Season Preview: Girls Basketball

Local teams start this week

By Ken DeLaat

The  Girls hoop season has arrived and our coverage teams look to begin challenging opponents on the hardwood this week.
Fremont is the defending WMC Lakes champs and will be looking to defend that title while Newaygo hopes a strong returning class has the talent to challenge in the CSAA Red. Grant also returns varsity experience from a team that came within a game of sharing a conference title and ended the season in the District Finals. White Cloud will battle in the White Division this season after competing in the blended CSAA conference last season. Hesperia had a rough go of it last year in a rugged WMC Rivers division but they return some talent from last season and should show marked improvement.
And just for fun, here are 5 of the younger players on the court who will be likely have a lot to do with their team’s success 
Sophomores Taylor DeKuiper (Fre). Lily Gee (Gr), Ruby Hughes (New), Sarissa Conkle (Hesp) and freshman Andi Vincent (WC).

Newaygo Lions CSAA Red
Last season 12-11 overall, 4-6 conference 
The Lions open on Monday  at Montague one of four road games in a row to start the season. In addition they are playing 3 times thisweek heading to Sparta Wednesday and winding up the week on that unique court in Reed City.

It’s the 10th year Coach Nate Thomasma has led the Lions and some pretty distinguished hardware has been added to the trophy case during his tenure. This season he has a quintet of players who have started for the Lions including Guard Amaya Lathrop (Junior, All Conference 1st Team), Guard/Forward: Kija Schultz (Senior) Guard: Naomi Schillman (Senior, All Conference Honorable Mention), Forward: Lillian Holmes (Junior), and Forward: Ruby Hughes (Sophomore),  Guards Gracie Bazzett (Senior) and Karissa Carlson (Senior) also return to the squad.

Newcomers to the team include Guard: Kaelyn Stephens (Junior), Guard: Morgan Andres (Sophomore), Guard: Gabby Arney (Sophomore), Forward: Sydnee Shepherd (Junior), Forward: Hannah Gould (Junior), Forward: Kalleigh Klappholz (Junior), Forward: Morgan Sharp (Junior), Guard: Zaydrie Eaton (Freshman)

Strengths/ Challenges Coach T cites the experience on the team as well as their depth as team strengths. “I think we’re the deepest we have been in a few years”
Despite the experience the Lions are a young team with just 2 seniors on the 15 player squad, many who have yet to take the floor for the varsity.

Coach Thomasma:  "The girls have had a good start to the season.  They are working hard on the court.  We have really emphasized WE>me for our mindset this year.  We know we are only going to be as good as the whole team.  I think if we take care of the ball we have a chance to be competitive with the teams on our schedule.  

Conference Outlook: “Reed City returns a bunch of experience.  Big Rapids is always tough.  There are a lot of good coaches in the league so every game is always tough.”

Fremont Packers WMC Lakes
Last season 20-5 overall 12-0 conference
The Packers open the season Tuesday at Spring Lake and travel to Sparta on Friday. Their first home game is on Dec. 13 when they host Hart.

Coach Pete Zerfas in his second year at the helm returns a trio of All Conference guards from the team that last season swept through a tough WMC Lakes Division and took home a district crown as well. 

Mia Clemence  5'10 senior guard, All-Conference, averaged 10.5 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists last season, Riley Chase  5'8 Senior Guard, All-Conference Honorable Mention, averaged   7 points, 5.0 steals and Taylor DeKuiper 5'10 Sophomore Guard.  All-Conference Honorable Mention averaged  8.5 points, 7 rebounds, 5.3 steals, 3 assists last season.
DeKuiper set a single season steals record for Fremont last year as a freshman. (Coach Z: “After scrimmaging Newaygo, Reed City and Evart the past week....she is leading us in Points, rebounds, Assists, Steals, Blocks.....every single category.”)
Grace Evans  5'9 Junior Guard also returns from last year’s  conference champs and so will Khalia Noordyk 5'11 Senior Center once she is cleared to play. Noordyk tore her ACL during last season’s District finals and should return to the court somewhere soon after the holiday break.\
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Newcomers include  Brynna Barnhart  5'10 Junior Forward Anna Norris  5'10 Junior Forward Taylor Johnson 5'8 Junior Guard Ava Krohn  5'8 Junior Guard and Ella Shriver 5'9 Sophomore Guard

Team strengths: “I think our pressure defense and up tempo style will eventually be a strength of ours.  It's not yet....but it will be.  Based on scrimmages we have work to do, but this will become our strength.
Team challenges: “We are very small.  Rebounding has been a HUGE challenge in scrimmages as we have been outrebounded by every team.  Our early schedule will be very tough.  We begin the season at Spring Lake, at Sparta, at Ludington, then home vs Hart”

Coach Zerfas: 
“We have a great group of girls who work hard and are experienced at winning.  Many on the team have played for conference and or district championships in one, two or all three sports; Basketball, Soccer and Volleyball.  We have a lot of work to do to continue that winning, but the girls are very willing and coachable.  We have to find a way to overcome how small we are and rebound better, but as the season goes on we will do that.  I'm really excited to see how we gel and where we go this season.”

Conference outlook
“I think the overall conference will be a challenging one.  Montague, Oakridge, Whitehall and Manistee should be improved.  Ludington returns 90% of their roster and they are long and athletic.  We have work to do but we should be in the mix.”

Grant Tigers CSAA Red
Last season 15-7, 8-2 conference
The Tigers open play with a visit to Hart before hosting Tri County on Friday.
Coach Josh Delamater is in his 5th year on the bench for Grant and returns a foursome of seniors who combine for 13 years of varsity experience.

Guard Jocee Pleune, (Senior 5' 2") averaged 6 points , 2.5 rebounds, 1.5 assists, and 2 steals per game.  Forward Reese Gragg - (Senior  5' 8") accounted for  3.4 points and 5 rebounds per game, Forward Emma Thompson - (Senior 5' 7" ) averaged just under 3 points and 3 rebounds and Forward Alexa Obenauf  (Senior, 5’6”) had 4.8 points and just under 3 rebounds per game.
Also in the mix are guard  Payton Bouwkamp (Junior, 5’5” and guard /forward  Lily Gee (Sophomore 5’6”).

Team Strengths: “We are returning 7 girls with significant varsity experience from a team that was second in the conference and played for a district championship. We have some size and will use that to our advantage this season. Jocee Pleune is one of the best on the ball defenders in the area and Payton Bouwkamp and Lily Gee will compliment her in those regards.“
Team Challenges: “Our floor leaders and top scorers are gone to graduation. We lost 30 points a game so we will need to figure out quickly where the buckets will need to come from. Our graduates were great transition players and now we will have to figure out how to score and manufacture points in a half court set.” 

Coach Delamater: “We are looking for our players to live up to their potential”

White Cloud Indians CSAA White 
Last season 8-15 overall 2-8 conference
The Cloud opens the season Monday at Ravenna and then the team heads to Shelby on Thursday. Their first home game is December 10 when Reed City comes to town.

Coach Wilk: “We have four returning players: Senior Brooklyn Foondle and Junior Payten Bird have the most in game experience and look to lead us this year. Seniors Keira Baker and Isabella Shockley round out our returners from last year. 
“We are adding three other juniors to our team: Kayla Burgess, Molly Francis, and Aniya Williams. We will be looking for these three to step up on varsity and help out whenever called upon. 
“We are also adding 3 freshmen to this team: Andi Vincent, Addyson Cook, and Courtney Coon. All three showed us this summer that they belong on varsity. Andi's ball handling and offensive skills will help us improve our scoring output from last season. Addyson and Courtney have high motors on defense, and they can attack the hoop with voracity on the offensive end. “

Team Strengths: “The love of basketball. This group wants to get better every day. They are coachable and willing to put in the work to get better. “
Biggest Challenge:”Experience. We will be very young this year. We will have three seniors, four juniors, and three freshmen on our roster with only 11 combined starts on varsity. This summer we tried to get our group as much experience as we could playing at the varsity level. “

Conference Frontrunners: “I’d like to throw our name in the hat, but until we prove ourselves I would have to say Morley and Kent City.” 

Coach Wilk; “I think we have a few players who can reach double digits in scoring any given night and sometimes more. It is also exciting that many of our players will return next year because we only have the three seniors. This means that our young players will receive a lot of experience and will continue to develop for the future.

Hesperia Panthers WMC Rivers
Last season 0-12 conference
The Panthers begin their season Monday when they visit Muskegon Catholic. 8 days later they will face Pentwater in their home opener.

Coach Ty Elenbaas
Returnees:
“We have four key returning players this season: Kaley Cousineau, Sarissa Conkle, Yasmine Luevano, and Olivia Gerard. Kaley, a senior guard, brings strong leadership, a high basketball IQ. Sarissa, who started as a freshman last year, is a great athlete and has grown tremendously with her varsity experience. Yasmin is a hardworking, committed player with great character, and Olivia, a junior, is a tough competitor who plays excellent defense and continues to improve every time she steps on the court.”
Newcomers:
“Some new faces who could make an impact this year include Alyssa Wishman, Sophia Fraser, and Kassondra Ellis. Each of them brings athleticism that could be a real asset to our team. As they gain experience, I expect them to play a key role in our defensive toughness and overall team effort.”

Team strengths:
“Our toughness and athleticism stand out as major strengths this season. We have a group of girls who embrace hard work and gritty play, especially on the defensive side of the ball. They’re willing to do the little things—hustle, compete, and play for each other—which will help us stay competitive in tough matchups.”
Team challenges:
“One of our biggest challenges is our lack of depth. With a smaller roster, staying healthy and avoiding foul trouble will be critical. Offensively, we’re working on consistency and execution to complement our defensive grit. If we can put the pieces together, we have the potential to surprise some teams this season.”

Conference outlook:
“Hart continues to be a team to beat in our league—they’ve built a strong program and have a talented group of athletes. Mason County Central is another competitive team that consistently brings tough players to the floor. We’re working hard to make our own mark in the league and aim to be a tough matchup for every team we face this season.”

Coach Elenbaas
“I’m optimistic about the group of girls we have this season. If we can come together, avoid injuries and foul trouble, and play for each other, this could be one of the best teams we’ve had here in a while. We have the athleticism and toughness to compete in games where we haven’t been as competitive in recent years. This group has the chance to turn the program around and lay the foundation for the future of Hesperia girls basketball.”