Story and photos by Mike Gesler Grant 58 Comstock Park 51 The Tigers faced another OK Conference opponent as the Comstock Park Panthers looked to bring their young season to.500. Even though the Panthers were sitting on a 1-2 record, those two losses were close against some worthy opponents in Montague and Forest Hills Northern. The Tigers were returning home from a victorious road game up north against Reed City this past Friday, and wanted nothing more than to keep that winning feeling alive. “Coming into the game we really didn’t know what to expect because we don’t play anyone comparable, or haven’t in anyone yet,” stated Coach Delamater. “We knew, obviously, Comstock Park can be a good team. Obviously they’ve had great seasons, they have a great coach, so we knew coming in it would be a battle.” And what a battle it was. Both the Tigers and the Panthers played fast and aggressive creating many turnovers and finding early foul trouble. So much foul trouble that Grant put Comstock Park into bonus within three minutes of the second quarter. But that did not deter the Tigers. They had the Panthers by the tail, and they were not about to let go. At the half, Grant led by eight and seemed to have control of the court. Grant came out of the locker room slowing their tempo slightly while still continuing to play aggressive against the boards and pressuring Comstock Park into a multitude of forced turnovers. Putting up twenty more, the Tigers appeared to be well in control as the third quarter ended with Grant up by fourteen. Fourteen. That’s how many points the Tigers would allow to slip out of their paws. Over the course of the next six minutes, Grant would only score three points while Comstock Park found a resurgence putting up seventeen and tying things up at fifty-one a piece. This would have been the game in previous Grant teams, but not this time. The Tigers showed that they now possess the grit and determination to dig deep when needed. Just when Comstock Park thought that the momentum had swung their way, Grant locked down and kept the Panthers from stealing one on the Tiger’s court. “I said to the girls this is the first time since I’ve taken over that we’ve won that kind of game; tight down the stretch, have to make our free throws, so that was a big step forward for us. It puts us in a position to go into Christmas break at least above five hundred,” stated Coach Delamater. “We’ve got Chip Hills on Friday so we can potentially go in two games above five hundred. Go in potentially 2-0 in the conference. That’s a big, huge step in the right direction for us. That grit and determination now is turning into some good things happening on the basketball court.”
Leading the Tigers tonight in double digits was Julie Ashbaugh with fifteen and Jayci Hance with ten. “Jayci Hance played a great basketball game coming off the bench tonight with some good steals, good lay-ups. Julie Ashbaugh, you know she’s our steady rock in there, played a great basketball game too,” stated Coach Delamater. Also sharing in the Tigers victory was Chloee Chase with nine, Sara Arends and Jocee Pleune each with seven, and Jaycee Rider and Jocelyn Kruitoff each with five. The Tigers remain home for one more before the Winter Break hosting the Chippewa Hills Warriors this Friday evening beginning at 6:00.
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