Tiger Lead Helps Them Survive

Story and Photos by Mike Gesler

Grant 76   Tri County 63

Grant has been on a two game win streak and finding ways to right the ship that had gone a little more astray this season than they would have scripted. With wins against White Cloud and Ravenna, the Tigers were sitting at .500 and desperately wanted to stay above water. While Tri County hasn’t been a strong contender in the CSAA, they were just the team that could play havoc to Grant’s future hopes of getting back in the league race.

Neither team at first could buy a bucket. Both had opportunities but the ball simply wouldn’t drop inside the rim. As the two teams settled in, it would be Grant’s Oakley Obenauf and Zak Barnhart that would get the Tigers going. With four on the board for Grant, Tri County’s Plotts hit two and was sent to the line for a bonus. The two teams would then trade blows before Grant’s aggressive man-on-man coverage and tenacity at the boards would kick in. The Tigers went on a domination streak and controlled the game through the rest of the half limiting the Vikings to only eighteen points while putting up thirty-five of their own.

Grant has had issues trying to put together four solid quarters of play this season and tonight was no different. The Vikings came out of the locker room a different team. They rotated better in Grant’s man-on-man coverage which allowed them to find the player with an open look. Their bigs became more aggressive at the boards. They picked up their tempo to better match the Tiger’s pace. And they went on an eleven point run for a thirty point third quarter to shrink their deficit down to ten. However, that was not enough. The Vikings were not able to sustain their energy in the fourth as the Tigers shook off their daze, slowed the game down, and kept the Vikings from claiming the Tiger’s court as their territory.

​“We are very pleased to come away with a victory tonight because we know that Tri-County competes. They’re physical. They’ve got some really nice players,” shared Coach Schuitema. “We needed to show that we can win in our home gym. We’ve got a nice little win streak going. We’re trying to find ourselves to play four good quarters in a game. I think tonight you saw we played two good quarters, and then we didn’t play two good quarters, but we had a big enough lead that we were able to then sustain it and put it away down the stretch. I know the guys are excited about the league race and we’re trying to get back in it so we’ve got to take care of business.”

Taking care of business tonight was Lucas Swanson who had the threes dialed in with eighteen points. Both Zak Barnhart and Gage Cronk also shared in double digits with thirteen and ten respectively. Austin Whitney, Oakley Obenauf, and Zaiden Phillips each had eight. Chase Geers put up seven, and Blake Rider and Mason Woodard had two apiece. The Tigers travel to Central Montcalm on Tuesday evening before returning home to face Big Rapids on Friday. 

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