By Kevin Lozon

In a basketball season of uncertainty because of the COVID-19 pandemic, when it wasn't certain there would be a season at all, Lutheran North set its sights on being ready for districts.

On Friday night, that season-long focus paid dividends as the Mustangs defeated St. Clair 38-31 in the Division 2 district championship game at Richmond.

This was an amazing run to win districts this year, coach Andrea Avery-Tiedt said after Lutheran North won its first district title since 2015. When we didn’t know if we were going to have a season, the girls still worked hard every single day. Our focus all year was to make it to districts and I’m so proud of these girls.

The Mustangs (7-8) play Clawson at 7 p.m. Monday in a regional semifinal at Imlay City. In the other semifinal, North Branch plays Imlay City at 5:30 p.m.

Lutheran North used its pressure defense to its strength throughout the game, forcing the Saints into many turnovers, especially in the first half when the Mustangs scrambled to a 23-16 lead at halftime.

We felt great at halftime,” Avery-Tiedt said. “The girls did really good setting the press, trapping and putting a lot of pressure on St. Clair. We always focus on defense and our defense really carried us.

Lutheran North led 8-6 after one quarter, before outscoring St. Clair 15-9 in the second quarter, including eight points by Rachel McClelland, who finished the opening half with 14 points.

We didn’t have any game film on (Lutheran North) at all, St. Clair coach Darren Pietrykowski said. Against Marine City (in the semifinals), they really didn’t bring any pressure. That’s been our Achilles' heel all year, having a point guard to take control. I was afraid they would come with pressure and I will take full blame for not having my girls prepared enough to beat it.

Both teams scored four points in the third quarter, but St. Clair made a run to start the fourth quarter, cutting the Mustang lead to 29-24 on a layup by Christina Bohm with 6:48 to play.

North answered with consecutive short jumpers by Hannah Miller, the second extending its advantage to 33-24 with 3:55 to play.

Those were huge jumpers by Hannah, Avery-Tiedt said. She’s a very scrappy, knowledgeable player. I really trusted her at the end to keep her in the game.

St. Clair kept fighting, though, closing the deficit to 35-51 on a short jumper by Bohm with 1:25 to go.

The Mustangs, though, capped the win from the free-throw line as Grace Schomaker and McClelland each made a free throw in the final 46 seconds, capping the district title win.

McClelland led the Mustangs with 19 points.

She was our leader,” Avery-Tiedt said. “Unfortunately, we lost one of our leaders to quarantine, and the team learned we had to step up. Rachel took on that role here in districts this time.

Miller chipped in six points, while Schomaker and Ashley McClelland each contributed four points.

We just have to keep focusing on slowing down and playing our game, Avery-Tiedt said. That’s all we can do. We can’t let the other team dictate how we’re going to play. As long as we can do that, we’ll be fine.

St. Clair was led by Bohm with 12 points, including nine in the fourth quarter.

We go as far as Christina goes, Pietrykowski said. We have a hard time putting it in the basket, and if Christina isn’t scoring, we just haven’t had anybody who has stepped up.

Skye Gottler and Paris Henderson each finished with five points for St. Clair, which ended its season at 7-5 overall.

For us to even cut it down to four points in the fourth quarter, especially with how many turnovers we had and how bad we shot the ball, it shows the character of our team, Pietrykowski said. They played their hearts out and that’s all I can ask for as a coach.

The regional final at Imlay City starts at 7 p.m. Wednesday.

Go MUSTANGS!

Article originally posted by The Macomb Daily