 Division win makes it 6 straight
Fremont 67 Orchard View 33 The Packers doubled up the Cardinals as they picked up their 6th straight win with everyone getting into the act. They came in from the cold and immediately got hot scoring the first 10 points and by halftime led by 17. Riley Chase led a scoring parade by the Pack hitting for 15 points and adding 5 boards and 5 steals Taylor DeKuiper continues to shine on both ends of the court as she knocked down 10 points grabbed 7 rebounds, pilfered 6 steals and tossed out 5 assists Mia Clemence collected triple sevens in steals rebounds and assists to go with her 8 points. All Packer 12 players made it into the scoring section of the book including Taylor Johnson (7) Breven Powell (5), Ava Krohn (4), Ariana Tannerr (4),Brynna Barnhart (4) Anna Norris (4), Ella Shriver (2), Grace Evans (2) and Esther Vissia (2). Fremont (3-0, 6-1) will continue divisional play on Tuesday when the Eagles of Oakridge pay a visit.
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 By Ken DeLaat It’s only the end of the first quarter when it comes to the basketball season, but by now coaches have a pretty good idea what they have on the court and on the bench. The Packers and Tigers both had a lot of returnees but thus far they aren’t going in the same direction. The Lions have put together a 6 pack of rugged wins with well balanced scoring and a scrappy defense. White Cloud hopes their often absent offense will start showing up on a more regular basis. Fremont (6-1, 3-0 WMC Lakes) Coach Pete Zerfas leads a team looking to defend their Lakes Division Championship and with the talent on hand it looks like the title goes through Packerland. Manistee currently shares the top spot at this early point of the season but they have yet to win against a team with a winning record and will be facing three tough division opponents before hosting the Packers mid month. The Packers are a team with strong offensive weaponry averaging nearly 60 points a game during their 5 game win streak. Clemence can hit from anywhere, DeKuiper is all over the court and Chase and Barnhart are strong on the glass. Upcoming games include home matchups with Oakridge on Tuesday and Whitehall Friday. Newaygo (6-1, 3-0 CSAA Red) The Lions sit atop the Red Division along with Big Rapids. They have peeled off 6 wins in a row and Coach Thomasma is finding success by going long on his bench. Holmes has been a beast on the boards Arney, Schillman, Shultz and Andres provide a consistent scoring attack and don’t go to sleep on Hughes who seems to get better each game. They are still looking to get back to full strength after the break. They will need it. Their first couple of outings are road games against co-leader Big Rapids and White Division co-leader Kent City. Both good teams, both tough places for visiting teams. Grant (2-4, 1-1 CSAA Red) Coach Delamater’s team has faced a pretty rugged schedule early on beginning the season with a loss to the Hovey-led Hart squad. They notched a pair of wins over struggling TC and Lakeview then saw their offense come apart in a 20+ point loss to Newaygo. They played fairly well in losses to Kent City and Cedar and there is a lot of season left for the Tigers to find themselves. Grant lost a lot of points to graduation but there is a solid core of variety experience on this team with Pleune, Gragg, Thompson and Obenauf. Bouwkamp is a player and Gee has the makings of a sharpshooter They begin the new year with a visit from Spring Lake (the only team to beat Fremont thus far) then take on Reed City and Central Montcalm. They need a couple wins to right the ship. White Cloud (2-5, 0-2 CSAA White) The Cloud notched their second win of the season in the runner-up game at the Holton Holiday tourney. For the second time (both wins) the team’s offense stretched beyond Vincent. Well, actually she canned more than half of her team’s total output, but Cook and Foondle also reached double figures and we understand Shockley and Cook provided some crucial post play. They return against White Division co-leader Kent City, a team that has had WC’s number for quite a string of games. Coach Wilk will need to see the kind of production the team put out in that last game if they’re to have a shot. WC needs a couple of shooters to help Vincent and they seem to have them. When an offense is struggling players need the confidence to keep putting it up after a few misfires. If you're a shooter, the shots will begin to drop.
By Ken DeLaat Our coverage teams have had mixed success in the early season The Tigers are undefeated and sharing the division lead with Big Rapids and the Cloud has won without a consistent offense. Newaygo still has a lot to prove and Fremont? Well, the Packers have some winnable games ahead and can only improve with experience. Grant (5-0, 2-0 CSAA Red) Anyone else see this coming besides Coach George? Phillips, DeLong, Rider, Hatch, and the rest of the Tiger crew have been ice hot, rolling over opponents with a fast paced offense and stifling defense. Their last game, a win over Kent City, was the first time an opponent came within 10 points. After watching their girls team get throttled in the rivalry series against Newaygo the boys dismantled the Lions in a game that was over by halftime. Can the team keep it going? Well, if they keep on averaging over 70 a game they are going to be tough to beat. Mark Jan. 17 on your calendar. They will host Big Rapids, the other contender in the title race, and if they knock off the Cardinals it will be tough to see anyone stopping them from securing some hardware at season’s end. White Cloud (6-2, 1-1 CSAA White) Coach Jones’ team puts a formidable defense on the court every game. A good thing because there are nights when his offense seems to be struggling to get points. In their 6 wins they are averaging just under 50 a game. Not bad, but not enough against some of the better teams. The average in their two losses? 35 points. Their offense caught fire in the title game at the Holton Tourney with a season high 61. Maybe it’s the traction the offense needed but the schedule ahead should show whether they can be contenders for the White Division title. Cruzan and Robinson can get hot while Canning, Strait, Zimmer, et.al. can put points in the book as well. With three games next week, including a Friday night home tilt against division rival Kent City, they will be facing teams who score a bunch of points. The defense will hold but the shots are going to need to fall with more consistency if they are going to continue their winning ways. Newaygo (4-3, 2-1 CSAA Red) Coach Long’s squad has been a bit up and down in the early part of the season. Statistically enigmatic, they have lost by an average of 28 points and won by an average of 15. Of course the opponents in those games have a lot to do with this. The Lions have struggled against the better teams on their schedule and are able to run away from the less talented squads. Reyburn, Kerr, Yearsovich and Miedema provide most of the offense so far and the defense isn’t shabby if you toss out the Grant game. After opening the new year with a winnable home game against Montague on Tuesday they have to travel to Big Rapids Friday. The matchup with the division leading Cardinals will reveal if the Grant game was just a blip in the season or a sign that the Lions haven’t got what it takes to contend in the Red. Fremont (2-6, 1-3 WMC Lakes) Talk about your rebuilding years. The Packers graduated their entire starting 5 plus a couple of key bench players and Coach Powell is guiding a squad with little varsity experience and few consistent shooters. No wonder they are taking their lumps. Outside of a 71 point performance over a Montague team that has no defense, they are averaging less than 50 a game. Their 2 wins came against teams with a combined 2-12 mark in the early season. Powell and Green got help in that Montague game, but that needs to happen when facing a tougher defense. In this basketball crazy town it looks to be a long season, but the experience gained will hopefully set the stage for future success. After a trip to Kent City they face 2 muscle teams in Whitehall and Big Rapids. Both are at home and unless Coach Powell can find some magic it doesn’t look like it’s going to be pretty for the Packer faithful. The Packer Express giving some recognition to their hot handed teammate Clemence explodes for 40
The Packers continue to roll as they notched their 5th straight win behind an impressive night of shooting by Mia Clemence who dropped an even 40 on the visiting Spartans. Coach Zerfas: “We were down 15-14 after the first quarter, but made an adjustment to our press in the huddle and that, combined with our pressure and pace, was the difference.” The Packers shot past the Spartans with a 21-8 second and widened the lead throughout the second half. Shattering the previous school record of 36, Clemence fired in 6 from distance, added 10 rebounds and dished out 4 assists. Taylor DeKuiper canned 8 and matched that number in steals while delivering 7 assists and Brynna Barnhart scored 7 points to go with her 7 boards. All 10 Packers got into the book with points and/or rebounds. Fremont (2-0, 5-1) goes on the road to Orchard View Friday to resume Lakes Division play against the Cardinals.  White Cloud captures another Holton Holiday Tourney
White Cloud 43 Wellspring 37 The Cloud took the title at the Holton Holiday Tourney holding off the Wolves of Wellspring for their second win in two days. Freshman Brady Strait put the game away at the end going 4-6 from the free throw line . Coach Jones: “We led wire to wire. We didn't shoot the ball extremely well tonight, but were very happy to defend our title for the second year in a row. We played another great game on the defensive side and rebounded really well.“ Coleson Cruzan knocked down a game high 17 points while Jayden Robinson dropped in an even dozen and David Higgs hit for 8. White Cloud (1-1, 6-2) returns to action on January 6 when they travel to Custer to face the Cardinals of Mason County Eastern.  Vincent leads potent offensive attack Photos by Brent Foondle White Cloud 52 Muskegon Catholic 39 Playing shorthanded a day after facing a tough Holton squad the Cloud rallied the troops and posted a win in the Holton Holiday Tournament. Led by Andi Vincent who canned 7 from beyond the arc on her way to a game high (and career high) 28 points. WC took an early lead and held a 28-19 edge at intermission. In the second half they held off the Crusaders and secured their second win of the season Coach Wilk: “The quick turnaround was good for us. I challenged the girls to go out and play with everything they had. With missing two of our starters we needed all eight players to step up, and they did. “We were lacking a lot of size today but Addyson Cook had a great game and scored 11 points in the post for us, and her fellow front court member Isabella Shockley had a big day making passes and playing good defense” Brooklyn Foondle also hit double figures hitting for 11 points. White Cloud will return to the court on January 10 when they resume White Division play by hosting the Eagles of Kent City.
 WC playing for some hardware Saturday Photos by Brent Foondle White Cloud opened play at the Holton tournament with a win over the Panthers. The Cloud took control early to go up 27-10 after one and hit halftime with a 45-17 advantage. Coach Jones: “The shots were falling tonight as we went 10-14 from beyond the arc. We got some much needed playing time for our bench.” Coleson Cruzan led the scoring parade dropping 16 points while Jayden Robinson and Brady Strait each knocked down 14. Jacob Zimmer added 8 points, Kaleeb Canning canned 6 and David Higgs finished with 5. White Cloud will face Wellspring Prep in the tournament final at 4:30 Saturday
 WC to face MCC, RDs take on Vikes Photos by Brent Foondle Holton 38 White Cloud 22 The Holton Holiday Tournament got under way Friday as the Red Devils overcame a slow start to race past White Cloud. The visitors took a 5-3 lead after one but Holton found the range in the second outscoring the Cloud 14-5 to take a 7 point lead into intermission. Coach Wilk: “ We had too many turnovers and missed too many shots near the rim. Holton was more aggressive attacking the hoop. They shot 26 free throws, and we only attempted 10 shots from the line.” The Devils win puts them into the finals Saturday afternoon when they face the Vikings of Whitehall who defeated Muskegon Catholic Central. White Cloud/MCC will tip off at 1.30pm in the consolation game. Coach Jordan: “Really proud of the girls tonight, at tip off we were down 5 girls from an 11 girl roster due to vacation and illness, so wasn't sure what to expect tonight as we pulled up several freshman from the JV team so we would at least have 8 on the bench to start.At one point in the night we had 4 freshman out there at once so that was kind of cool to see.” Andi Vincent once again paced the scoring for White Cloud banging home 8 points.
Boys, girls teams fall on the road Photos by Brent Foondle Boys Lakeview 41 White Cloud 38 After a pair of wins, visiting White Cloud hit another scoring drought and lost the White Division battle with Lakeview. Coach Jones: “Our offensive struggles again reared its ugly head again tonight. We missed a lot of wide open shots. We fought our way back from a double digit deficit again tonight to tie up the game, but just couldn't manage to take the lead in the last minute.” Jayden Robinson led the way with a game-high 16 points while Coleson Cruzan also hit double figures with 10. Brady Strait scored 6 and David Higgs finished with 5. White Cloud (1-1, 4-2) will face Hesperia in the Holton Holiday Tourney on Friday at 3pm. Girls Lakeview 38 White Cloud 28 Coach Wilk: “Tonight we lost a game I know our team could win. We lacked the energy and focus needed to win. We were leading at halftime 18 to 15, and we were leading 25 to 23 to start the fourth. In the fourth they made some very easy buckets, and we didn't take care of the ball. The potential is there with this group, but they need to realize it and understand what it is going to take to reach that next level. After tonight I think they want to take their game to the next level.” Payten Bird paced the visitors with 8 points and Brooklyn Foondle added 7. White Cloud (0-2, 1-4) will play Friday at Noon at the Holton Holiday Tourney.
Boys, girls capture pre-break wins.
Boys Newaygo 58 Tri County 51 The Lions picked up the Red Division win over a determined Viking squad. TC got out in front early taking a 6 point lead early in the second quarter but the hosts fired back and pulled even at 23 by intermission. The third saw a back and forth lead but in the final frame the Lions pulled away and secured the win. Coach Long: “The whole team played hard, rebounded the ball, and made free throws down the stretch.” Leading the Lions in scoring were Isaiah Miedema and Ethan Reyburn who each dropped a dozen while Blake Kerr knocked down 11 and Blake Sanborn hit for 8. Newaygo (2-1, 4-3) on Jan.7 when they will host Montague. Girls Newaygo 54 Tri-County 18 The Lions will head to the break with another division win under wraps as they ran away from the Vikings going up 22-5 after one and 44-7 by halftime. "Good win for the girls going into Christmas Break. I didn't like the way we started the game but the girls picked up the intensity and things got better. TC was shorthanded and down two starters and they played hard throughout the game. We need to continue to tighten things up over break and try to stay sharp. We don't have another game for three weeks." Gabby Arney led the Lions with 15 points, 7 steals and 5 rebounds. Kija Schultz finished with 11 points, 4 steals and 4 rebounds while Lilly Holmes took down a team high 11 boards while adding 9 points. Newaygo (3-0, 6-1) returns with a road game against Division co-leader Big Rapids on January 11. |
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