Packers Power Past Lions in District Opener

Packers Power Past Lions in District Opener
Story and photos by Alexis Mercer

Fremont 51 Newaygo 37


The Packers pounced early and often in their opener for the District tournament in Fremont on Wednesday. Despite aggressive play on both sides of the ball, Newaygo found themselves down by 10 points at the end of the 1st quarter. Fremont outscored Newaygo 15-5 in the 2nd quarter to take a 20 point lead into halftime. Newaygo came out of the locker room from halftime with renewed energy, but was never able to hit the big shot to get it close enough to make it a game.


Riley Chase had a big night for the Packers with 22 points and 7 steals.  Mia Clemence had 14 points, 10 rebounds and 7 steals.  Taylor DeKuiper only scored 2 points, but had 10 rebounds and 5 steals.  Khaila Noordyk came off the bench to contribute 5 points and 9 rebounds.  Ella Shriver had 5 points and 5 steals, and Brynna Barnhart had 3 points and 3 blocks. 


Ruby Hughes led the Lions with 11 points, 11 rebounds, 3 steals and 2 blocks.  Naomi Schillman had 8 points and 3 rebounds. Kija Schultz had 4 points, 6 rebounds, 6 steals and 2 assists for the Lions.


"Disappointing loss tonight for the team,” said Coach Thomasma. “We had a tough stretch in the second quarter where Fremont got us out of our comfort zone and we didn't handle it well. I was happy with the way we responded in the second half and kept battling to the final horn but you can't spot a good team that many points and expect to win.  Credit to Fremont.  They hit the big shots when it counted and they beat us on the 50/50 balls tonight.  


I'm proud of this group of girls though. They were a fun group to be around and to work with all year.  An 18-5 record is something to be proud of and hopefully we can build off of it next year.  Kija Schultz, Naomi Schillman, Gracie Bazzett and Karissa Carlson were amazing seniors and they will be missed next year.”


“We started out strong with a 16-6 first quarter lead which we built into a 31-11 halftime lead,” added Coach Zerfas.  “Newaygo outscored us 12-9 in the third quarter and 14-11 in the 4th, but we maintained a double digit lead the entire second half.  We were still up 17 with 2 minutes to go.  The first game in Districts is always the toughest and playing a very good and well coached Newaygo team made it all the tougher.”


Newaygo ends the year 18-5.


Fremont improves to 21-2 and will face 20-2 Big Rapids on Friday in the District Final in Fremont at 7 PM. Tickets are available online on the GoFan app.