03/14/2007

Eagles to battle for Class D regional title

Bellaire tops Leland, Fairview holds off St. Mary

BY DENNIS CHASE

dchase@record-eagle.com

BELLAIRE — This much is certain about the Class D basketball regional at Traverse City Central.

The Eagles will be celebrating Friday night.

Whether it's Bellaire or Fairview will be determined when the two square off in a rematch of the 2004 regional finals.

The two teams took different routes to the championship game.

Bellaire (23-0) used a 12-2 run to start the second quarter to take charge in a 67-47 win over Leland in the opener of Tuesday's doubleheader. Fairview (20-3), which jumped out to a 12-2 lead, rallied in the fourth quarter to beat upset-minded Gaylord St. Mary 67-60 in the nightcap.

Bellaire, which beat Fairview 70-48 in 2004, will be seeking its third regional crown in four years.

"There's a high mountain to climb, eh?” Fairview coach Wayne Nutt said. "But this is what we've talked about (playing Bellaire). We're looking forward to playing them and, hopefully, we're going to give them a go, much like St. Mary gave us a go.

"We believe we're supposed to be here. We're going to give them everything we have.”

Cody Bock scored 22 points, Michael McClary 20 and Brad Guy 10 to power Bellaire past Leland.

The Comets (18-5), who lost to the Eagles in December, had won 15 of its previous 16 games.

"We felt we had the ability to play with them,” Leland coach Jason Stowe said. "But if you turn the ball over and make mistakes ... "

Leland gave Bellaire fits in the first quarter with its 1-2-2 zone. The Comets forced five turnovers as the Eagles had difficulty attacking the zone.

"We had the right game plan,” Stowe said. "But a lot of times we turned it right back over to them.”

Down 11-9 after the first quarter, Bellaire picked up the tempo, creating opportunities off the break. The Eagles also made an adjustment offensively.

"We were not executing correctly against their extended zone,” Bellaire coach Stan Sexton said. "When we started executing — penetrating and then kicking the ball out instead of trying to make long passes from the point to the wing — it solved a lot of problems for us.”

Bock was the beneficiary of the change in strategy. He hit for 13 points, almost all from the perimeter, as the Eagles soared to a 28-16 halftime lead.

McClary asserted himself in the second half, scoring 15 points in the final 16 minutes, when the Eagles pulled away.

"This is how we played them the first time,” Bock said. "They were beating us at halftime in that game.

"They're a good team. They had good size, good shooters. We knew we had to pick it up.”

And Stowe knew Bellaire would.

"Bellaire's so calm,” he said. "We had them down 11 at Bellaire. They called a timeout and I noticed when they came off the floor, they weren't worried one bit. With a seasoned team like that, you know they're not going to flinch. They just keep doing what they always do. "

Jordan Gibson led the Comets with 14 points. Marcus Whittaker added 12 points and 10 rebounds.

Even though his team led by as many as 25, Sexton was relieved afterwards.

"I just feel very good to get out of here with a nice win,” he said.

Bellaire is now two wins away from its goal — a trip to the Final Four at Michigan State's Breslin Center.

"We're excited,” Bock said. "We just have to keep our heads in it and go for it.”

Stowe, meanwhile, will return a nucleus that includes Whittaker and Gibson.

"We had a very good season,” he said. "This is the first time we've made it to a regional in three years.

I just told the seniors they've got a lot to be proud of. They got the (Cherryland) conference trophy back. They got the district trophy back.

"That's important because what they accomplished sets the tone for future years. It makes next year's job a little easier.”

In the nightcap, Pierson Szubelak, a 6-5 senior center, scored 23 points to pace Fairview in its victory. The Eagles were down 49-48 when Joe Koslakiewicz hit two free throws to give the Eagles the lead for good.

It was still a one possession game, however, when St. Mary's Matt Foster sank a pair of free throws with 44.2 seconds to go to make it 61-58.

But the Snowbirds were called for an intentional foul and Fairview converted four consecutive free throws to put it away. Jack Wisniewski led St., Mary with 13.

"I knew this wasn't going to be that easy of a game,” Nutt said. "This is the state tournament. Everybody's excited. This guy (Chris McKenzie) does a good job at St. Mary. It's his first year and they won a district title and they came out here and they wanted to win tonight.”:

What did Nutt tell his players after the Snowbirds clawed back to take the lead.

"The same thing he (McKenzie) probably told his kids,” he said. "There's no tomorrow if you don't play your best today.”