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November 17, 2005Sabres to face Comets in Class D district finalTC Christian tops St. Mary's, Leland victoriousLAKE LEELANAU - One junior guard gave TC Christian a big lift.Another took it home. Kara Finney and Emily Morgan combined to score 34 points to lead the Sabres to a 59-53 victory over host Lake Leelanau St. Mary's on Wednesday in a Class D district basketball semifinal. The victory avenged two regular-season losses to the Eagles and sent TC Christian into Friday's 7 p.m. championship against Leland, a 46-21 winner over Northport in the first game. Finney scored 14 of her game-high 22 points in the final period for TC Christian (13-8). When she wasn't scoring on drives to the basket, Finney was clutch at the free-throw line, draining 6-of-7 in the final 2:05 of the contest. "I just really wanted to win it I guess," Finney said of her fourth-quarter outburst. "I knew we could do it. I just had so much energy and played the best I could." "She's the one we want on the line at the end of the game," TC Christian coach Steve Morgan added. "She's our best free-throw shooter and we got her there. She's a money player." Emily Morgan was money earlier in the game, hitting 3-pointers at the end of the second and third quarters. Morgan hit a one-handed heave from beyond midcourt to beat the halftime buzzer and a 3-pointer with three seconds left in the third. Her first bomb tied the game at 24 and her second sent the Sabres - which trailed by eight in the first quarter - into the final period with a 42-38 lead. "That was awesome," Finney said of the halftime heave. "I think that was the beginning of our energy." Emily Morgan finished with 12 points and six assists. Abby Streeter added 10 points, Megan Ritsema seven points and 12 rebounds and Anne Friedlander seven points. "We got play from everybody," Steve Morgan said. "We got post play and the guards came through and did a good job taking care of the basketball under pressure." "We had beat TC Christian twice this year, but I knew they were tough," said first-year St. Mary's coach Paula Korson. "They're an athletic team. "They're shooting percentage was so great - they hit 46 percent - and our shots didn't fall as nicely." Krystal Lingaur led St. Mary's (12-9) with 13 points and 11 rebounds. Alyssa Korson added 12 points and three steals, Samantha Garthe eight points and Haley Korson seven points and nine rebounds. Lingaur, Garthe and Haley Korson are three of the Eagles' five seniors. None of them saw a ton of action last season. "The girls worked hard all year," Paula Korson said. "I'm happy with my first year coaching here at St. Mary's." In the first game, Northport jumped out to a 9-5 lead after the opening quarter. But Leland (15-6) scored the first 10 points of the second quarter and never looked back. "Northport was very aggressive," Leland coach Larry Glass said. "They had a good game plan and executed it. "I wasn't happy - but I was impressed - that we didn't get a lot of offensive rebounds, especially in the first half. It wasn't like we weren't trying, it was Northport wasn't letting us do it." Leland, which led 17-11 at halftime, took a 33-20 edge into the final stanza and didn't surrender a point until the final period was nearly six minutes old. "The first half, I was happy with it," said Northport coach Dan Stowe, whose team finished 9-12. "We shot the ball well and we kept the score low to compete with Leland. They're a disciplined team and they had a height advantage. "Our girls played as hard as they could, everybody played and we're looking to build the program for next year." The player Northport particularly couldn't match up with was Leland 6-foot senior Alisha Glass. Alisha Glass led the Comets with 24 points, 21 of which came in the final three periods. "They couldn't stop her and they tried a couple of different ways," Larry Glass said. "They tried a zone, a couple different zones, and even man-to-man. "They let it all hang out. Dan had them doing a lot of different things and doing it well. In the end, we were just too big for them." Jackie Bussey and Julia Bressette each had seven points to lead Northport.
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