LocalSportsJournal.com
FREMONT — Fremont’s girls basketball team won its first outright West Michigan Conference Lakes Division championship since 1978 Tuesday night with a 42-38 win over Ludington.
The game was played in Fremont. The Packers, who finished 12-0 in the conference, shared a conference title with Big Rapids in 2020. Ludington had won five conference titles in a row.
“I thought if Ludington was able to keep the score and pace of the game low, we would have a hard time,” said Fremont coach Pete Zerfas said. “Well, the pace was slow because Ludington plays great defense.
“They are long and athletic and do a great job limiting shots. What kept us in the game, and ultimately won the game, was our defense.”
Fremont led, 8-6 at the end of first quarter and 17-12 at halftime. But the Orioles nosed ahead, 27-26, after three. Fremont took the lead with about two minutes to play in the fourth and hung on.
Jessica Bennett scored seven fourth-quarter points to give the Packers the lead.
Riley Chase led the Packers in scoring with 13 points, 11 in the second half. Bennett added 10 and Taylor DeKuiper grabbed 10 rebounds to go with seven points.
The Packers moved their record to 17-4 overall and close out the regular season with a non-conference game at Fruitport on Thursday night.
Ludington fell to 15-7 on the season and finished 10-2 in the conference. The Orioles are idle until next week’s district tournament.
