News

By Ryan Schlehuber, MCC sportswriter 

Despite being in the midst of a four-game losing streak early in the season, the players from the Montcalm Community College Centurions women’s basketball team are closer to finding their footing with who they’re going to be for the 2025-26 season. 

The Centurions (1-4 overall) are looking to shake off an 85-31 loss to Lake Michigan College, Nov. 15, and a close and gritty 44-39 loss to Glen Oaks Community College, Nov. 24, which extended their losing streak to four. MCC will have two chances to get back into the win column this weekend as it prepares for back-to-back home games, a 3 p.m. game against Grand Rapids Community College, Saturday, Nov. 29, and a 3 p.m. game against Cuyahoga Community College, with both games themed as Adopt-A-Family Night. 

“GRCC is probably going to be one of the better teams we see all season,” MCC Head Coach Scott Pedigo said, as he looks forward to getting back into action this weekend. “If we shoot like we did against Glen Oaks, we’re going to be in trouble, but if we shoot like we can and play things right, and make the right decisions, we can make it a game.” 

The Centurions went up against a gritty, physical team in the Glen Oaks Vikings (3-4 overall), losing the game in the waning moments, a game which saw one Vikings play be ejected and a flagrant foul called on a Centurions player that flipped the script on MCC. 

“The game didn’t come down to that though,” Pedigo said. “It was a tough one to lose because we had so many wide open looks we couldn’t hit. I think we might’ve shot 10% all game. Had we shot even 25%, we would’ve won by 20.” 

MCC was up by two with less than 30 seconds to go in the game but then turned the ball over and committed a flagrant foul, which Pedigo thought was more of just an intentional foul. The Vikings player hit the shot and sunk one of two free throws and then got the ball back due to the flagrant foul. The Centurions were unable to get a shot off and had to foul again to save time but ultimately ran out of time.  

“I think the girls did a really good job other than shooting,” Pedigo said. “I think from that game we are learning how to play together better.” 

Freshman guard Baylor Syrjala (Lakeview, Mich.) earned a double-double for MCC, with a team-leading 12 points and 11 rebounds. It is the fourth consecutive game she led the team in scoring. 

Syrjala said the loss to Glen Oaks may have been a defining learning lesson. 

“We learned to play together more and I think we got a little more tough from that game,” Syrjala said. “It gave us more grit.” 

In a game the players and coach believed they should’ve won, Syrjala knows she and her teammates need to bring more fire into their next game against the Raiders (5-2 overall). 

“I feel we have to change how we practice. Some days we lollygag, but I’m going to better prepare myself and help the team do that, as well,” Syrjala said. “I’m going to push myself and my teammates harder and I plan to defend harder. I think we need to play more aggressively.” 

Freshman forward Kendall Stout (Stanton, Mich.), who has proven to be a force in the paint for the Centurions, agreed, stating her Centurions team need to flex their muscles. 

“Our biggest thing was to come out strong (against Glen Lake), and we knew they were going to be, too, and I think that kept us in the game,” said Stout, who finished with nine points and six rebounds against the Vikings. “It was the mistakes under pressure that really got us, but we need to just keep doing the hard work this weekend.”