Second Half Surge Sends Sparta To Semis

Story by Ken De Laat
Photos by Alexis Mercer

Second Half Surge Sends Sparta To Semis
Free throw futility costs Lions

Sparta 40 Newaygo 31
Sparta scored first before Kija Schultz drove the length of the court to tie the game. 
Then the Lions went cold while Averi Peot, Miah Lamancusa, Jaleah Ross hit buckets followed by a Paige Wicox triple and the Lions were down 11-2. A late free throw by Addison Goodin ended the quarter with the hosts down 8.
Maria Riddering opened the second by firing one in from distance and Naomi Schilman also banged home a three. Turnovers began to plague the Spartans and after Schultz hit a bucket and a determined Goodin muscled one in after a tough rebound, the Lions took their first lead of the night at 13-12. Lamancusa finally got Sparta back on the board and the teams went to intermission with the Spartans clinging to a 14-13 lead.
In the second half Sparta went on another run, scoring 8 quick points to go up 9. The Lions fought back with some aggressive offense that got them to the free throw line but converting those opportunities proved to be a problem. By the time the teams entered the 4th Sparta held an 8 point lead in a game where points came at a premium.

Ruby Hughes counted a pair of baskets in the 4th but the Lions once again could not hit from the charity stripe going 3-10 in the 4th and falling to the Spartans who scored enough in the final 8 to keep the Lions at bay and move on to Wednesday’s Semifinal game.
Coach Thomasma: "The last game of the season is always a tough one.  I thought the girls played hard tonight and with great energy. We just had a tough start to the second half and couldn't quite dig ourselves out of the hole. We were aggressive and got the FT line but just didn't make them consistently enough (8-23). It's been a great group to be around.  Ended up getting better throughout the year and got some good experience coming back.``
Riddering paced the Lion scoring attack hitting for 9 points while collecting 4 steals and 5 rebounds. Addison Goodin was a force in the paint, pulling down a team high 10 boards to go with her 3 points and Hughes came off the bench to score 8 points taking 8 off the glass and rejecting a trio of Spartan shots in the process.
Newaygo ended its season with a 12-11 mark.