News
The typical madness of college basketball usually starts in March, however, it came early for the Montcalm Community College Centurions women’s basketball team.
The Centurions fell short of a dramatic comeback on the road against the Delta Pioneers, losing a heartbreak, 80-79, Wednesday, Feb. 18. The loss prevented the Centurions (6-6 MCCAA North, 9-16 overall) from clinching a playoff spot in the MCCAA tournament. The team has two remaining games to do so, however.
It was a tight score throughout the game, with 16 total lead changes, however, Delta (8-4 MCCAA North, 15-11 overall) held a lead much of the fourth quarter until freshman Baylor Syrjala (Lakeview, Michigan) nailed a 3-point shot with 28 seconds to go to tie it at 79-79.
The Pioneers held the next possession to set up the last shot of the game and ran the time down to three seconds when MCC was called for a foul, putting Delta’s Damaya Hartwick to the free throw line, which she sunk one of two shots, giving Delta an 80-79 lead.
Centurions Head Coach Scott Pedigo said his team had an offensive play set up and could’ve hit a player inside for a winning layup but the inbounding pass was tipped away. On the next play, Pedigo said there was some questionable contact as MCC shot, but a foul call was never made. The Centurions’ desperation shot went up and missed, ending the game.
“(Delta) was trying to foul because they had fouls to give but it was never called,” Pedigo said in frustration. “The shot went up and a Delta player did a two-hand shove, but we never got the call.”
Pedigo said the game wasn’t lost there as MCC had plenty of chances to take control of the game.
“We had our chances and moments, but in the end, we didn’t get it done,” he said. “It’s just one of those things we all struggle with as coaches. Like I always say, coaches lose the game and players win them. This one is on me.”
Syrjala, who had a career-high 27 points for MCC, said it was her team’s defense that needed to step up more, pointing out the fact the Centurions were outscored in second-chance points (26-10) and were outrebounded 52-34.
“With a close game, there’s so many things we could have done better,” she said. “I think our main problem was allowing second-chance points. If all five players on the floor boxed out at a time, I think we could have limited offensive rebounds, which turned into points.”
Syrjala shot 10-of-14 from the field and went 4-for-7 from the 3-point line.
Pedigo was proud of his players by not quitting or getting down on themselves when they were down by five with two minutes to go.
“They honed in a little better down the stretch,” Pedigo said. “We did a little man press at the end, which we had to avoid doing that earlier because we got into foul trouble. We had four players with three fouls in the third quarter. But we came up with some big plays and (freshman) Karli Bacon picked the ball out from a Delta player and Baylor was able to hit that big three to tie it up.”
Delta and MCC went back and forth in each quarter, though the Centurions offense caught fire in the second quarter, scoring 27 points, compared to scoring only 14 in the first quarter. Delta went into halftime leading 42-41.
It was just as tight in the second half, with MCC winning the third quarter, 23-21, while Delta outscored MCC in the fourth, 17-15.
With two games remaining in the regular season, the Centurions are jostling for the fourth-place position with Muskegon Community College (5-7 MCCA North, 9-13 overall), with the fifth-place team having to travel to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan – Escanaba – to take on the second seeded Bay College Norse (10-1 MCCAA North, 21-4 overall).
The loss to Delta ended any chances for MCC to secure the third seed, which would’ve meant a home game in the first round of the MCCAA tournament in March. Now the focus is securing the fourth seed.
“We just have to win,” Pedigo simply said. “No matter what. We can’t put our future in the hands of other teams. If we win the next two, we have a shot at the four seed.”
Pedigo’s team has been shooting well over the past several games, especially from the 3-point line, including against Delta, which freshman Emma Rehkopf (Belding, Michigan) tied the school record for most 3-pointers in a game for the second time this season, going 7-of-18 from the 3-point line. She ended up with 22 points.
As a team, MCC shot 40% (16-of-40) from the 3-point line against the Pioneers.
Where the Centurions need to improve is ball handling, especially under pressure, according to Pedigo.
“It’s us trying to play too fast. We don’t necessarily have to slow down, we just need to get better at controlling the ball under pressure,” he said. “If we do that, we have chances of doing many things. We’re just going to play tough and treat these next two games like playoffs.”
Syrjala is looking for her team to toughen up defensively, too.
“Good defense brings good offense, so if we can play that part of the game better, we can win the next two,” she said. “Everything comes down to defense because we know we can score, but we just need to stop other teams from scoring so much.”
Along with Syrjala and Rehkopf’s offensive output, sophomore Emily Putnam (Sidney, Michigan) contributed, almost recording a triple-double, scoring 17 points, grabbing 10 rebounds and totaling nine assists. She also had four steals.
Delta was led by Aya Mosley, who had a game-high 29 points, and Malaya Brown, who scored 19 points. Makayla Watkins ended with an impressive 19 rebounds, 10 assists and scored six points.
UP NEXT: The Centurions will host North Central Michigan (2-10 MCCAA North, 4-20 overall) for their final home game at 1 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 21. At the game, sophomores Emily Putnam, Emma Kosinski (Lakeview, Michigan), Kennedy Schilling (Flushing, Michigan) and Emma Rewa (Greenville, Michigan) will be recognized for their final season at MCC.