By Greg Gielczyk
LocalSportsJournal.com

MANISTEE — Heart. Grit. Determination.

All three words were appropriate ways to describe the Manistee girls basketball team’s performance in Wednesday night’s Division 3 district semifinal against eighth-ranked Traverse City St. Francis.

Just about everyone other than themselves and their fans gave the Chippewas any hope of staying with, let alone upsetting the Gladiators.

But the Chippewas scrapped and battled all the way, only falling back in the late stages of the game and finishing with a 70-54 defeat that ended their season.

“One thing that this team did, not only tonight, but all year is everything I asked them to,” Manistee coach Kenn Kott said. “They never shied away from anything, and they never complained about anything. It got them to where it got them tonight. They played so hard, they played so well, with half the team on the bench in foul trouble.

“You’re going against the No. 8 team in the state, and you’re trying to beat them, and you’re playing with half a squad … they played with a lot of heart.”

St. Francis dominated its offensive boards, which allowed the Gladiators to get several second and third opportunities — sometimes more – to make a basket.

But the Chippewas didn’t get frustrated, and used their long-range shooting to not only stay in the game, but actually take an 18-14 lead at the end of the first quarter.

Mariah Bialik side stepped a Gladiator defender and launched a 3-point bomb that hit the bottom of the net and sent the Chippewas in front, 16-12. The score was tied twice in the first eight minutes, the last at 8-8.

St. Francis seemed flustered and became even more so when Jayna Edmondson banged home a 3-pointer as the Chippewas zoomed out to a nine-point lead, 24-15, less than two minutes into the second quarter.

The Gladiators recovered, and came charging back, eventually tying the score, 24-all. St. Francis then surged to a nine-point lead of its own, 34-25.

The Chippewas again answered the bell with Bialik finding the range again for a 3-pointer, and Libby McCarthy hitting two free throws to finish the first half with a six-point deficit, 37-31.

Manistee’s deficit reached eight points, 43-35 midway through the third quarter. The Chippewas closed within two, 43-41 before trailing by 10, 52-42 going into the fourth quarter.

“Jumping out to a good start definitely helped us and then we got into foul trouble and things kind of turned a little bit,” Kott said. “They have two real good ball players that we had trouble defending, and they got open for some quick scores. I thought offensively it was of our better nights. We showed what we can do. Right until the end they were taking shots and executing plays. You can’t fault a team for that.”

Edmondson finished with 19 points, including three 3-pointers. Bialik ended up with 12, with three triples, and Allison Kelley added eight.

Gwyenth Bramer led all scorers with 31 points for the Gladiators. Maggine Napont followed with 22 points.

St. Francis improved to 20-2 and will face Benzie Central in the district championship game Friday at 7 p.m. in Manistee.