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Current Centurions Head Coach Scott Pedigo had the pleasure of meeting former Montcalm Community College women’s basketball coach Rita Keilholtz, who coached the team in the 1980s. Keilholtz, who resides in Escanaba, attended the MCC game against Bay College in Escanaba Saturday, Feb. 8.

By Ryan Schlehuber, MCC Sportswriter

It was a hot-and-cold first quarter that made the difference for the Montcalm Community College Centurions women’s basketball team, where the home team came out on top Saturday, Feb. 8, 80-39. 

The Norse (7-2 MCCAA Northern, 14-9 overall) racked up 32 points — with Kennedy Sproule earning 16 of them — and went 7-for-11 with three-pointers in the first quarter. Meanwhile, the Centurions (2-6 MCCAA Northern, 3-14 overall) managed only 12 points, shooting 5-for-14. 

The first half was all Bay College, as the Norse kept up its offensive pressure while MCC’s cold shooting continued in the second quarter, with the Norse outscoring the Centurions, 20-7 to go into halftime with a 42-19 lead. 

“We had horrible shooting early on,” Centurions Head Coach Scott Pedigo said. “We couldn’t hit anything.” 

MCC shot only 2-of-13 from the field and only hit one out of six three-pointers, which was unlike his shooters, Pedigo said. 

“I think we only hit three three-pointers in the whole game,” Pedigo said. “That’s not very characteristic of us. And Bay shot really well, so it was a tough one for us.” 

The Centurions, playing with only seven players, finally got out of their funk in the third quarter, with five players scoring for MCC. Freshman forward Emma Rewa (Greenville, Mich.) collected four points in the quarter, with a layup halfway through the quarter to make it 54-21 and then, with back-to-back free throws, the Norse led 54-28 with 4:13 to go in the quarter. 

“Usually, we start the game well and then somewhere in the second or third quarter it goes bad for us,” Pedigo said. “Here, we just had a rough start, but I was happy to see we got out there in the third quarter. That’s been our worst quarter for the past four of five games.” 

The Centurions were only able to hit one field goal in the fourth quarter, going 1-of-7, while Bay shot 6-of-16 for 14 points to close out the game. 

Despite the loss, Pedigo feels his team can still pull out two to three wins with six games left in the regular season, which could get them into postseason play. 

“If we find three wins, I think we can make it in,” Pedigo said. 

Two of their remaining games are against teams the Centurions beat already — Alpena Community College and Kirtland Community College — while a third game, on the road against North Central Michigan, is a winnable game, as well, as NCMC is 2-7 in the MCCAA Northern and 3-20 overall. 

“We need to learn to be more physical and take care of the ball,” Pedigo said, talking about how his team can get those wins with games coming up. “The turnovers for points have been a killer all year. We give up easy ones all the time.” 

Pedigo said sophomore guard Makenna Rautio (Big Rapids, Mich.) and Rewa were the carriers of the team against Bay College. Rautio led the team with 16 points and nine rebounds while Rewa finished with five points and nine rebounds. Freshman guard Emily Putnam (Sidney, Mich.) added seven points, five rebounds and six steals. 

For Bay College, Sproule earned a double-double, scoring a game-high 24 points and grabbing 10 rebounds, while teammate Anna Axtell scored 18 points. 

UP NEXT: The Muskegon Community College Jayhawks (7-1 MCCAA Northern, 17-4 overall) will come to the Sidney campus Wednesday, Feb. 12. Game time is 5:30 p.m. This will be the teams’ first meeting of the season. Muskegon is second in the MCCAA Northern while MCC is in sixth place.