  Slightly Slow Start, Dominant Finish for Lady Lions Photos and Story by Alexis Mercer Walking into the Big Rapids gymnasium nearly halfway through the first quarter and seeing the score on the board that had the Lady Lions down by 8 points to the Cardinals was a confusing sight. It is not often this team finds itself down, let alone by 8. The Lions fans were looking around at each other with raised eyebrows and sporadic, nervous cheers of “you’ve got this, ladies” coming out. But the Lion faithful fans had absolutely nothing to worry about. The calm, cool and collected team sped up their full court press, stared down their opponents and dug their heels in. Two minutes into the 2nd quarter, the Lions still down, Jaxi Long committed her first foul. Not even 2 seconds later, Emme Goodin added her first foul. All this while Kayla Fisk is sitting on the bench for already having 2 of her own fouls. It did not look to be heading in the right direction, but Goodin charged in for a layup and pulled the score within 2 and the energy back to the Lions. Barbara Toth drew up for a jump shot and tied the score at 15 after getting a solid offensive rebound. Long dropped a 2 and then quickly a 3 to go up by 5 before Big Rapids even shot at the basket. The press by the Lions was vicious and lethal.  Not to be completely shut down, Cardinal Jenna Williams hit a huge 3 pulling within 2. Goodin fouled a 2nd time with 1:35 left in the half, and Big Rapids hitting one of the 2 free throws decreased the Lion lead to only 1 but Goodin followed by Long stormed the paint for a layup a piece to go back up by 5. Cardinal Rebecca Allers established herself under the basket for a bucket and a foul with only 2 seconds left on the clock so Big Rapids went into the locker room down 23-25 and the Lions fans were back to smiling. The rest at halftime put a pep in Hanna Smith’s step as she came out and nailed a 3 to start the 2nd half for Big Rapids. Lily Swinehart started the Lions scoring in the 2nd with a free throw. Then Grace Painter dropped a 3 followed quickly by Long dropping 2 of her own 3s all within 10 seconds. The Lions offense was officially on fire. A frustrated bench for Big Rapids led to a technical but Painter didn’t allow the distraction to get in the way of her scoring, as she sank another 3 after Long took care of the 2 points from the technical. What was also going up in addition to the Lions’ score was the number of fouls they were getting called for. Aggressively playing defense with the Cardinals not backing down led to whistles being blown often. Luckily for the Lions, Big Rapids struggled from the line, and were unable to capitalize on all the opportunities to bring the score closer. Fisk and Goodin both hit shots putting Newaygo up 48-34. Big Rapids found the bottom of the net a few times in the last minute and a half but the clock ran out before they could keep it within 10. The final score was Lions 54, Cardinals 43. Newaygo improves to 13-1 (8-0 in conference) Big Rapids drops to 9-5 (6-3 in conference) From Coach Thomasma: “Jaxi Long led the Lions with 21 points (9-10 from the FT line), 4 rebounds and 4 assists. Emmerson Goodin had 16 points, 8 rebounds and 5 steals. Grace Painter chipped in 7 points for the Lions on the night. Big Rapids was up 11-6 after the 1st quarter and the game was 25-23 at half in favor of the Lions. Newaygo outscored the Cardinals 17-7 in the 3rd quarter and was able to fend off the Cardinals through the 4th quarter. "Really happy for the team after getting the win tonight in Big Rapids. I thought all the girls showed resilience and toughness after a slow start. Big Rapids is a talented and well coached squad that plays hard and physical so being able to come back and win in Big Rapids is a great win for us. We'll enjoy the win tonight and then focus on Chippewa Hills for Tuesday.”
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