Tigers Pounce on Pack

Story and photos by Mike Gesler

Grant 57  Fremont 43

Which team is going to take second in the CSAA Gold conference is coming down to the wire. Grant entered tonight with a 7-3 conference record tied with Big Rapids. But because Big Rapids has the overall win loss record, Grant is currently sitting in third. The Tigers would need a win tonight against Fremont if they have any hope of taking second alone. The last time these two teams met was on Fremont’s court where Grant won easily by nineteen points. However, that was a month ago, and the Grant ladies have had a tough grinding schedule over the last couple weeks. Plus, Fremont is a better team than their record indicates and Haley Zerlaut is a formidable weapon. The Packers for their part were hoping to salvage their season with some high notes, and beating Grant on Grant’s court would certainly go a long way in that quest. Nonetheless, Fremont also needed to bring up three JV players to fill out a slim roster so Mia Clemence, Katie Ackerman, and Olivia Hansen got a shot at the big dance.

Fremont was first to draw blood as Grant just could not get things started. It wasn’t like Fremont’s defense was that strong. The Tigers had plenty of opportunities; they just couldn’t cash in. The Packers wasted no time in exploiting the Tigers sluggish performance, and quickly went up six points before the Tiger’s Chloee Chase found the net. Ashbaugh then hit two to bring the Tigers within two. Fremont’s Mia Witte put up a big three to give the Pack a nine-four advantage. Unfortunately for the Pack, that would be the last they saw the net for some time. The Tiger’s would go on a sixteen point run that started in the first quarter and continued into the second. By the time the first half ended, Grant had a ten point lead over Fremont.

The third quarter was no better for the Packers. Grant continued their dominance controlling the boards and creating turnovers. The Tiger’s Jaycee Hance had a big game keeping the Packers scoring threat, Haley Zerlaut, from gaining any looks. Zerlaut would only have eleven points through three quarters, and six of those came off of free-throws. Ashbaugh would run into foul trouble during the third, but that didn’t seem to really affect the Tiger’s. Arends, Hance, and Chase would split fourteen of Grant’s sixteen third quarter points to give the Tigers a very comfortable twenty point lead heading into the final quarter.

​All the Tigers needed to do now was sit back and keep doing what they had done through three quarters. But with Ashbaugh on the bench, the Packers found a way to open up Zerlaut which in turn also created room for Kaitlynn Bennett. The duo would ignite the fourth quarter with nineteen points combined. And given more time, Fremont may have been able to make a game yet of this game. However, in the end, that twenty point deficit was too much to overcome as the Tigers won at home 57-43.

“I was pleased with how hard our kids played,” shared Fremont’s Coach, Wes Zerlaut. “Obviously we had several JV kids that we brought up. We were undermanned tonight. We had a couple kids that weren’t dressed. So those JV kids came up, and each of them got in there and played their eight minutes they were allowed as a quarter. I was pleased with their effort and energy. Grant’s a good team. They shot it well tonight again. I was pleased with a lot of things we did, and thought we did some things well. Obviously we didn’t play well enough to win the game, but I was pleased overall with our kid’s effort. We gave up too many offensive rebounds especially in the first half, and they really got us several times on that curl, cut, and drive down the middle in the first half. I thought we did a better job defending that in the second half. There was a point in there, I think it was a 13-0 run maybe, I think we were up 9-4 and all of a sudden were down 17-9, I told the kids after that really turns out to be the difference in the game. Other than that three or four minute stretch, we played them pretty evenly. Credit to them. They got the job done.”

Haley Zerlaut led in Fremont’s effort with twenty-one points, followed by Kaitlynn Bennett with eleven. Lily VandenBerg shot four. Mia Witte put up three. And Sydney Moon and Olivia Hansen each had two. Fremont will be back at home against Tri County on Friday night.

“It was a grind,” stated Grant’s Coach, Josh Delamater. “This is such a tough stretch mentally. I thought they did well coming into a Tuesday night game. Monday practices are always tough for us. And Fremont, Haley is a good ball player so we kind of focused on what she was trying to do to us, and I think she still had a pretty good game. We have some nagging injuries that are kind of hurting some people right now. Chloee has a leg. Sara has a wrist injury right now. Jaycee Rider has a knee thing so we are kind of battling through several things. I thought we did a nice job.  Jayci Hance played a great game defensively with Haley Zerlaut. She did a nice job on her. And then we rotated people in just to try to keep some legs because that’s a tough thing right now. Everybody got some good minutes. Everybody did a nice job out there on the floor. A win’s a win.”

​There were four Tiger’s scoring in double digits tonight. Sara Arends and Chloee Chase both had twelve, and Julie Ashbaugh and Jaycee Rider both had ten. Jayci Hance found herself with seven. Jocee Pleune put up three. Morgan Kruithoff shot two, and Jocelyn Kruithoff added one. The Tigers will stay at home this Friday to face their near north rivals Newaygo. With this win tonight, and Big Rapids losing to Reed City, Grant sits in second place alone in the conference. Big Rapids comes to Grant next week Tuesday.