Friday Basketball Preview

By Ken DeLaat, N3 Sports

Girls

Newaygo at  Grant
The Tigers have put together a good season with a combination of experience and youth, posting some big wins along the way.
In fact they have only lost to 2 teams in the conference. Their Friday opponents, first place Newaygo…and Tri County, a team that has only won 2 other conference games beyond the sweep of Grant.
While the Tigers have been inconsistent the Lions have not. They seem to have gotten stronger as the season has progressed. We knew that Long Goodin and Fisk would provide  senior leadership along with a boatload of points and boards but the emergence of Painter, Swineheart and Welch as well as getting some solid minutes from the bench has turned them into a force of late.
The Tigers have a lot of players returning and will be competing for the title next year, but second place is the only realistic target this year.
And they will need to beat Big Rapids next week to make that happen because the Lions aren’t about to have a let down now.

Tri County at Fremont
The Vikings are an enigma. As mentioned above they have had Grant’s number beating them twice while losing to conference bottom dweller Chip Hills in between. Always tougher at home. TC hasn’t won a road game in 2 months.
The Packers have rarely played with a full squad this year and their record reflects it. They nearly pulled one out against TC in the Viking gym and have begun to see more firepower beyond Haley Zerlaut but if they go into this one shorthanded again they will be hard pressed to get win #3.

Holton at Kent City
The Red Devils ended their winning streak with a solid thud, managing only 16 points against an aggressive Ravenna squad. Not the performance you want before facing the team that held you to just a dozen last time out. While I like Coach Jordan’s team a lot, led by Robins and Fowler, few teams are in the same league as the Eagles. Only 2 teams have come within 10 points of KC and both are lofty in the state rankings.
And the game is in the Aerie.

Hesperia at Morley Stanwood
The Panthers haven’t got the horses to keep up with the ‘Hawks, a team looking toward a possible third try at Kent City in the District Tourney to be held  in the MS house

White Cloud at Lakeview
The Cloud is 8-10 and won’t finish the regular season at .500 because they finish with Kent City.
But they can get close with a win over the Wildcats, a team they handled well at home.


Boys

Newaygo at  Grant
The Tigers have only lost once to a team with a losing record, a 2 point squeaker  to Sparta just after the calendar turned. The first time these teams met in the Lion's Den the Tigers built a huge lead then watched as Newaygo whittled away at it before running out of gas in the final minutes.
It’s a rivalry game. THE rivalry in the region so that tosses everything out the window,
The Lions have Decker and  Long and have benefitted from the increased role of Osawabin. 
The Tigers have Schuitema who will get his points and Swanson, Geers and Cronk can score.
If the Lions can overcome their slow starts they could make it a game, but falling behind early is trouble here particularly if Scuitema has a hot hand. 

Tri County at Fremont
Oof. That hurt.
The loss at home to Grant slimmed down the Packer title hopes considerably. Now beyond needing to win out they need help and those same Grant Tigers are likely the only ones left on the Big Rapids schedule capable of beating them.
Fremont handled the Vikings first time around at the TC gym and they should be able to put this one in the W column, but despite the loss to the Lions Tuesday the Vikes have been pouring in the points the past few weeks.
When the Packers lose (outside of the OT game against BR) they average 50 points, their total output in each of the last 2 games a win over Newaygo and the loss to the Tigers.
They will likely need more to secure this win.

Holton at Kent City
The Red Devils want this one badly. A win puts them in position to share the title. A loss gets them 2nd place in their last Silver season.
They had a shot at moving into the catbird seat KC now holds when the teams met last week but they came up a point short. Coach Swanson praised his team's effort but felt the offense couldn’t find its rhythm that night.
The rhythm section of Monette, Brant, Fowler, Ericson, etc. will probably need more than the 35 they put up last time because the Eagles can score bunches.
And they’re on their home court this time.

Hesperia at Morley Stanwood
The Panthers have been playing shorthanded most of the season.
We don’t see any winnable games beginning with this trip to Morley and finishing with 3 pretty good teams, but Coach Worcester gets a bow for staying positive during what has been a really tough season.

White Cloud at Lakeview
The Cloud took control first time around and Taylor Bode dropped 19 on the Wildcats. 
This one’s on the road but WC is a better team and a win in this one evens their Silver record at 5-5.

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