Story and photos by Mike Gesler Central Montcalm 46 Grant 38 The last time Grant met Central Montcalm it was early in the season, and the Tigers scored their first win in a narrow two point victory. Since the winter break, however, the Hornets have won four of their last six while the Tigers have dropped five of their last six. Hoping to end a four game losing streak, Grant knew that they could certainly beat Central Montcalm, but doing so would require stopping a real good team. During the first quarter, it was evident that neither team was going to make this an easy game for the other. Central Montcalm’s London Eldridge scored first only to be quickly answered by Jaycee Rider of Grant. The two teams went tit-for-tat but two three’s by Brielle Collins and one from Anna Loew of the Hornets gave Central Montcalm a six point advantage at the end of the first. The second quarter started out in favor of the Hornets. Collins again knocked down another three only this time Grant would make sure that the Hornets would not have another look for three for the remainder of the game. And just when it appeared that Central Montcalm might run away with this game, Grant found a way to stop the hemorrhaging and bring the game back within striking distance. By the time the buzzer sounded on the second quarter, of the twenty-six points scored during the quarter, Central Montcalm only edged Grant by two and went into the locker room with a twenty to twenty-eight advantage. The third quarter was rough for both teams. Central Montcalm was determined to hold their lead, Grant was resolute to close that eight point gap, and neither team was willing to concede any ground. So when the dust settled, Central Montcalm only added one point to their margin going into the final quarter. The final quarter looked like the pendulum might swing back to Grant’s advantage. The Tigers managed to hold the Hornets pointless for five minutes while at the same time chip away at theirlead. With three minutes left in the game, Grant had narrowed the score down to a three point game. Central Montcalm called a time out, and that was enough to break the momentum hold that Grant had. The Hornets came out of that time out with a seven point run. There was not much Grant could do after that as they lost this one in a gritty battle.
“Central Montcalm was really good, and we made some mistakes at the end that kind of cost us,” stated Grant’s coach, Paige Paulsen. “We fought harder then we have, we played better then we have; tonight we just ran into a good team. If we keeping going on this way, it’s going to be a good end of the year.” Leading in tonight’s effort for the Tigers was Kirstyn Throop with ten points. Trinity Swanson, Jaycee Rider, and Kassidy Doornbos each put up eight, and Savannah Passage also helped with four. The Tigers will go on the road for their next two games starting with Morley Stanwood on Tuesday night.
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