News

By Ryan Schlehuber, MCC Sportswriter

With the chance of making the postseason tournament still on the table, the Montcalm Community College Centurions women’s basketball team had more than just its opponent on the floor to overcome. 

With several players hit with illness, including the team’s leading scorer, sophomore guard Makenna Rautio (Big Rapids, Mich.), MCC Head Coach Scott Pedigo had only five players to work with against the North Central Michigan Timberwolves, Saturday, Feb. 22. The handful of Centurions gave a valiant effort; however, they eventually fell to the host team, 55-42, ending their chances of securing a spot in postseason play. 

“It came down to only having five players for the day,” Pedigo said. “It was just the toughness of the girls that kept us in the game.” 

With each player putting in a full 40 minutes of play, Pedigo did his best to reserve timeouts, to be sure his players could keep pace with the Timberwolves, who had eight players to use.  

The Centurions (2-11 MCCAA Northern, 3-19 overall) made it a three-point game with 2:55 to go in the third quarter, with NCMC (4-9 MCCA Northern, 5-22 overall) leading 34-31, after freshman forward Kennedy Schilling (Flushing, Mich.) made a jump shot. 

That, however, was the closest MCC would manage to get. NCMC then went on a 23-6 run, topped off with a layup from Brooke Ferraiuolo with 2:12 to go in the game. MCC’s scoring would finish out with freshman guard Emily Putnam (Sidney, Mich.) hitting a three-pointer with 1:25 go and a layup with 53 seconds to go, that made it 55-42. 

Though the Timberwolves outscored the Centurions in each quarter, MCC kept fighting back, trailing only 11-10 after the first quarter and 25-21 going into the half.  

“There was never a thought in any of our minds about quitting,” Schilling said. “We all accepted what we had to do.” 

Schilling said she and her players discussed the situation before the game about everything the team has faced and persevered through. 

“We were talking about all the things we have been through as a team this year and how none of us have quit and we are all glad we have stuck together,” she said. “One of our goals for the game was to keep the game at our pace, use the shot clock to our advantage.” 

That strategy kept the Centurions in the game and helped them leave some gas in the tank as much as possible. It has been something MCC has had to endure throughout most of the season, having only two reserve players when the team is fully healthy. 

“A lot of us have to play a full game with little breaks every game, but the fact we had five and all of us played the whole game, I was proud and grateful for my teammates,” Schilling said. “We were all proud of each other. We wanted to win, of course, but at the end of the game we were happy with how we played through the 40 minutes.” 

The Timberwolves held the advantage in points in the paint over MCC, 36-10, assists, 16-7, and a slight edge in rebounding, 36-32.  

Putnam led MCC in scoring with 18 points while Schilling finished with nine points and 12 rebounds. Freshman forward Emma Rewa (Greenville, Mich.) also had nine points and collected 10 rebounds.  

“I thought Emma and Kennedy shot well and were able to keep us in the game,” Pedigo said. “We just need to get over the flu and get back to work.” 

The Timberwolves were led by Maziah Shelton with 15 points, eight rebounds and six assists. Camille Wardin finished with 14 points and eight rebounds and Ally Sutton ended up with 11 points.  

UP NEXT: The Centurions will wrap up their regular season at home Wednesday, Feb. 26, hosting Kirtland Community College (3-10 MCCAA Northern, 4-16 overall). Game time is 5:30 p.m. MCC won the first meeting, 55-51, Jan. 25.