March had not officially arrived yet, but the madness sure did in Monday night’s Division 3 girls basketball district at Holton.
North Muskegon pulled off a stunning 37-35 upset of Shelby in a first-round district matchup of West Michigan Conference opponents.
In two regular-season meetings between the teams, the Norse were swept and outscored by a combined 50 points. Now, North Muskegon (4-17) heads to Wednesday’s 7 p.m. district semifinal against Western Michigan Christian.
Shelby ends its season with an 11-10 record.
“We had a game plan and the team executed it well,” North Muskegon interim coach Sarah Knuth said. “This game is what tournament play should be: Intense, exciting and all-out effort.
“No one expected us to beat Shelby except for us. We believed that we could if we worked really hard and followed the game plan. It was a great game.”
Here are details from Monday’s district-opening games involving West Michigan Conference teams, along with updated schedule graphics:
DIVISION 2 AT OAKRIDGE
WHITEHALL 64, ORCHARD VIEW 23: The Vikings had no trouble in their district opener, as senior Charley Klint flirted with a triple-double. Whitehall will square off with Spring Lake (12-8) in Wednesday’s district semifinals.
Whitehall leaders:
Charley Klint 23 points, 8 rebounds, 7 rebounds
Lola Buckner 10 points
Ashley TenBrink 10 points
McKena Coron 8 points, 8 rebounds
Orchard View leaders:
No stats submitted
Records:
Whitehall 9-12
Orchard View 1-19
OAKRIDGE 52, FRUITPORT 20: The host Eagles built an eight-point halftime lead and broke it open in the second half to earn a third matchup with conference foe Montague in Wednesday’s district semifinals.
Oakridge leaders:
Anna Lundquist 23 points, 8 rebounds, 3 steals, 3 blocks
Destyni Lane 12 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 7 steals
Fruitport leaders:
No stats submitted
Records:
Oakridge 8-13
Fruitport 1-20
DIVISION 3 AT HOLTON
NORTH MUSKEGON 37, SHELBY 35: The Norse used a 13-4 second quarter to take a 22-10 lead at the break. The Tigers stormed back with a 15-5 third quarter, but the Norse held on for the stunning upset.
North Muskegon leaders:
Josee Cooke 11 points, 8 rebounds
Molly Stewart 8 points
Allie Jensen 7 points, 3 assists
Jena Francis 5 points, 4 rebounds
Georgia Skujins 4 points
Shelby leaders:
Kendall Zoulek 21 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 4 steals
Molli Schultz 6 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals
Ella Olmstead 8 rebounds
Records:
North Muskegon 4-17
Shelby 11-10
DIVISION 3 AT MORLEY STANWOOD
WHITE CLOUD 25, RAVENNA 18: The Bulldogs could not get their offense going and saw their season come to an end in this district opener at Morley Stanwood.
No stats were submitted for this game.
Records:
White Cloud 9-12
Ravenna 5-16
DIVISION 3 AT MASON COUNTY CENTRAL
