Packers Clip O’s, Tigers Tame Cats

Photos by Matthew Zerfas

Tuesday
 Fremont 56 Ludington 33
The last challenger standing in the way of a repeat crown for the Packers came to Fremont Tuesday night with a shot at moving into a first place tie in the WMC-Lakes. Since early December when Fremont  notched a win on the Ludington home court the O’s had gone 10-2 overall  and 7-0 in the Lakes. 
In the 12 minutes after tipoff the Packer defense stifled the visitors with an 18-2 run, a lead the O’s were unable to recover from, and secured a 2 game lead in the Lakes with 4 divisional games remaining. None of those 4 upcoming opponents  were able to get within 30 points of the Pack the first time around. The win also made it 20 in a row in Lakes Division play.
Coach Zerfas: “I thought we played our best defensive game of the season tonight.  We adjusted our press to a different style, contested shots, didn't allow drives and rebounded well.  We played great defense, especially in the first quarter where we did not allow them a field goal It was a slower pace than we normally play at but showed we can adjust against good teams”
Mia Clemence knocked down a team high 20 points and collected 10 rebounds and Riley Chase hit for 11 points  with 7 boards while Taylor DeKuiper led the Packers on the glass with 11, and added 9 points. Anna Norris finished with 5 points and Khaila Noordyk and Ella Shriver each scored 4.
Fremont (8-0, 14-2) and currently 15th in the MHSAA D2 Rankings will host Oakridge on Thursday.

Monday
Grant 41 Montague 37
The Tigers held off a fierce fourth quarter charge by the Wildcats and notched the win over a tough Montague squad. The visitors came in with just 4 losses, 3 of those coming against state ranked teams.
Coach Delamater:” We controlled this game until the fourth quarter. Things got physical and the results of playing our 3rd game in 4 days definitely showed. ”
The Tigers took a 12-6 lead after one and pushed their edge to 13 points by intermission. They held that advantage heading into the 4th when the Cats clawed back with a rally but the Tigers were able to hold them off and secure the win.
“This was a great win for us. We've been taking care of the weaker teams on the schedule, but haven't been able to get over the hump against good teams.”
Jocee Pleune fired in 11 points with Lily Gee hitting for 10 and Alexa Obenauf finishing with 8. 
​Grant (4-3, 8-8) will play at Chip Hills on Friday.