FREMONT — Friday's game between Montague and Fremont seemed on
paper like a key one early in the season, a battle for the top spot in
the West Michigan Conference Lakes. Unfortunately, a very poor start by
Montague took the air out of the clash, and the Wildcats could never
recover, losing a lopsided 68-23 game.
Fremont completely
dominated the first quarter and a half, building a 25-1 lead before
Gentry Knop finally hit the Wildcats' first field goal of the game. The
Packers, who boast impressive athletes and smart players, repeatedly
forced Montague (4-1, 2-1 WMC Lakes) to move faster than it wanted to in
the full-court press, and that forced rushed shots and turnovers.
"We didn't play our basketball," Montague coach Jess DeBruin said. "We came out slow and sluggish, and
then they got that big lead, and it was almost like we just
didn't go after it like we usually do."
DeBruin acknowledged
that the slow start - Montague had some decent looks at the basket early
in the game and were unable to connect - wore on the team mentally and
contributed to Fremont's big lead.
"It definitely snowballed after that," DeBruin said. "This is a team that needs that confidence
and needs those buckets right from the beginning, and they
weren't falling. They had good shots and they had good
takes, but...there was a lid on the
basket."
Fremont's Riley Chase pressures Montague's Addison Pranger during Friday's WMC Lakes game at Fremont. The Wildcats lost, 68-23.
Montague did finally get some offense going late in
the second quarter and trailed 31-11 at halftime. Any hope that momentum
would carry into the second half, though, quickly evaporated as Fremont
again forced several turnovers out of the break, forcing a timeout by
DeBruin after the Packers built their lead to 42-16.
Montague's
best offense has been shown to be attacking the basket, but in part due
to Fremont's athleticism and effort on defense, Montague was unable to
do so effectively.
"Fremont definitely dictated to us how this game is going to be played," DeBruin said. "We played how they wanted us to play."
Addison
Pranger led Montague offensively with 10 points, eight of them in the
second half. Riley Chase paced a potent Fremont attack with 24 points.
The
'Cats now get a couple of weeks to regroup before returning to game
action. DeBruin is confident her team will deliver better results the
next time.
"This is a game that we're going to learn from," DeBruin said. "We're going to learn
from what we did and what we need
to work on over break...I know this group wants it. They're hungry. I know that we're going to
come out and we're going to come out strong."
