The Fruitport girls basketball team revved up its offense and buckled down on defense in the second half on Tuesday, and ended up turning a nine-point halftime deficit into a big win.
The Trojans trailed Western Michigan Christian 33-24 at halftime, then outscored the Warriors 10-7 in the third quarter and 18-7 in a very big fourth quarter to pull out a 42-40 victory.
Not counting one forfeit win, the victory was the first for Fruitport in five games. The Trojans are now 8-12 on the season.
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“My assistant coach, Mel Raleigh, strongly suggested we switch our defense up,” said Fruitport head coach Brian Packard. “We came up with a game plan at the half and turned the game around. It’s great to have assistants that don’t mind telling me I’m wrong! The girls responded really well.”
The first half did not go well for the Trojans, who were outscored 14-5 in the first quarter and 12-9 in the second.
They cut their deficit to 33-24 after three quarters, then stole the win with the big offensive explosion in the fourth.
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Izzy Hanson-Wilbur scored 10 of her 18 points in the fourth quarter, including four crucial free throws. Kya Tawney added five points in the fourth, including a three-pointer, while Ava Powell chipped in three points, including a big free throw.
Fruitport went to the line a lot in the final quarter and missed 9 of 14 free throw attempts, but the shots that went down made the difference in the end.
“It was a fun game to be a part of and I’m proud of the girls’ resilience,” Packard said. “We definitely could have folded down the stretch and we found a way.”
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A total of seven Trojans put their names on the scoresheet. Ava Powell had seven points, Cierra Fri added six and Kya Tawney had five.
Hanson-Wilbur also had seven steals and three assists while Regan Wilson had six steals.
The Trojans will host North Muskegon on Thursday, then visit Newaygo on Friday to close out the regular season.
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