Friday Tournament Preview

By Ken DeLaat

Two intriguing matchups wrap up the local District play tonight. 
One pits a pair of the best basketball lineups in the region, two conference champs looking to add to their sensational seasons.
The other  features a youthful Cinderella team facing off against a senior laden squad determined to slap some District hardware into the trophy case after coming one game short last year.

In Fremont the Packers have a shot at not only moving on to the Regionals with their second straight District title in hand, but also having the advantage of taking on the Standish Sterling/Clare winner at home. There is a lot of talent on this team including three All Conference first teamers and a strong supporting cast. You never know who is going to be the go to player on any given night. On Wednesday it was Chase who had the hot hand dropping 22 on the Lions and Clemence and DeKuiper are scoring threats on any given night. Shriver is always part of the mix and when Noordyk comes off the bench she takes over in the paint
But it’s their defense that gives them their prowess on the court. In 18 of their 23 games the opponent scores less than 45 points. Not bad when your team averages over 60 a game.
Big Rapids doesn’t put the numbers on the board like Fremont but they have a sterling, shut down defense. Coach Haist employs a pressure D that has squeezed the offensive life out of opposing teams. Only 1 team has scored more than 45 on the Cards. The Fricke sisters are tough defenders and can score. Then there’s Fox, Pedigo and Knopf who are outside threats at any time.
But stats don’t mean much this time of year. Momentum does. These are two really good teams and the game could very well be a classic. 

At Tri County the winner heads to West Catholic to face the survivor of Montague/Spring Lake. 
The Tigers have won 10 more games than Sparta including a 7 point win over the Spartans on the Tiger home court. If one is to look at the season results it would seem like the odds heavily favor Grant. But Sparta is a different team of late.
The Spartans seem to have discovered a bit of a scoring touch breaching the 40 mark in their last 2 after not hitting it all season. VanVliet, Ross and Schmid each put up double figures against the Vikes on Wednesday. Not that Tri and Fruitport had outstanding defenses but they weren’t bad and Sparta’s D has played fairly well against some strong teams this season. 
Grant was hitting on all cylinders in their win over Comstock Park. Their sometimes dormant offense has hit the 60 mark twice in a row after reaching that number just once all season. Bouwkamp was hot, either hitting buckets or draining shots from the charity stripe. Pleune zeroed in from distance early and, as always, played the kind of defense that no opposing player wants to face. Obenauf and Thompson seem to be able to find scoring opportunities when needed and when there’s a battle for the ball look for Gee to be in the scrum
As said, on paper this should be the Tigers game to win but it’s the District Finals and no one gets here that doesn’t deserve it. If it’s close when the teams reach the final frame that Viking gym is sure to be rocking. 

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