The Packers played a Class B District 42 opening round game Monday night at Sparta against the host Spartans. Sparta jumped out to a big lead early, as the Packers struggled to make shots and Sparta's physical play and aggressive transition offense scored 18 first quarter points. They led 18-7 after one quarter. The Packers got themselves to the free throw line in the second quarter as Sparta got into foul trouble, and made 7 of 12 free throws to go with two baskets from the field. However, Sparta still outscored the Packers 12-11 to take a 30-18 halftime lead. The Packers' hopes to get back in the game took a serious hit when the Spartans scored the first 9 points of the second half to take a 39-18 lead. The Packers picked it up and outscored Sparta 10-9 the rest of the quarter, but the damage was done. Sparta led 48-28 after three quarters, and then outscored Fremont 10-8 in the final quarter. The final score was Sparta 58 and Fremont 36. Kennedy Christoffersen and Mia Witte led Fremont with 8 points each. Sparta was led by Bella Vallone's 13 points, while five other players tallied at least 8. Overall, the Spartans shot 45% from the field (23-51) while the Packers shot 21% (12-56). Fremont ends the season with a 5-13 overall record, 5-9 in the CSAA Gold. Sparta advances to the District Semi-Final on Wednesday against Comstock Park.   

The Packers hosted Central Montcalm on Senior Night and dropped a league contest by a score of 52-42. The Hornets held an 11-9 lead after one quarter. Central Montcalm shot 10-22 in the first half to hold a 28-20 lead at the half. They were 6-14 in the second half as they held the lead, slowed the game down, and went 12-14 from the free throw line. That led to a 38-32 lead after three quarters, after Fremont had narrowed the lead to 3 and had possession of the ball at one point in the third quarter. However, missed shots and turnovers led to another Hornets run that set the final score. Calla Miller led the Packer offensive attack with 17 points. Kaitlynn Bennett had 9 points and 7 rebounds. Central Montcalm was led by Bailey Vissman's 13 points, while Bri Collins and Kamryn Nicholson each added 12.  The Packers ended the regular season at 5-12, 5-9 in the CSAA Gold. They travel to Sparta to play the Spartans in District tournament play on Monday night. Coach Zerlaut -- "It was another night of frustration for the team, as they played hard, did a lot of things right, but just could not make shots in key situations. Our overall shot percentages were not bad tonight, but we couldn't put the ball in the basket on key possessions and situations, which allowed Central Montcalm to slow the game down in the second half, take time off the clock, and force us into fouling. Credit goes to them for taking control of the pace of the game once they had the lead and taking a lot of time off the clock on each possession in the fourth quarter."

Fremont traveled to Remus Tuesday night to face the Chippewa Hills Warriors. The Packers took a 16-7 lead after the first quarter, led by Haley Zerlaut scoring the first 7 points for Fremont and Calla Miller adding 5 more in the quarter. The two teams played an even 2nd quarter on the scoreboard, and Fremont led 29-20 at the half. The Packers opened up the lead in the third quarter with a 12-4 advantage to lead 41-24 at the end of the third quarter. The two teams then played another even quarter to set the final score at 54-37. Zerlaut finished with 21 points, while Miller tallied 14 points, 10 rebounds, and 5 assists. The win moved the Packers to 5-11 overall, 5-8 in the conference. They host Central Montcalm for the final regular season game on Friday night. Coach Zerlaut -- "It was a good team effort tonight. Everyone got at least several minutes of playing time and they all played hard. We didn't shoot the ball exceptionally well, but made up for it with 31 offensive rebounds."

The Packers went on the road to Sparta Monday night to face the Spartans in a non-league contest. Fremont jumped out of the gate well, holding a 13-5 lead at one point in the quarter, and finishing ahead 16-8 after one. Calla Miller had 9 of her 11 points in that opening quarter. The Sparta press wreaked havoc on the Packers in the second quarter, and Sparta outscored Fremont 21-11 to take a 29-27 lead into halftime. A very competitive and physical game continued in the second half, with Sparta leading 39-36 at the end of the third. They then outscored the Packers 13-10 in the final quarter to set the final score at 52-46. The Packers turned the ball over 28 times, 18 in the second half, compared to Sparta's 20 overall, but only 7 in the second half. That made the difference, as the Spartans got 13 more shot attempts than Fremont in the second half and converted those into points. For the game, the Packers shot 13-44 (30%) from the field, while Sparta made 17-55 (31%). In addition to Miller's 10 points, Jessica Bennett had 10 points and Kaitlynn Bennett had 9 rebounds.  The Packers travel to Chippewa Hills on Tuesday. They are now 4-11 overall, 4-8 in the CSAA Gold division. 

Fremont hosted Reed City on Friday night and notched a 59-35 win. They got off to another slow start, and trailed after the first quarter 11-8. They broke out on offense in the second quarter, however, scoring 20 points and holding Reed City to only 7 to take a 28-18 lead into the locker room at halftime. After a 12-11 Fremont advantage in the third, the two teams entered the fourth quarter with Fremont leading 40-29. The Packers broke the game open in the fourth with a 19-6 advantage to set the final score. Calla Miller had an all around great night on the court for Fremont. She finished with 13 points, 12 assists, 7 steals, and 6 rebounds. Eight other Packer players also tallied points, with Haley Zerlaut scoring 10 and Abby Vandenberg netting 9. Fremont improved to 4-10 overall, 4-8 in the conference. They travel to Sparta on Monday for a non-league game. Coach Zerlaut -- "It was a slow start, but it was really nice to see the ball go in the basket consistently tonight in the final three quarters. The girls have been playing with great effort but not making shots. That gets frustrating for them, as well as those watching. It becomes deflating when you are doing so many things right, but can't put any points on the scoreboard. Tonight was a great team effort with 9 different players scoring points, 29 steals for the team, and 19 assists on 22 baskets."

The Packers showed some life in their road game at Big Rapids, competing with much better energy than the past few games, but couldn't match the Cardinals' shooting on Tuesday night. They missed multiple shots from point blank range in the first quarter and found themselves in another big hole 16-4 after the first. They settled in during the second quarter and outscored BR 15-13. In fact, Fremont cut the deficit to only 5 at 24-19, but Big Rapids scored the final five points of the half and led 29-19. Big Rapids then slowly expanded their lead in the second half with a 13-8 advantage in the 3rd, and a 6-4 advantage in the fourth. The final score was 48-31. Calla Miller led the Packers with 11 points. Eight Fremont players scored in the game, but no others had more than 6 points. Big Rapids was led by Rylie Haist's 14 points. Fremont fell to 3-10, 3-8 in the conference. Coach Zerlaut -- "We played better tonight than we have in the past week. We shared the ball well, limited our turnovers, and got good shots on offense. I was pleased with how we played the game, but we still need to make more shots."

The Packers hosted the Whitehall Vikings on Monday night, and got behind big early for the second game in a row. Fremont was plagued by turnovers and missed layups in the first quarter by the Vikings press defense, resulting in a 21-2 deficit after one quarter. Fremont righted the ship in the second quarter, but had a huge deficit to overcome. They won the quarter 18-10, but still trailed 31-20 going into halftime. In the second half, Greta Hosticka scored all four of the Vikings' baskets on three pointers, while Charley Klint converted two free throws. The Packers managed only 8 points, to fall behind 45-28 after three quarters of play. Fremont then outscored Whitehall 13-11 in the final quarter to set the final score at 56-41.  Hosticka led the Vikings with 16 points for the game, while Karleigh Jeffries had 12. Fremont was led by Calla Miller's 15 points and 6 steals. Kaitlynn Bennett added 7 points and 8 rebounds.  The Packers travel to Big Rapids to play the Cardinals Tuesday. The loss dropped them to 3-9 overall, 3-7 in the conference.

Fremont hosted the Tri County Vikings on Friday night, and were down big early in the game. The Packers struggled mightily on offense, making only three field goals in the entire first half. They trailed 16-3 after the first quarter and 31-9 at the half. They doubled their point total in the third quarter, but gave up 11 more to the Vikings, and trailed 42-18 going into the final quarter. The fourth quarter saw Fremont find a spark, with some spirited defense and finally finding the bottom of the net on offense. They trimmed the lead to 13 points with 5:00 minutes left, but two quick TC baskets and another 3:00 minute scoring drought for the Packers sealed the Tri County win 49-34. The Packers were led by Calla Miller's 11 points, and Haley Zerlaut had 9. Kaitlynn Bennett had 10 rebounds. Tri County had a balanced attack with Ashley Bialek scoring 19, and Alicia Bowen and Mary Siple each adding 12.  Fremont falls to 3-8 on the season, 3-7 in the CSAA Gold. They host Whitehall on Monday in a non-conference matchup. Coach Zerlaut -- "We lacked energy out of the gate tonight, which is concerning. I understand our fatigue with the number of games and practices we have in such a short window of time. However, every team is dealing with that and we need to figure out how to bring our best effort every night. We will take tomorrow off, and get back in the gym Sunday to prepare for Whitehall."

It was a slow start for both teams in the first quarter, as Fremont turned the ball over repeatedly but managed to stay in the game with solid defense. However, things began to turn in the second quarter as the Lions began to find their shooting touch, outscoring the Packers 14-5 to take a 21-9 lead into the locker room. Newaygo blew the game wide open in the third quarter, with a 19-4 advantage, to build a 40-13 lead after three quarters of play. The Lions held a 13-12 advantage in the fourth quarter to set the final score at 53-25. The Packers had more than 30 turnovers in the game, struggling against the Lion's half court zone defense. Mia Witte was their leading scorer with 6 points, on two three pointers in the fourth quarter. Kaitlynn Bennett had 9 rebounds. The Lions were led by Emerson Goodin's 17 points, while Jaylee Long added 11. The loss snaps the Packers 3 game win streak, and drops them to 3-7 overall, 3-6 in the conference. They host Tri County on Friday. Coach Zerlaut -- "It was a disappointing night, as I expected us to compete at a much higher level. We have been making positive strides as a team, but it certainly didn't show tonight. We did not show up ready to play, and I take responsibility for that. No disrespect to Newaygo at all. They are a very good team, but we expect more of ourselves than what we put on display tonight."  

The Packers began the second half of the conference season with a goal of improving on the first time through. So far, so good. Fremont avenged an 8 point loss to the Grant Tigers just a few weeks ago with a 48-35 victory on Monday night. In contrast to the first time the two played and combined for only 5 points in the first quarter, both teams started better this time and combined for 25 points in the opening quarter, with Fremont holding a 16-9 edge. The second quarter saw a 9-6 Packer advantage, and a halftime score of 25-15. The second half saw a Grant surge that got the lead down to as few as 6 points but the Packers still held a 35-26 edge at the end of the third, and they then outscored the Tigers 13-9 in the final quarter to set the final score.  Fremont was led by Calla Miller's 22 points, 6 rebounds, 5 steals, and 5 assists. Bri Webber scored 8 points, including two triples. Kaitlynn Bennett added 8 rebounds for the Packers. Grant was led by Sara Arends' 9 points. The win was the third in a row for Fremont, and improves them to 3-6 overall, 3-5 in the conference.  Coach Zerlaut -- "The girls continue to improve every day. I said it two weeks ago, and still believe it, we can be a good basketball team. It took us a while to get it figured out, but I like how we are playing together right now. We will try to get better at practice tomorrow to get ready for a very good opponent in Newaygo on Wednesday."

The Packers traveled to Reed City Friday night for a CSAA Gold matchup. The Coyotes came out shooting the ball well, making two three pointers and going 5-10 from the free throw line in the first quarter to take a 13-11 lead after one. The Packers gave up three more made 3-pointers in the second quarter but scored 11 points of their own to knot the score at 22 at halftime. In the second half Fremont turned up the defensive pressure to outscore Reed City 14-7 in the third quarter. The fourth quarter saw a lot of free throws, as both teams were in the double bonus early in the quarter. In fact, each team only had one made field goal in the fourth. The rest of the points came from the line. The Packers went 12-22 and the Coyotes went 11-16 on free throws in that quarter alone. That meant a 16-15 point advantage for Fremont to set the final score at 52-44. There were 70 free throws shot between the two teams for the game. Fremont was led by Haley Zerlaut's 19 points and 6 steals. Kaitlynn Bennett had 10 points and 11 rebounds. Calla Miller had 10 of her 11 points in the final quarter. Reed City was led by Demi Lodholtz's 17 points. The win moves the Packers to 2-6, 2-5 in the conference. They play next at home on Monday vs. Grant, as they look to improve in the second half of the league schedule. Coach Zerlaut -- "Credit to Reed City. They have been struggling to score points but they shot the ball better tonight and played very hard. They are a young team that is going to improve at a fast rate."

Fremont hosted Chippewa Hills on Tuesday night and picked up a 57-36 victory. The Packers scoring attack was consistent and balanced throughout the game. Their quarter by quarter scores were 14, 16, 14, and 13. Chippewa Hillls scored 11 in the first and 11 in the second, to make it a 30-22 Packer advantage at the half. The second half saw the Packers start to pull away with Chippewa Hills only scoring 8 points in the third quarter and 6 points in the fourth. All 11 players scored for the Packers, while only 3 scored for the Warriors. The Warriors were led by Madison Wrisley's 21 points and Shelby Fall's 13.  The Packers were led by Haley Zerlaut's 17 points, and Jessica Bennett added 9. Calla Miller and Mia Witte each had 7. Witte also led the team with 8 rebounds. Overall, the Packers compiled 49 rebounds, 29 of them on the offensive glass.  The Packers are now 1-6 overall, 1-5 in the CSAA Gold. They travel to Reed City on Friday for another league matchup.  Coach Zerlaut -- "It has been a disappointing start to our season as far as our record goes, but the girls have worked hard, continue to improve, and we have seen results. Unfortunately, prior to tonight that hasn't equated to tallies in the win column. It was nice to see a total team effort result in a win for the girls tonight."

Fremont traveled to Central Montcalm Monday night, and despite another strong showing, they were unable to notch the win. The Packers led throughout the first half, and held a 32-26 advantage at the break. The two teams played even in the third quarter to put the score at 34-29 entering the fourth. Central Montcalm took the lead at 45-44 midway through the fourth, as the Packers' shooting went cold. The Packers struggled to keep the Hornets from getting offensive rebounds, which resulted in second chance points and fouls. Fremont was also forced to foul late in the game as Central Montcalm tried to stall out the last two minutes. Bailey Vissman scored 14 of her game-leading 17 points in the fourth quarter, including 7 for 10 from the free throw line. London Eldridge added 14 for the Hornets, Emily Putman had 10, and Madison Wagner had 8. The Packers had their best balance on offense of the season. Calla Miller led the attack with 12 points. Haley Zerlaut had 10 points, and Jessica Bennett, Kaitlynn Bennett, and Bri Webber each had 8. Milller also added 10 rebounds and 8 assists.  The loss dropped the Packers to 0-6 overall, 0-5 in the conference. They return to action Tuesday when they host Chippewa Hills. 

Fremont dropped a Saturday afternoon game at Shelby by a score of 45-35. The Packers held leads at the end of the first quarter 11-10 and halftime 26-22, but were outscored 12-7 in the 3rd quarter and 11-2 in the final quarter.  Calla Miller led Fremont with 11 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists, and 3 steals. Jessica Bennett added 9 points. Kendall Zoulek led Shelby with 17 points. The loss dropped the Packers to 0-5, while the Tigers improved to 3-1.

After a slow first quarter, both teams got the offenses rolling. Tri County led 9-4 after the first quarter. However, in the second quarter Calla Miller got the Packers rolling by pouring in 13 points on three 3-pointers and 4-4 from the FT line. Fremont led 21-18 late in the half, but a TC triple knotted the the score at 21 just before the buzzer. Tri County came out of the half still hot from long range, as Mary Siple hit two more threes in the quarter and the Vikings held a 34-29 lead heading into the fourth quarter. The fourth saw more offense from both sides, as Miller scored another 13 in the quarter to keep the game neck and neck. Tri County, however, hit enough of their free throws down the stretch to hold onto the lead. Tri County had a triple attempt at the buzzer that missed the mark and the final score was Tri County 51 and Fremont 48.  Miller ended up with 30 points, 4 rebounds, and 2 assists on the night for the Packers. Kennedy Christoffersen had 6 points and 5 rebounds.  Tri County was led by Mary Siple's 19 points and Ashley Bialek had 11.  The win improves the Vikings' record to 3-1, while the Packers drop to 0-4. Fremont gets right back to it with three more games in the next four days, first traveling to Shelby for a Saturday matinee. Coach Zerlaut -- "Obviously Calla had a great game offensively. That's what people notice, and deservedly so. However, it was truly a team effort tonight as many girls contributed on the defensive end, rebounded, and took care of the basketball." "We shook off a horrible shooting performance from earlier in the week and played a very good game against another good team tonight. As soon as a couple more girls gain some confidence offensively and look to score the ball, wins will start coming."

The story of the night was the Packers couldn't overcome a very cold shooting night, and the Tigers found their touch from three point land in the third quarter. Neither team could put anything in the basket in the first quarter, as the Tigers went 0-9 from the field and the Packers went 1-16. The score after one quarter was Fremont 3 and Grant 2. The second quarter started much the same before both teams started to settle in on offense, but the halftime score was still only 15-10 in favor of Fremont.  The Tigers got hot in the third quarter, hitting four 3-pointers en route to a 23 point outburst in the quarter and a 33-23 lead. The Packers, however, remained ice cold making only 3 of 14 shots in the quarter. The final quarter saw the Packers cut the lead to five, but ultimately fall by a 41-33 final. Fremont made 13 of 61 attempts on the evening, while Grant made 14-41.  Calla Miller led Fremont with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Kaitlynn Bennett had 9 rebounds, and Haley Zerlaut chipped in 6 points and 4 assists. Grant was led by Sara Arends' 14 points and Chloee Chase had 8. Fremont falls to 0-3 on the season, with a road trip to Tri County ahead for Friday night. Grant improved to 2-2.

Newaygo blew open a close game over the final 10 minutes to win 57-37 at Fremont. In an uptempo and entertaining first half the Lions held a 14-10 advantage after the first quarter, and a 23-21 lead at the half. The Packers scored the first basket of the second half to tie the game, and were as close as two points at 31-29. However, the Lions scored the final 5 points of the third quarter and held a 36-29 lead at that point. They then outscored the Packers 21-8 in the fourth quarter to set the final score. Leading scorers for Fremont were Jessica Bennett with 11, Calla Miller with 10, and Kaitlynn Bennett with 10. The Lions were led by Jaylee Long's 26 points, while Jaxi Long and Emmerson Goodin each had 12.  The Packers fell to 0-2, and travel to Grant on Tuesday. The Lions improved to 2-0. Coach Zerlaut "Nobody is going to celebrate a 20 point loss. The game got away from us in the fourth quarter. However, I was very pleased with the progress the girls made from Tuesday. We had a couple really good days of practice, and we competed at a much higher level against a very good team for three quarters. Now we need to figure out how to do that for all 32 minutes."

The Packers struggled in the season opener, as Big Rapids came onto Fremont's home court and dominated the Packers 49-24. After leading early, the Packers fell behind late in a low scoring first quarter, and trailed 6-5 after one. In the second quarter, the Cardinals got their outside shooting going and scored several points on offensive rebounds and putbacks, to take a 21-12 lead into the half. The Cardinals tallied a 42-23 advantage on the boards for the game, including 18 offensive rebounds. The second half saw more of the same, as the Cardinals had a 13-7 advantage in the third quarter, and a 15-5 advantage in the fourth to set the final score. Fremont was led on the evening by Kennedy Christoffersen, who came off the bench to score 7 points. Jessica Bennett had 5 rebounds. Big Rapids was led by Ariana Costie with 11 points, Kate Langworthy and Megan Mackall had 9, and Rylie Haist finished with 8.  The Packers host the Newaygo Lions on Friday, while Big Rapids has a matchup with Central Montcalm.