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It was a big night Saturday, Feb. 21, for the Montcalm Community College Centurions women’s basketball team for a few delightful reasons. 

It was the last home game of the regular season, Sophomore Appreciation Night, and a chance to clinch a playoff spot in the MCCAA postseason tournament. Nothing was going to take a win away from the Centurions — not on this night. 

With the help of an offensive burst in the fourth quarter, the Centurions capped the festive day with a 67-49 win over the Timberwolves, clinching a playoff spot for the first time in only MCC’s second year as a program.  

With only one game left in the regular season, the Centurions (7-6 MCCAA North, 10-16 overall), have clinched at least a fourth seed in postseason play, but they still have a chance to clinch a third seed and host a playoff game if Delta College (8-5 MCCAA North, 15-12 overall) loses and MCC wins in their next games. 

Throughout the first three quarters, MCC and NCMC stayed within six points of each other. But early in the fourth quarter, sophomore Emily Putnam (Sidney, Michigan) took a pass from freshman teammate Baylor Syrjala (Lakeview, Michigan) and hit a 3-pointer to push MCC’s lead to 47-40 with 8:56 to go. After a Timberwolves’ 3-pointer, freshman Emma Rehkopf (Belding, Michigan) followed that up with a 3-pointer of her own just 10 seconds later, pushing MCC’s lead back to seven, 50-43 with 8:22 to go. 

That sparked a 17-2 run by the Centurions, capped off with a nice bank shot from freshman forward Kendal Stout (Stanton, Michigan), giving MCC a 64-45 lead with 2:38 remaining. 

The Timberwolves (2-11 MCCAA North, 4-21 overall) could only manage four more points the rest of the way as the Centurions gave a full-house crowd – including the Tri County High School band – a special win for them and Centurions women’s basketball program. 

“This felt really nice to me. There was such a big crowd cheering us on,” said Putnam, who finished with 14 rebounds and eight points. “But it’s also very sad. I’ll miss playing on this court.” 

Putnam said the Centurions began focusing on their shots better in the fourth quarter, which helped establish their lead. MCC outscored NCMC 23-9 in the last quarter. 

“We learned to slow the game down,” Putnam said. “We got a lead and we just ran through our offense and found open looks.” 

Pedigo credited his team’s defense, pointing to the fact NCMC became gassed towards the end. 

“I think (NCMC) got a little tired there in the end. I think our defense really helped us,” he said. “We did some transition things, got a couple buckets that built our confidence up. We’re a team that scores 20 points a quarter. But (NCMC) did a nice job in the second quarter with their match-up zone and we were still working the bugs out. We took it into halftime to talk it through.” 

After taking a 16-13 lead after the first quarter, NCMC won the second quarter scoring, 13-9. However, MCC dominated the second half, outscoring the Timberwolves 19-14 in the third quarter before turning it on in the fourth.  

“This was a big win for us,” Pedigo said. “It feels good because we are a young program but we’re not going to keep saying we’re a new program. We only have kids that stay for two years so it’s important to build things up and make quick progress, which I believe we have.” 

Putnam and her sophomore teammates – Emma Kosinski (Lakeview, Michigan), Kennedy Schilling (Flushing, Michigan) and Emma Rewa (Greenville, Michigan) – were honored after the game, along with the sophomores from the men’s team. MCC Head Coach Scott Pedigo had all of his sophomores start the game as a tip of the hat to his “Team 1” leaders. 

“We wanted to keep the sophomores out there. I was hoping to have a more comfortable lead in that first quarter,” Pedigo said. “I would’ve loved to have them finish the whole quarter.” 

Pedigo praised his sophomores for their invaluable leadership throughout the season, especially to Putnam who, since the first game of the team’s inaugural season last year, stepped up and helped bring the team to where it is today. 

“Emily has been the team’s heart and soul. She’s our true foundation of the program,” Pedigo said. “She kind of took that leadership role and they all kind of look to her for leadership.” 

He said all of his sophomores have played an important role. 

“You had Kennedy who is always here and doing great stuff, you have Emma Kosinski, she was a walk-on and she’s a great story. Then you have Emma Rewa, she’s my favorite story of all time,” Pedigo said. “We talked about pointing around the room about the opportunity to play somewhere else. How many schools that we’re playing took the time to look at these players? And now we’re proving they belong. They had a lot to prove, and I think they did, they showed they deserve to be here. They’re ‘Team 1,’ that’s what they’ll always be remembered as.” 

Rehkopf came off the bench to lead the team in scoring with 16 points. She also had six rebounds. Syrjala pitched in 15 points, seven rebounds and five assists while also getting four steals. Stout finished with 12 points. Freshman Karli Bacon (Stanton, Michigan) had nine points, eight rebounds and six assists.  

UP NEXT: The Centurions will complete their regular season schedule with a road game against Kirtland Community College (4-8 MCCAA North, 8-16 overall) Tuesday, Feb. 24. Game time is 5:30 p.m. 

Delta (8-5 MCCAA North, 15-12 overall) will host Alpena Community College (0-12 MCCAA North, 4-18 overall) Tuesday, as well.  

The MCCAA North now has its five qualifying teams for the MCCAA postseason tournament, with currently Mid Michigan (12-0 MCCAA North) first, Bay College (11-1) second, Delta, third, MCC fourth and Muskegon (6-7) in the fifth seed.