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Kyrah Gray had 9 points for the Wildcats in the district title.
Brendan Sanders/Big Rapids Pioneer
EVART — The Evart Wildcats fought hard on Friday night, March 3, but the district title went Lake City's way.
Evart girls basketball fell on Friday night in a hard fought defensive battle, 43-35.
"I'm really, really proud of them. And you know what, there's nothing to be ashamed about tonight," Coach Carrie Kunkle said. "We played a great game. We played a good team, and we wish them well, but you know what, 19-4 is still a great record."
Defenses were the first thing to show up in front of the packed Evart gym. The first five minutes of the game had both teams combine to hit a total of two shots. Lake City began taking advantage of the extreme size advantage it had over Evart. At the end of the first quarter it was 8-2 in favor of Lake City.
The second quarter had the Trojan extend their lead through the Bisballe cousins of Alie and MacKenzie Bisballe, who both stand at over six feet tall, and scored 18 of Lake City's first 20 points. At the half, Lake City led 20-8.
The third quarter had Evart put its best foot forward to try and close the gap, holding Lake City to four points in the frame and bringing the game to within three points. The Wildcats entered the fourth quarter down 24-21.
"We just didn't give up like we just kept fighting and we kept having help side for our defense," Addy Gray said. "We just kept pushing through finding the holes."
The tank would run dry though for the Wildcat defense in the fourth as the Bisballe cousin's wore down the Evart defense and got the Wildcats in foul trouble.
Addyson Gray would lead the Wildcats in scoring with 12 points and five rebounds on the night. Kyrah Gray had nine points, four assists and two steals. Brooklyn Decker had 7 points.
The Bisballe cousins scored 40 out of the Trojans' 43 points, with Alie scoring 17 and MacKenzie netting 23.
With the loss Evart will finish the year at 19-4 including a win early in the season over Lake City, which the seniors of the Wildcats said was their favorite moment. It's still the Trojans' only loss so far.
"We definitely just adapted really well to having a new coach and running new things. We played really well as a team and we each played our roles really well." Addy Gray said.
