the first basket of the second half to tie the game, and were as close as two points at 31-29. However, the Lions scored the final 5 points of the third quarter and held a 36-29 lead at that point. They then outscored the Packers 21-8 in the fourth quarter to set the final score.
 
Leading scorers for Fremont were Jessica Bennett with 11, Calla Miller with 10, and Kaitlynn Bennett with 10. 
 
The Lions were led by Jaylee Long's 26 points and 3 assists, while Jaxi Long and Emmerson Goodin each had 12 points with 5 and 7 assists respectively. 
 
Newaygo’s Varsity Coach, Nate Thomasma said the following: "The game was a competitive one.  Newaygo was up 23-21 at the half but outscored the Packers 34-16 in the second half. Happy to get the win tonight.  Fremont is always well coached and talented so anytime you can get a win at their place it's a plus."
 
Coach Zerlaut stated "Nobody is going to celebrate a 20 point loss. The game got away from us in the fourth quarter. However, I was very pleased with the progress the girls made from Tuesday. We had a couple really good days of practice, and we competed at a much higher level against a very good team for three quarters. Now we need to figure out how to do that for all 32 minutes."
 
The Packers fell to 0-2, and travel to Grant on Tuesday. The Lions improved to 2-0 and play against Tri-County on Tuesday.
 
Fremont 73 Newaygo 67
 
One starter down heading into warmups, the starting center for Fremont was told he had to go home and quarantine. Then in the 2nd quarter, Fremont’s guard broke his hand. Down 10 points the Packers made a choice not to quit. They were down by 6 going into the locker room at half. 
 
Then the third quarter happened. Braiden McDonald of Fremont and Ashton Stephens of Newaygo may well have been in a 1 on 1 offensive battle. The two leaders went back and forth , draining everything they touched. 
 
Fremont put up 31 points in the 3rd quarter alone. Newaygo turned the ball over repeatedly and looked out of sync. But just as Fremont had decided they wouldn’t quit early on when all seemed lost, so Newaygo decided to do the same in the 4th quarter. The Lions fought their way back to down by 3 with 30 seconds to go and had two opportunities to tie it up, but couldn’t get the ball to drop to the bottom of the net. 
 
Fremont capitalized on the few misses at the end and earned the 6 point win as the buzzer went off. Braiden McDonald ended the game with 34 points and 17 rebounds. Joshua Zerfas followed up with 12 points, 9 rebounds and 5 assists. Lane Converse was third on the scoring list for the Packers with 9 points and 4 steals.
 
Newaygo’s Stephens ended with 31 points, Wyatt Mortensen with 21 and Bryce Decker with 10. 
 
Fremont improved to 1-1 and plays at home against Grant on Tuesday.  Newaygo fell to 0-2 and will next play home against Tri-County on Tuesday.