BY JAMES COOK
TRAVERSE CITY -- Normally, two of three isn't bad.
In this instance, Traverse City West will gladly accept one of three.
The Titans won for the only time in their three meetings with rival Traverse City Central, claiming a 61-51 Class A district semifinal victory over the Trojans on Wednesday.
Central won the first meeting 70-60 and the second 53-50 on a last-second 3-pointer by Erik Krueger.
"We really came together as a team," West sophomore guard Graeme Placek said. "We all felt different going into this game. We played as a team for the whole game, so it felt good once we got this game over with."
The Titans established their size advantage this time around, rotating 6-foot-7 Jake Fisher, 6-5 Julius Moss and 6-6 Jack Flynn in the middle to control the paint.
"We preached it the whole time," West coach Brett Graham said. "Central wants to play helter skelter and get up and down, and they did a good job of doing that to us the first two times. They weren't able to do it as much when we were disciplined and turned down the first look and moved the ball and punched it inside and played inside-out. Our post players did a good job of not only scoring, but setting other guys up."
Fisher ended with 10 points, eight rebounds and four blocks, while Moss and Flynn also helped clog the middle and dominate the glass to a tune of a 39-20 advantage in rebounding.
"In practice, we worked more at drilling it inside than we have," Fisher said. "We centered our offense this week more around our post than it has been. We worked it inside and kicked it out if there was doubling."
The Titans (11-10) used an 11-4 advantage on the offensive glass to create more second opportunities.
"Last time we played them, we got around and fronted them," Central coach Jeff Turner said. "We couldn't do that (this time). They did a good job and used their body well and we just couldn't get around them. They took away all our athleticism because they moved the ball around so well."
West came away with a slim 13-12 lead after one quarter, holding Central's leading scorer -- junior guard Dylan Roe -- without a point.
Roe, however, came back and scored nine points in the second quarter to lead Central to a 31-27 halftime lead.
"I don't like to say this, but Brett's kids wanted it a little bit more than our kids, I thought," Turner said. "They came right out and got after us. We had to fight back to get the lead at halftime. I told our kids they had to be ready in the second half and (West) came right back out and got that momentum going. The had a big third quarter and outscored us 22-8 to take control of the game."
West burst out of the gates in the third quarter, getting points from six different players to take a 38-36 lead the Titans wouldn't relinquish on Evan Schultz' drive.
The run continued as Aaron Olsen scored six of West's final 11 points in the third to go into the fourth up 49-39. Central had a stretch in the third quarter of 4:35 without a score.
West led by as many as 13 in the fourth quarter before Central pulled within eight, 57-49 with 1:38 to go on a Ben Fischer free throw.
"We definitely came out strong in the beginning of the game," Placek said. "We got stops on defense and just pushed the ball more. We played four quarters. We played the whole game, rather than just the second half."
Central jumped out to an early lead in their Feb. 26 meeting as Roe and Mack Sovereign ran wild down the lane. That didn't happen this time around.
Roe finished with 11 points for Central, while Krueger and Sovereign each had 10 and Fischer eight.
Schultz led West with 13 points and also grabbed seven rebounds and had five assists, while Placek had 11 points, Olsen 10 points and 10 boards, Luke Hessler eight points, five rebounds and three assists, and Tucker Cartwright came off the bench to add a spark and ended with seven points and three steals.
"West's kids did a great job of moving the ball and finding the open guy," Turner said. "They found the open guy and made the easy shots."
Central (14-8) loses only two players to graduation, although Mike Heim and Fischer started every game for the Trojans this season.
"Coach Turner did a great job with his kids this year," Graham said. "He maxed out that team as well as anyone could have and got the most out of them. They have some really special players in Roe and Sovereign and Fischer get the most out of his ability."
The Titans will face league foe Alpena in the district final Friday at West. Alpena downed Marquette 60-49 in the other Wednesday semifinal.
"We really needed this," Fisher said. "This is a big boost to our energy. We hadn't really been playing well. We came out motivated and we came out wanting to win. And we came out with a victory."
