By Ken DeLaat, N3 Sports Girls Central Montcalm at Newaygo The last time these teams met, the Hornets kept things close for the first half then came out and hit a pair of threes to take the lead early in the third. From that point on the Lions roared past the Hornets outscoring them 33-13 to cruise to the win in the conference opener. Since then we’ve seen the rapid development of Painter and Swinhart in the Lion starting lineup and a huge lift from what has become a much deeper bench. The Hornets? They have struggled a bit. That loss to Newaygo was one of 7 they strung together to open the season, before getting a pair of wins over Chip Hills and Tri County. They are a game group of players but they are unlikely to match the talent of the Lions. Reed City at Grant Back in December the Tigers shook off a beat down by Kent City and began their conference schedule with a 20+ point win over the Coyotes. And they are a better team than they were then. The Tigers have had a few ups and downs but they seemed to put it all together when they pulled into a tie for second with a road win over Big Rapids The ‘Yotes haven’t come close to beating a team with a winning record. Grant has some tough games ahead of them, but this shouldn’t be one of them. Fremont at Big Rapids The Cards took no prisoners in their first matchup on the Packer home court. Big Rapids has lost 4 times… to 3 state ranked teams and Grant. Fremont has lost their share of games but they have shown some grit and played well the past couple of weeks. They may not be able to take down the Cardinals in the BR gym but if they play like they have been lately they aren’t going to lose by 30 this time around. Hesperia at White Cloud Neither team scores a lot but the Cloud scores more than the Panthers and can get those points from a variety of players. WC has played well of late, even staying within range of the Kent City team that has plowed through their opponents with nary a loss. The Panthers have a couple of winnable games remaining on their schedule. I just don’t think this is one of them. Holton at Morley Stanwood The Devils are a good young team and will wind up a brutal part of their schedule Friday when they meet their 3rd state ranked team in a row on Morley’s home turf. The ‘Hawks have their own trio of tough ones ahead with Lake City and a rematch with conference leader Kent City on the docket next week followed by a trip to Grant. The Red Devils were humbled at home in their earlier meeting. I think they’ll play better than they did in December. MS might be looking ahead to their upcoming games but they aren’t likely to let this one slip past them with so much on the line. Boys Central Montcalm at Newaygo The Lions have fallen on hard times. They have not started games well and with the exception of a spirited run in the second half of the Grant game, they have not finished well either. They beat the Hornets by a bucket the first time around but unless they can recapture some of the tenacity and team play they put on display earlier this season it won’t be a season sweep. Reed City at Grant The Coyotes won the conference opener between these teams on their home court. This looks to be a tough battle between the 2 best teams in the conference not named Fremont or Big Rapids. If the Tigers play like they are capable of, they will hold home court . But they have to play well. The Coyotes need this win to stay in the race and will come at them hard. Fremont at Big Rapids This one could scramble the conference race or deliver a far easier road to the Cardinals should they win. Forget the misstep at Montague, this is a good Packer team that has won over a few believers this season including yours truly. They seem to have learned how to get the most out of each other and they will certainly need to be at their best to beat BR on their home court. Hesperia at White Cloud The Cloud dropped 65 points on the Panthers the first time around. They haven’t been over 50 since and while they should be able to hold off the Panthers, Hesperia has seen an uptick in scoring that could give an erratic WC offense some pause. Holton at Morley Stanwood Winning on the ‘Hawks home court is always tough but this is a Red Devil team that knows how to win and is looking to repeat as champs. They have 2 games against a resurgent Kent City team left on the schedule but they need to take care of business here and they don’t want Morley hanging around in the final minutes.
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