By BUTCH HARMON
With two freshmen and four sophomores on the roster and only four seniors, one would’ve thought that the Holt girls basketball team’s string of five straight district titles would come to an end this season.
However, the Rams extended their string of titles to six after defeating Mason 46-25 for the championship, and the play of the young players makes further extension of the streak likely.
Holt’s season came to an end in the regional semifinals, when the Rams dropped a 46-43 decision to Mattawan in a game that the Rams led 43-42 with 45 seconds to play. They missed a three-point shot at the buzzer that would’ve sent the game into overtime.
The team finished with a 16-8 record, but the future looks bright with players like freshman guard Kamrin Reed and sophomore guard Tara Lierman leading the way. Lierman scored 17 points and added seven steals and four assists against Mattawan, while Reed totaled 10 points.
“The kids fought hard to the end,” coach Doug Harkama said. “The loss hurts, but I told the girls to use this as a motivator for next year, to motivate the girls to improve during the summer. We are a young team, but a talented team.”
Not only do Lierman and Reed return next year, but plenty of other young, talented players are waiting in the wings.
“Our junior varsity team went 18-2,” Harkama said. “We are real young and talented, but we have a lot of work to do. Tara is going to be a 1,000-point high school scorer and so is Kamrin. We are also going to have to get into the weight room. This was our sixth straight district title this year, and that’s a special thing.”