LocalSportsJournal.com

FREMONT — Despite what Montague girls basketball coach Nick Thaler felt was an “ugly” performance by the Wildcats on Monday night, they managed to take a 48-38 non-conference win over Fremont on the road.

Montague struggled to get its offense clicking all night, but outscored the Packers in each of the four quarters. The Wildcats had a 13-11 edge after the first, and outscored Fremont, 8-6 in the second to build a 21-17 halftime lead.

Picking up its scoring in the third quarter, Montague enjoyed a 14-10 advantage and went into the fourth quarter holding a much more comfortable 12-point margin, 35-23 The Wildcats outscored the Packers, 13-11 in the final eight minutes.

“I was disappointed in our sense of urgency,” Thaler said afterward. “We need to learn that we can’t skip steps. Every team goes through these segments of the season, where things get a bit loose from time to time.

“Every night is an opportunity, and we need to start relishing these moments.”

The Packers got a lot of extra opportunities because of a solid performance on the offensive boards, but shot too poorly to take advantage of it.

Fremont shot only 14 of 61 from the floor, a chilly 23 percent. Montague wasn’t a lot better, making just 15 of 52 attempts for 29 percent. The Wildcats made only 9 of 18 free throw attempts, while the Packers were 14 of 25 at the stripe.

“It has taken much longer than we anticipated, but this team is starting to figure out how hard we have to play to compete at the level we expect of our program,” said Fremont coach Wes Zerlaut.

“Montague is a good team, and we played with them from start to finish. We had plenty of chances to score, but just didn’t shoot well enough.

“However, we played the game the right way and gave ourselves a chance against a quality opponent. We need to continue to compete that way on a consistent basis.”

Kendall Osborne was the leader for Montague with 11 points, 11 rebounds, eight assists and three steals.

Haylee Schwarz scored 10 points, had three rebounds and two steals. Emma Peterson added eight points, had one steal and one rebound.

The Packers saw their season record dip to 1-9 overall. Their next game is scheduled for Tuesday at Remus Chippewa Hills in a Central State Activities Association Gold.

Montague won its second straight game, and improved its record to 7-2 overall. The Wildcats are next scheduled to play on Thursday, Jan. 20 at Western Michigan Christian in another non-conference game.