If you would have told me a year ago that I would be flying to Texas to play basketball, I wouldn’t have believed you.  But, God knew that I was going to Grace and that I would have this amazing opportunity.  And so… the Texas journey continues.  We have all loved embracing the summer sun and lovely weather down here.  None of us are ready to go back to the cold, blustery, snowy, and nasty weather in Michigan.

Today started off with leaving the hotel at 9:30.  We were uncertain of where we were going to go but we were ready to see whatever we could experience Dallas..  We were all so excited to pull out our shorts again even though it was only in the 60s.  Then all of us filed in one by one to a 15 passenger van and we were off.  We were amazed by the many ramps and huge roads there are down here.

We ended up in downtown Dallas.  We wanted to go see the 6^th floor museum where JF Kennedy was assassinated.  On our walk from the parking lot to there, we saw cacti and several big buildings.  One building in particular was shaped uniquely and took a lot of interest in our team.  Sarah thought that it was very interesting.  As she was admiring the structure of it, she failed to see a big metal mailbox that was in the middle of the pathway.  She ran right into it and has scrape on her face from where she hit.  Oops! It started swelling a little bit but it is nothing too bad!  This is where the first and only injury of the trip so far took place.

We just went to the gift shop at the 6^th floor museum and then proceeded to keep on seeing what we could in downtown Dallas.  As we got to a monument, we started looking at it and a guy on a bench started giving us a history lesson.  Little did our team fail to realize was that he was doing that for money.  Let’s just say we learned a valuable lesson today.  Next time we will not be listening to a guy just going to “give” us a history lesson.

From here we kept on walking and just continued to enjoy the time together with our teammates in downtown.  Following downtown, we filed back into the van and made our way to a huge mall where we were going to have lunch.  This mall was huge!  It was four stories and had an ice skating rink on the ground floor.  Continuing with our “funny” sounding restaurants, we figured that we would try a place called “Potbelly’s”.  Let’s just say I underestimated that one but they had some very good subs.  Following lunch we had an hour to go walk around the mall.  The first stop many of us went was H&M because there is not one near us in GR.  Surprisingly, no one bought anything but we all had a fun time in the mall.

After the mall we came back to the hotel and we relaxed until we left for the game.  Our hotel was roughly 10 minutes from the college.  We got to Dallas Christian College with plenty of time to warm up and get ready for the game.  We are very happy to have won our first game and we are getting ready for our tough competition tomorrow.

Following the game, we engulfed burgers, fries, and shakes from In-and-Out.  Came back to the hotel and did devotions as a team.  I love being able to open the Word of God with my team and hear testimonies from my teammates.  God has truly blessed me with such great teammates.

From here on we are on our own.  Some people went straight to bed, others watching TV, swimming/hot tubing, and mentally getting ready for our game tomorrow.

From the many laughs, talks, and memories, we have grown together so much as a team.  We have been so blessed to take this trip down to Texas.  Thank you Grace for letting us come and share God with the teams that we interact with!  We are half way through our trip and it is flying by!  Looking forward to what tomorrow brings.

The Lady Tigers got their trip to Texas off on the right foot with a hard fought 48-36 victory over Dallas Christian.  The Tigers were far from sharp offensively, but made enough shots to gain a lead and made their free throws down the stretch to seal the win.

The Tigers jumped out to an early 10-4 lead, but stayed on that 10 mark for over six minutes.  Fortunately, the defense was solid and the lead was never relenquished.  The offense was just good enough to get into the locker room with a 22-18 lead.

The second half defense opened up playing very well, not allowing a Dallas field goal for several minutes as the Lady Tigers opened up a double digit lead.   The lead stayed in the five to 10 point range for most of the second half until late free throws gave the final margin of victory.

Abby Schultz (Calvary Schools of Holland) led the Tigers in scoring with 14 points.  Marissa Pelletier (Calvin Christian) had 13 and Amy Leszinske (Ravenna)added seven.  The Tigers enjoyed a 44-29 rebounding advantage.  Marissa Pelletier also led in rebounding and completed the double-double with 11 rebounds.  Kerie Rudd (Battle Creek Pennfield) and Amy Leszinske each added nine boards.

The Lady Tigers will continue their Texas road trip with a tough game on Saturday at Arlington Baptist against the third-ranked Patriots.

This first installment of the trip to Dallas is brought to you by Kerie Rudd.

Some would say that a cloudy, snowy, windy day would most likely be a bad day. For us, however, it has been a glorious day because we knew that our day would be filled with sun and blue skies. We just had to get to the airport first. We were scheduled to leave from Grace at 10:00 a.m. and Coach made us show him our I.D.’s before we could get on the bus. This proved to be a very wise decision as someone – not mentioning any names – all of a sudden realized that she didn’t have her license in her wallet. After a minor freak-out, she went home to try and find it. Meanwhile, those of us who had been able to board the bus were greeted with a high-pitched continuous warning sound. We thought it was kind of annoying but most of us were too excited for Dallas to care all that much. We later found out that it was some warning about pressure and that we had to get another bus. So we went back inside and waited, and waited, and waited. That time wasn’t a total loss, though, since Anna and I (and Coach Ash helped a little) defeated Abby and Brittany in a couple quick games of Euchre. Of course, right as Abby got her first good hand, the bus rolled up, and we were finally on the road!

We had a couple hours in the bus and so we watched Pitch Perfect on our way to Detroit. We safely arrived at the airport at about 1:30 or so I think (thanks Dale)! We made it through security without any major incidents and our first-time fliers (Amy and Marissa) were getting pretty excited. We waited about 30 minutes until we were called to start boarding the plane. At this point we were all getting pretty excited to leave the snowy windy Michigan weather and trade it in for the sunny warmth of Texas. Boarding took quite a while and getting ready to take off seemed to take forever. We were scheduled for a 3:30 departure but it turned into more of a 4:30 departure between the drive to the runway, the de-icing process – quite the colorful process actually – and the other final preparations for flight. We finally got to the runway and were ready to take off and off we went. It was pretty fun, I have to say, but even better than the take off itself was the look on Amy’s face when she realized that she wasn’t exactly fond of heights anymore. It was foggy enough out, though, that we lost sight of the ground fairly quickly and she calmed down. Then we broke through the clouds. There is something to be said about taking off in snow or rain and that moment when you break through the clouds and realize that once your perspective is changed it is really quite the beautiful day. God truly is the ultimate artist!

We got into Dallas around 6 and were greeted with warm weather and a beautiful sunset. We stepped outside and most of us took off our jackets because it was so nice out. Dallas Christian has been kind enough to let us borrow their van, so they brought us to the hotel and then once we were all settled, we walked – because it was so warm out – over to Fuzzy Taco’s for some delicious Mexican dinner.

It’s been a great first day and we are looking forward to the rest of our trip. Praise the Lord for this wonderful opportunity he has given all of us to be here and represent Grace and His Kingdom!

Katie Allers, a 5’8″ guard from Coopersville, has joined the Lady Tiger basketball team starting with the second semester in 2013.  She transferred from Cornerstone University where she played one year of basketball and ran track for two-plus seasons.

Katie is a fantastic all-around athlete and was All-Conference in basketball and Team MVP her senior season at Coopersville where she played under Coach Pete VanKempen.  She was a Conference and Regional Champion in the 400 meters in track.

Katie is also a standout in the classroom where she is majoring in Education with a focus on learning disabilities.  Katie is the daughter of Gregg and Sue Allers and has three older siblings.

“We are thrilled to have Katie join the Grace family,” Coach Renzema said about his newest player.  “She has fit in well and has already made significant contributions to the team.  She is going to be a valuable member of this team going forward.”

 

The Lady Tigers knew they were facing a tough task on Saturday afternoon against the Lakers of Silver Lake College.  The Lakers came in with their full roster available after having to play short-handed for a couple of weeks and they had already beaten three teams the Tigers had lost to earlier in the season.  The Tigers played hard and battled the much taller Lakers inside, but couldn’t find the range from outside as the Lakers won the game by a 65-58 margin.

Anna Iwaniw (Kent City) continued to show her offensive prowess and led the Tigers with 17 points.  Abby Schultz (Calvary Schools of Holland) and Amy Leszinske (Ravenna) each were in double figures with 10 points.   The Kent City duo of Iwaniw and classmate Sydney Wildeboer led the rebounders with eight each.

“We definitely had our opportunities, but just couldn’t close the lead past four points in the second half,” Coach Renzema commented.  “We play really well and execute the game plan at times, but we struggle to find consistency at times against the better teams.  We played hard and battled them inside, but Silver Lake made a few more plays than we did today.”

The Lady Tigers will be off until next Friday when they will play the first of two games in Dallas, Texas.

The Lady Tigers came out sluggishly on Friday night and found themselves in an early 12 point defecit against the Pioneers from Northland International.  A change in defensive tactics and a career scoring performance from Tiger forward Anna Iwaniw helped the Lady Tigers rally to within a point at the half 33-32.

The second half was tight the entire way as Northland held on to a small lead for most of the half.  The Lady Tigers took their only lead of the game at 66-64 on a shot from Sarah Steenwyk (Zion Christian).  The Pioneers then made back to back difficult three pointers down the stretch to clinch the game.

Anna Iwaniw (Kent City), in her customary role as the first off the bench, was the offensive star for the Lady Tigers.  Anna tallied 31 points for the game on 13 of 16 shooting from the field.  She scored 15 in the first half and had 16 in the second half, before facing double and sometimes triple team defense.   Sydney Wildeboer (Kent City) was the only other Tiger in double figures with 13 points. 

The Lady Tigers outrebounded the Pioneers by a 42-28 margin. Amy Leszinske (Ravenna) led the team with 10 rebounds, with Iwaniw and Wildeboer each collecting eight.  Kerie Rudd (Battle Creek Pennfield) collected seven assists to lead the team. 

“We knew it was going to be a tight and competitive game”, Coach Rich Renzema said after the game.  “We didn’t execute very well early on offense or defense and dug ourselves a hole.  I was proud of the effort to rally, and I give Northland credit for making a couple of real tough shots down the stretch.  They made us pay every time we gave them a little opening.”

“Anna Iwaniw was great on offense tonight”, Coach said about his super-sub.  “It works well for our playing rotation to have her first off the bench because she is versatile and can play different positions.  She has really taken to that role well.”

The Lady Tigers will have the opportunity to climb back to 500 on Saturday as they host Silver Lake College at 2 PM.

 

The Lady Tigers left very little room for suspense as to who would win the Cross Cup Trophy for 2013 as they jumped out to an early lead over the Cougars of Kuyper College and never looked back.   The 83-26 victory means the Lady Tigers will maintain control of the trophy for the third consecutive year.  The victory also gets the Lady Tigers back to even at 9 wins and 9 losses, a difficult task after starting the season at 0 and 8.

All nine Grace players logged at least 17 minutes in the contest and scored at least four points.  Abby Schultz (Calvary Schools of Holland) paced the balanced attack with 17 points.  Anna Iwaniw (Kent City) had 14, Sydney Wildeboer (Kent City) scored 13, and Marissa Pelletier (Calvin Christian) had 12 points.

The Lady Tigers amassed a whopping 63 rebounds for the game.  Sarah Steenwyk (Zion Christian) led the rebounders with 12, while Marissa Pelletier and Anna Iwaniw completed their double-doubles with 11 and 10 rebounds respectively.  The Lady Tigers racked up 28 assists on the night with Amy Leszinske (Ravenna) leading with seven and Kerie Rudd (Battle Creek Pennfield) with six.

“It feels great to be back at .500 after our slow start,” Coach Renzema commented after the game.  “I am so happy the girls are starting to see the results of their hard work.  The challenge now is to not go back under because we have some difficult and critical games coming up. ”

The Lady Tigers will host Northland International University on Friday at 5 PM in a critical NCCAA Midwest Region contest.  They will follow that up with a home game on Saturday at 2 PM against a very good team from Silver Lake College.

The Lady Tigers hosted Lincoln Christian on Saturday, trying to continue extend their winning streak to six games.  The Red Lions came in featuring two of the top three scorers in the NCCAA Midwest Region and would surely be a test for the Tiger team.  Tatiana Colclasure and Moriah Kirkpatrick came into the game averaging nearly 36 ppg combined for Lincoln.  The Lady Tigers, employing a triangle and two defense, held the two scoring threats to 17 points combined and rolled to a comfortable 71-40 victory.

Marissa Pelletier (Calvin Christian) paced the Lady Tigers with a double-double, scoring 17 points on six of seven shooting from the field and 11 rebounds.  Abby Schultz (Calvary Schools of Holland) was also in double figures with 14 points.   Amy Leszinske (Ravenna) had nine points and six assists and Anna Iwaniw (Kent City) and Sydney Wildeboer (Kent City) each had eight points.  Kerie Rudd chipped in with four points and a team high eight assists.

“We played really good team defense on their two scorers,” Coach Renzema commented after the game.  “Kerie Rudd, Abby Schultz, Brittany Summerfield and Katie Allers did a grea job of taking turns guarding Colclasure and Kirkpatrick, but they had a lot of help behind them.”

The Lady Tigers will host Kuyper on Tuesday, January 22 at 5 PM for the annual Cross Cup game.  Come out and support your Lady Tigers!!

When leading scorer Kim Kamp went down with a season-ending injury in early December, it was a question as to where the Lady Tiger squad would find enough offense to win ball games.  The answer has been from pretty much everyone on the team.  The team scoring balance was put on full display Friday night as all nine Tiger players scored at least three points, including six in double figures.

Abby Schultz (Calvary Schools of Holland) continued her torrid three point shooting, going four of six from behind the arc to lead the Lady Tigers with 15 points.  Anna Iwaniw (Kent City) gave her usual solid contribution as the first player off the bench wth 12 points.  Amy Leszinske (Ravenna) and Marissa Pelletier (Calvin Christian) each scored 11, while Sarah Steenwyk (Zion Christian) and Sydney Wildeboer (Kent City) each added 10.  Sydney completed the double-double and led the team with 10 rebounds.  Amy Leszinske set a career high and paced the team with eight assists.

“I thought we came out with good focus and didn’t look past Emmaus,” Coach Renzema commented about the game.  “We scored 83 and actually missed a lot of layups and easy shots.  The girls have really come together and I love the balance we have on this team.  It has been a few years since we have had a team get six in double figures.”

 

The Lady Tiger offense erupted for a season high 86 points in a convincing victory over

Greak Lakes Christian.  You wouldn’t know it based on the box score, but five of the eight Lady Tigers dressed for the game were fighting illness.

Abby Schultz (Calvary Schools of Holland) got things rolling with 18 of her 25 points in the first half as the Tigers jumped out to a 41-27 lead at the intermission.  The shots continued to fall in the second half as they put the game out of reach.  Anna Iwaniw (Kent City) finished with 18 points, Marissa Pelletier (Calvin Christian) had 11, and Sydney Wildeboer (Kent City) and Amy Leszinske (Ravenna) each reached double figures with 10.  The Tigers shot 52% from the field for the game, also a season high.

The Lady Tigers will play two home games this weekend against Emmaus on Friday at 7 PM and against Lincoln Christian at 1 PM on Saturday.