Dakota pulls away for district victory over L’Anse Creuse North

The Cougars couldn’t be caged down the stretch.

Dakota outscored shorthanded L’Anse Creuse North 19-4 over the final 9:44 of the game and went on to a 5534 victory in a Division 1 district basketball semifinal game on the Crusaders’ court Wednesday night.

Tambre Williams scored 12 points, Gabby Brooks-Foster and Brooklyn Garavaglia 11 apiece and Samone Andrews 10 to lead Dakota (1310), which will play Anchor Bay at 7 p.m. Friday for the championship.

MaKayla Downs scored eight points for the Crusaders (7-15).

“I thought L’Anse Creuse North played well together,” Dakota coach Phil McCune said. “Our energy on defense was a key.”

Williams was “all over the floor,” McCune said.

“Without that energy, we are not the same team,” he added.

L’Anse Creuse North, playing its second game in as many nights and dealing with multiple injuries, pulled to within 36-30 on a basket by Sophia Wiacek late in the third quarter, but Williams made two free throws to ignite the Cougars’ late surge.

“We ran out of gas,” L’Anse Creuse North coach Mark Carlson said.

The Crusaders defeated Port Huron on Tuesday after Monday’s scheduled opener was postponed because of weather.

“We had to play so hard last night,” Carlson said. “That game being cancelled Monday hurt us. We’re so injury-plagued. I’m not trying to make excuses — Dakota’s a great team, and it would have been an uphill fight anyway — but we have a lot of injuries and we ran out of wind.

“We had that spurt, but we couldn’t quite turn the corner. Our entire bench was JV players. We fought. I’m so proud of them.”

Brooks-Foster and Williams had a basket apiece to help the Cougars take a 4430 lead in the first minute of the fourth quarter. With 4:21 left, Brooks-Foster’s threepoint play gave Dakota a 5032 lead — its biggest of the game at that point.

“We got a quick basket at the beginning of the fourth quarter, and then our defense took over from there,” said McCune, who applauded the “all-around game” of Gracie Maloney.

“She is the most-coachable girl I’ve coached in 18 years,” McCune said.

Ford 59, Avondale 17

Anayya Davis scored 19 points and Kailee Gillich 10 for Ford, which led 24-0 after one quarter in the Division 1 semifinal at Avondale. Vanessa King had seven points and Maddy Bettys six points, seven rebounds and three assists. Davis also had three steals and four blocks and Gillich six steals and four assists for the MAC White champions. The Falcons play

Utica in the championship game Friday.

Utica 46,

Troy Athens 44

Natalie Shtogrin had 18 points and Sarah Fromm 17 to send Utica to the championship game at Avondale. The Chieftains outscored Athens 11-5 in the fourth quarter. They’ll play Utica Community Schools rival Ford for the title Friday night.

Eisenhower 51, Romeo 36

Devyn Raymond and Ava Stack scored 16 points apiece for Eisenhower in the Division 1 semifinal at Rochester. The Eagles play the host Falcons, who advanced with a 43-39 victory over Stoney Creek, for the championship Friday.

Grosse Pointe North 48, Grosse Pointe South 24

Annabel Ayrault scored 25 points and made four steals to power MAC Red champion Grosse Pointe North (20-2). Sophia Borowski had 10 points, five assists and four steals in the Division 1 semifinal at Grosse Pointe North. Olivia Bachert scored nine points for South (13-11). North plays Lakeview for the championship Friday. The Huskies advanced with a 50-43 victory over Harper Woods.

Lutheran North 39, Center Line 24

Maddie DiLella scored 14 points and Claire Leinberger 11 to lead Lutheran North to the Division 2 semifinal victory at Regina. Anne May hit two triples in the fourth quarter to help the Mustangs pull away. Lutheran North plays Regina for the championship Friday night.

Regina 46, Michigan Collegiate 14

Mlynarek scored six points and Sara Wilking, Kennedy Roskopp, Lilly McCollom and Alyssa Rogers added five apiece for Regina on its home floor. The Saddlelites play Lutheran North for the championship Friday.

South Lake 71, Eastpointe 26

Christina Gibson and Paula Omoragha scored 20 points apiece for South Lake in the Division 2 semifinal at Chandler Park. Da’Nia McClain had 13 points and seven rebounds. Omoragha also had seven rebounds and Gibson four steals. South Lake (13-7) plays Chandler Park for the championship Friday.

Marysville 46, Marine City 37

Avery Wolters scored 17 points and Ava Grant 16 to lead Marysville to the Division 2 championship game at Armada. MAC Blue champion Marysville is 19-4 and plays St. Clair on Friday night. The Saints, who shared the MAC Gold title with Marine City, advanced with a 4835 victory over Armada.

St. Clair 48, Armada 35

Tabitha Furlin scored 13 points for St. Clair (16-6) in the Division 2 game. Ellen Sutton had 15 and Ashlyn Upton 11 for host Armada.

Merritt 40, Austin Catholic 7

Lillian Hayter scored 25 points to lead Merritt to the first district victory in program history. Addison Geisler scored eight points and AvaLee Pomper six for the Mustangs in the Division 4 game. Merritt plays host Parkway Christian for the championship Friday night.

Parkway Christian 28, Cardinal Mooney 25

Sophomore guard Tamerah Peterson scored 20 points for host Parkway Christian in the Division 4 game. The Eagles play Merritt for the championship Friday.

District finals

FRIDAY DIVISION 1

At Rochester

March 3: Eisenhower vs. Rochester, 7

At Chippewa Valley

March 3: Fraser vs. Chippewa Valley, 7

At L’Anse Creuse North March 3: Anchor Bay vs. Dakota, 7

At Grosse Pointe North

March 3: Lakeview vs. Grosse Pointe North, 6:30

At Avondale

MARCH 3: Utica vs. Ford, 7

DIVISION 2

At Chandler Park

March 3: South Lake vs. Chandler Park, 7

At Regina

March 3: Regina vs. Lutheran North, 7

At Hazel Park

March 3: Hazel Park vs. Fitzgerald, 7

DIVISION 3

At Detroit Osborn

March 3: Mount Clemens vs. University Liggett, 7

At Capac

March 3: Memphis vs. Sandusky, 7

DIVISION 4

At Parkway Christian

March 3: Parkway Christian vs. Merritt, 7

ATTENTION COACHES: Email game reports to sports@macombdaily.com.