Frigid Start Dooms Lions

Pack runs away early

Photos by Alexis Mercer, Story by Ken DeLaat

Fremont 60 Newaygo 44
It was cold outside Friday night but not as cold as the Lions during the opening frame of this conference battle
Blake Hanshue canned a triple to open the game for Fremont and was answered by a Bryce Decker bucket.
From then on the first quarter belonged to the Packers.
Nothing went well for the Lions. They could not hit a shot, they turned the ball over and they could not stop the hot shooting from their hosts. Hanshue would hit two more from distance, Joey Delong tallied twice, Jordon McDonald and Gavin Richards also made it onto the stat sheet.
But the Lions came up empty and when the first period came mercilly to an end they were looking at a 20 point deficit they would not be able to overcome.
To their credit Newayo regrouped and played the Pack even the rest of the game but Fremont would not yield control and managed to keep their visitors at bay with a total team effort, The Lions would begin a bit of a run with Decker, Gabe Schillman and Jaden Osawabine putting up points but they never got closer than 16 points as Chase Rasmissen and Logan Nelson also hit the nets with regularity.

Coach Bowen: “This was a great team win.  Newaygo is a very good team, but our energy at the beginning of the game was awesome, and we were able to get out to a big early lead.  Jordon McDonald got into foul trouble early, but we had a number of guys that stepped up for us.  This is the kind of team we hoped we would be with a great defensive effort and many people contributing on the offensive end. 
A trio of Packers finished in double figures led by Hanshue who hit for 15 points while grabbing 9 off the glass and collecting a pair of steals. Nelson canned 13 points dished out 5 dimes and grabbed 5 steals and DeLong dropped a dozen to go with 3 assists and 4 steals. McDonald ran into some foil trouble but still managed 9 points, 4 boards and 3 steals.
Decker paced the Lions with 12 points and 9 rebounds. Kody Bazzett finished with 9 points and Schillman and Osawabine each tallied 7.
Fremont moves to 2-1 in conference play and 4-3 overall while Newaygo falls to 1-2 in the Gold and 3-3 overall. The Packers will visit Grant on Tuesday while the Lions head to Tri County.