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March 4, 2003Gladiators, Lakers advance in prep basketball districtsSt. Francis knocks out Forest Area; Glen Lake too much for KingsleyByRecord-Eagle staff writer MAPLE CITY - Glen Lake senior Drew Hilton conducted a players-only meeting prior to Monday's district opener. The message: Don't be afraid to shoot. Lakers' junior Josh Popa was listening.
Traverse City St. Francis won the first game with an 83-23 rout of Forest Area. But the nightcap was a battle until Popa got hot from long range. With Kingsley leading 42-40, Popa hit a 3-pointer with four seconds left in the third quarter to give the Lakers a lead heading into the fourth. Popa buried another three - from the same spot on the court - less than a minute into the final period. "I was just feeling it at the time," Popa said. "It felt right when I let it go." "They were real huge," Kingsley coach Pete Nickerson said of the triples. "He stepped up in the fourth quarter the last time we played them. He's really a clutch player for them right now." As he has done most of the season, Hilton led the Lakers (10-11) with 25 points. But Glen Lake got a lot of help from Popa and Dave Galla, who finished with 11 points. "Josh Popa doesn't know how good he is; we have to tell him," Glen Lake coach Don Miller said. "Drew had a meeting before the game and told the juniors to step up and shoot. He can't carry the team offensively on his back. "You can't be a one-man team. He's faced a box-and-one all year, so we have to have some guys help." Popa's two triples late in the contest started a 10-0 run and gave the Lakers an eight-point lead, 50-42, with 4:13 to play. Kingsley (8-13) was never closer than seven the rest of the way. The Stags, who trailed 17-11 after one quarter and 34-31 at halftime, did get themselves back in the contest. The Stags didn't lead until there was 2:29 left in the third quarter on a bucket by Ryan Zenner. Kingsley led just twice in the contest. "We couldn't get away from them," Miller said. "They played well." "I've got to give my boys credit," added Nickerson, whose team lost three times to Glen Lake. "They played a heckuva nice game defensively. "Defense has been one of our downfalls this year, but I thought we played strong tonight. I'm real proud of my boys." Kingsley got a strong offensive game from Ryan Zenner, who finished with 23 points. John Zenner added 11 for the Stags. While the second game was close all the way through, the opener wasn't. TC St. Francis jumped out to a 28-7 lead after the opening quarter and cruised to the victory against Forest Area. The Gladiators led 48-10 at halftime and blanked the Warriors in the third quarter, pushing the advantage to 63-10. All 15 players got significant playing time in the contest for St. Francis (12-9) and 13 of them scored. "That's always nice to see," said junior reserve Garrett Petterson. "Everyone works hard in practice so if everyone can get in and contribute, that's nice to see." The Gladiators were led in scoring and rebounding by a pair of bench players. Petterson led the offense with 13 points while Caleb Richardson pulled down a team-high 11 rebounds. "That's a first for both of them," St. Francis coach Pat Cleland said. "I'm so happy everybody got a chance to play in the districts. "That's a dream of every kid growing up, to play in the tournament, and everybody got to do that tonight." In addition to Petterson's 13 points, the Glads also got 12 points from Josh Jorkasky, 10 from Matt Thornton and eight from Vince Prusick. Nathan Dunham added eight rebounds while Trevor Kireczynski and Pat Heintz each had six assists. St. Francis connected on 55 percent of its field goals compared with the Warriors' 18 percent. "TC played a real good game," said Forest Area coach Jeff Barksdale, whose team finished 2-19. "They out-hustled us and out-shot us. "They were just better prepared. They wanted it a little more than out guys wanted it tonight." Despite the offensive numbers the Gladiators put on the board, Cleland was more pleased with the effort on the other end. St. Francis forced Forest Area into 23 turnovers. "Every kid that came out played good defense," Cleland said. "They all came out and played good fundamental defense, had a good stance and had their hands in the passing lanes." Ken Denike led Forest Area with 16 points. No other player had more than two points for the Warriors. With the victory, St. Francis advances to take on Suttons Bay at 6 p.m. on Wednesday. Glen Lake faces Mesick in the nightcap, 30 minutes after the conclusion of the first game.
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