Lions Roar Back Once Again

Comeback win over Tigers sends Newaygo to District Finals.

Photos by Alexis Mercer
Story by Ken De Laat

In a classic battle between two forever rivals The Lions pulled off yet another improbable comeback to secure a spot in Friday's District Final.
Aiden Booth nailed a three and Blake Rider followed with a bucket to stake the Tigers to a 5-0  lead. Caris Nelson and Hunter Yearsovich popped in a pair from distance answered by Kyle Cook splitting at the line to make it 6 all. Then the lid seemed to go on the basket as the teams battled back and forth with the quarter coming to an end at 12-11 Newaygo.
The second saw the Lions jump out to a 5 point lead early but Ethan Delong muscled one in then after a pair of misses from the stripe by the Lions he banged home a 3 to tie it up. The rest of the quarter saw a run and gun game with the teams going at each other as one would expect from these long tim e nemeses. When Oakley Obenauf scored before the buzzer it gave the Tigers a 5 point lead in a game where points were coming as a premium.

Coming out of the locker room Cook scored twice and Lucas Swanson scorched a pair of triples. When Logan Klomp scored for Newaygo it stopped a 14-0 run by Grant but Swanson zeroed in again and was fouled in the process for a 4 point play and a 17 point lead for the Tigers.Klomp and Nelson notched points but Swanson seemed unstoppable and when the dust cleared the teams entered the final frame with the Tigers up 51-34.
Newaygo had brought a huge crowd to the game and while the prospects for a win looked a bit bleak, you couldn’t tell from the ongoing exhortations from the dressed in black section of Lion supporters. And when the comeback began it became deafening.

Klomp and Swanson exchanged 2’s to begin the quarter and then, as it did on Monday, it happened again. The Lions went on a tear chipping away at the Tiger lead. Ethan Reyburn Blake  Kerr and Klomp scored before Josiah Long who had been ice cold from distance  found his shot, buried a pair and suddenly the Tigers were clinging to a 1 point lead with under 2 minutes to play.
Swanson split from the line and Nelson scored a 2 to tie the game. After a stop Long hit a bucket to give the Lions the first lead since early in the 2nd.Nelson and Swanson both split from the line and when Klomp converted twice  after being fouled the comeback was complete. For the second time in three days the Lions had pulled off a wild win after being down well over double digits and now they were heading for a Friday Final against another long time in county rival, the Packers.

Swanson absolutely lit it up for the Tigers, draining 28 points while Nelson led the Lions with 19. Klomp finished with 13. Long was welcomed back into the scoring book with a dozen and Kerr hit for 9. Rider (7) and Cook (6) added to the Grant scoring and Obenauf was a demon on defense for the Tigers with his one on one matchupn with Lion ballhandler Nelson proving to be a side show in itself.
Newaygo and Fremont will battle Friday at 7pm with the winner earning a trip to Allendale for Regional play.