Fremont avenges 'B' loss

Saturday, March 01, 2008

By Scott Brandenburg

Chronicle correspondent

NEWAYGO -- Fremont's boys basketball players couldn't help but notice the three references to "defense" up on the board before Friday's Class B district final at Newaygo High School.

The not-so-subtle postings served as a reminder of how this season's Packers have improved from last year, when they lost to Friday's opponent, Whitehall, in the semis on a 3-for-30 3-point shooting night.

So even though Fremont's start mirrored last year, the Pack used its aggressiveness to get revenge on the Vikings in a 52-36 district title win, their third in four seasons.

"Our defense has been extremely important this year," said Fremont coach Peter Zerfas. "There have been lots of times when we've missed shots, but our defense has picked us up almost every time. It's the biggest difference for us from last year."

Fremont (18-4) takes its 15-game winning streak into the regional round Tuesday at Coopersville, where it will face Grand Rapids Catholic Central. The Pack beat Catholic Central 71-57 in January to begin their impressive roll.

Whitehall (12-10) did its best to duplicate last season, limiting the Packers to perimeter shooting while slowing down the tempo early.

It worked until the midway point of the second quarter, when Fremont dialed up the defensive intensity.

The Packers forced five turnovers in the final four minutes before halftime, scoring off four of them to turn a 12-11 deficit into a 25-17 advantage at the break.

"That is one fine basketball team," said Whitehall coach Tony Annese. "They're the best team we've played all year. We knew that going in we were going to have to play a certain style to beat them. We wanted to stay close but we let it slip away from us."

Jeremy Gerth and Sean Hendon were the catalysts at both ends of the court.

The two senior guards along with senior forward Matt Taggart recorded three steals each. Offensively, Gerth did plenty of damage outside, draining three 3-pointers on the way to 22 points while Hendon scored 11 points.

Gerth also connected on 5-of-6 free throws as Fremont sank 15-of-21 freebies for the night to put the game away.

"Our defense has definitely helped us," said Gerth. "Our offense wouldn't be nearly as effective without it."

Whitehall snuck back to within four points midway through the third quarter behind seniors Adam Wolfe and Jaren Edsall, who scored 13 and eight points.

The Vikings were hoping to get to the line for more production, but only attempted 10 free throws, sinking three. Edsall added six assists and Wolfe grabbed 10 rebounds.

Fremont's quickness and quick hands bothered Whitehall most of the game. Taggart and Zach Derks each collected eight rebounds for the Pack.

Fremont forced 12 Viking turnovers.

"We use our quickness to our advantage in a lot of ways," added Gerth. "We use it on defense, to get rebounds and obviously to get through the lane and create offense."

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