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The Montcalm Community College Centurions women’s basketball team had every reason to lose its 11th consecutive game Saturday, Jan. 18 — but it didn’t. 

Despite having only one player available off the bench and without their leading scorer, the Centurions (1-2 MCCAA Northern, 2-10 overall) grinded out a 50-35 win against the Alpena Community College Lumberjacks (1-2 MCCAA Northern, 2-9 overall) to snap a 10-game losing streak. 

Leading the way were sophomore guard Makenna Rautio (Big Rapids, Mich.), who earned a double-double on the night, scoring a game-high 20 points and hauling in 15 rebounds, and freshman forward Emma Rewa (Greenville, Mich.), who had a career-high 17 rebounds and scored 13 points. 

“We just came into this game really, really hungry,” Rautio said. “We were done with getting our butts handed to us, feeling like we still tried, but we were going against 15, 16, 17 players and we have only seven, so we were tired of it. We came into this game thinking we had a chance to win, so we were going to do it. We were angry, we were ready.” 

MCC was without its leading scorer, freshman guard Emily Putnam (Sidney, Mich.), who sat out owing to an ankle injury she suffered in the previous game. To make things even worse, just after opening tip-off, freshman guard Emma Kosinski (Lakeview, Mich.) injured her knee after making a steal and trying for a fast-break layup and was unable to return to the game. 

“We had players keep going down and out all season, and we said it sucks, but we have to keep grinding,” Rautio said. “We can’t give up on this one. It was sad to see (Kosinski) go down, but we knew we just had to pick it up.” 

With two players out, MCC had only one more reserve player — freshman guard Jordan Dompreh (Flint, Mich.), who enrolled at MCC to play volleyball. She has also served as a reserve for the basketball team, getting into live action for the first time Saturday, helping starters get a well-deserved break. 

MCC managed to establish a 15-4 lead after freshman guard Madi Longoria (Wyoming, Mich.) dropped a three-pointer, assisted by freshman forward Kennedy Schilling (Flushing, Mich.).  

Alpena’s Jena Wambold answered with a three-pointer of her own, however, Rewa got back-to-back scores, a rebound put-back and, after Alpena turned it over, Rewa made a nifty hook-shot in the paint to score again, building MCC’s lead to 17-8 with 6:48 to go in the second quarter. 

After the Centurions went into halftime with a 21-12 lead, the Lumberjacks came into the third quarter with a full-court press. After a few missed shots and turnovers from both teams, MCC built up its biggest lead to 13 points when MCC pushed through the press and managed to get Rewa the ball inside for a layup with 6:10 to go in the quarter. 

The Lumberjacks’ press started to get to the short-handed Centurions, as Alpena went on a 19-6 run to pull within three, 33-30, just as the fourth quarter started, with Alpena’s Saige Flaugher sinking one of two free throws after MCC freshman guard Hannah Reed (Cedar Springs, Mich.) picked up her fourth foul. 

After a Rewa free throw to make it 34-30, MCC reestablished a multiple-possession lead when, on the Centurions’ next possession, Rewa hit her first free throw after being fouled. Though she missed the second free throw, Rautio rebounded and put it back to make it 37-30 with 8:08 to go in the game.  

“Emma hitting those free throws was big,” Rautio said. “I thought then we had a good chance to pull this out.” 

Rautio was right, as the Centurions outscored the Lumberjacks, 13-5, to close out the game, with a key three-point shot by Rautio to make it 47-32 with 2:49 to go, giving MCC enough of a cushion to where it knew a victory was within grasp. 

“It feels good to win, like, we worked for it,” Rautio said. “We knew chances were coming so we grinded and grinded for it.” 

MCC Head Coach Scott Pedigo said he was proud of his players on how they toughed it out for the win. 

“These kids are just tough,” he said. “They give effort and they just don’t quit. That’s kind of been our motto for the whole season. We always talk about tough times making tough people. We just have to stick with that. We’re going to take care of each other and try to do the best we can.” 

Along with Rautio and Rewa’s numbers, MCC was led by Longoria, with nine points, and Schilling with five. Both Schilling and Rautio had four assists each. 

UP NEXT: The Centurions are on the road for their next three games, starting with a Wednesday, Jan. 22 game at Muskegon Community College. Tip-off is at 5:30 p.m. MCC faces Kirtland Community College Jan. 25 (1 p.m. start) and then travels to Delta College Wednesday, Jan. 29 (5:30 p.m. start).