Pack falls to Lakers By Ken DeLaat Grant 60 White Cloud 15 Coach Josh Delamater is in his second year guiding the Tigers but admits the situation last year was less than ideal. “We had no summer ball because of COVID and the first two weeks of last year I was quarantined so I didn’t really see much of the team before we started the season well into January.” The Tigers struggled a bit last year losing some close ones but improving as the season progressed. What a difference a year makes. “One of the things I looked at this year was what style of play we wanted to go with,” said Coach D. ”These girls want to run and we’re going to run.” The current edition of the Grant Tigers put on a show Tuesday night racing away from the White Cloud squad with a persistent full court press combined with a run and gun offense that riddled the nets. From the onset it was a physical game with 14 fouls in the first quarter alone and 21 by the half. White Cloud’s mainstay in the paint, Aby Derks, was sent to the bench with time yet remaining in the first after drawing her 3rd and her pick and roll partner Carsyn Scarlavai joined her early in the second after her third whistle. But even at full strength the Cloud struggled to get off shots much less score points. The hosts held a 9-4 edge after one but in the second Sara Arends fired in a triple to begin a 12-1 run that put some serious distance between the two teams . By the time the half ended 7 Tigers had made it into the scorebook and Grant posted a 32-8 advantage. By game’s end the score stood at 60-15 First year WC Coach Caleb Wilk took over a team that graduated most of its starters as well as a whole lot of points. “Tonight our inexperience really showed against Grant,“ he said after the blowout. “They put up a strong effort and punched us in the mouth and we just did not respond well to that. I was happy with that last group we had out there. They were still hustling when we were down quite a bit and that’s tough. “We have a lot of things to work on but we’ll clean it up and go back at it Monday. I’m just glad we have 19 more games left because every day we’re going to get better.” For Coach Delamater the win provided some relief. “I know coming into this year we had a lot of potential, but I was a nervous wreck coming into the game. We’ve only been playing against each other and we needed to get on the court.” And boy, did they ever get on that court, opening with a dominant performance in the season opener for both teams. And by the way, welcome to varsity basketball Ms. Pleune. Jocee Pleune, the lone freshman on the court proved to be fully worthy of her starting status on a team deep with talent. Playing like a skilled veteran Pleune showed some defense wizardry along with some wicked moves while handling the ball. The learning curve will amp up against stronger competition as the season progresses but on this night she dropped 17 points on the visitors while being hawked most of the night by one of the area's top defenders in Scarlavai. “She was nervous about starting,” said Delamater, who had coached her in 7th grade. “I told her she wouldn’t be here if she didn’t deserve to be and that she makes us better when she’s on the court.” And that says a lot since this Tiger team didn’t seem to miss a lick as they ran players in and out of the lineup. If this game is any indicator the Tigers should look forward to an interesting season. Pleune led all scorers with 17 Julie Ashbaugh knocked down 11 and Jaycee Rider ripped a pair of triples finishing with 10. Chloee Chase hit for a half dozen while Jocelyn Kruithoff and Jayci Hance canned 5 apiece. Derks finished with 6 for the Cloud, Scarlavai scored 3 and Gaby Reeve and Jaden Gomez each added a pair. The Tigers (1-0) next test will be Friday when they travel to Cedar Springs (0-1) to face the Red Hawks who lost their opener to Lowell 66-30. The Cloud will be back in action Monday when they host the Cardinals of Mason County Eastern. Spring Lake 67 Fremont 28 It was a very disappointing start to the season for the Fremont Girls Basketball team Tuesday night at Spring Lake. After a first quarter in which both teams struggled on offense, Spring Lake began to find the bottom of the net, while the Packers continued to be cold. The Lakers led 6-0 after one quarter and 25-5 at the end of the half. This came on 9-26 shooting from the field for Spring Lake, while Fremont only managed one field goal on 16 first half attempts. The third quarter was much more competitive, with Spring Lake edging the Packers 13-11 to hold a 38-16 advantage after three quarters. Spring Lake blew the game wide open with a 25-12 advantage in the fourth quarter to set the final score at 67-28. Fremont was led in scoring by Sophomore Lily VandenBerg with 11 points in her varsity debut. Jessica Bennett chipped in 7. The Lakers saw a very balanced scoring attack with 12 of their 13 players scoring, led by Lauren Cavalier with 10. The Packers (0-1) have a week to regroup before facing the Shelby Tigers at home on Tuesday, December 6. “It was not the start I anticipated for our team,” said Coach Wes Zerlaut. “We really struggled on offense early but the girls continued to battle on defense to keep us in the game. “The longer the offensive drought continued it became more and more deflating and we let up on the defensive end. “We have plenty to work on starting tomorrow.”
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