BY JAMES COOK
BENZONIA -- The Class D regional basketball final here will be an all Northwest Conference affair.
Leland pulled out an 69-64 overtime win over Manistee Catholic Central while Buckley cruised by Central Lake 86-47 on Monday night. That means the two league foes will face off in Wednesday's final at Northwest member Benzie Central.
"This is to determine who is top dog in Class D in the Northwest," Buckley coach Rene LaFraniere said. "I think it's neat that it's a Northwest Conference regional (final). We take our lumps against the Benzies and Suttons Bays, but it helps us here."
Leland won the more exciting game, as Sam Scott's bucket with 35 seconds left knotted it up and Galen Whittaker's block with two ticks left sent the game into an extra session.
"I was really proud of our team," Whittaker said. "We were down and we just didn't quit. All of us. On that block at the end of regulation, I saw my career flash before my eyes."
The Comets had one short-lived lead in the second half, when Calvin Gibson knocked down back-to-back 3-pointers to put Leland up 59-56, but the Sabers came back on a Nick Doyle driving hoop and a triple by Nick Kolanowski to go back up 61-59 with 1:07 remaining in regulation.
"I was really proud of Calvin Gibson," Leland coach Jon Kiessel said. "He hit some big threes down the stretch, and he was not feeling well at all. He just said, 'It doesn't matter. I'm going to play.'"
In the overtime, the Comets struck first on a drives by Scott and Gibson to go up 65-61 and never trailed again.
Manistee Catholic pulled within two on a pair of Doyle free throws with 1:35 to go, but Leland took over a minute off the clock with a long possession that ended up a Whittaker bucket assisted by Nate Sneed to give the Comets a 67-63 lead with 33 ticks left and all but ensure victory.
"One thing about Manistee Catholic, those guys are just relentless around the basket," Kiessel said. "There were several times in the second and third quarters where we had secured rebounds, and they just took them. Down the stretch, we took care of that."
Coming off its first district title in 25 years, Manistee Catholic was led by 19 points from Doyle and 18 by Nate Miller. Doyle also had 12 rebounds, while Kolanowski added 12 points. Garrett Owens added eight points and Nick Niesen seven.
"They were an intense team," Whittaker said. "I don't know if we were prepared for how much pressure they'd put on us. They never quit. It paid off that we've played in a physical conference all year, so we're used to physical play."
Leland led 15-10 after the first quarter, and the Sabers (20-4) bounced back to lead 27-25 at the intermission.
The Comets (16-8) were led by 22 points by Scott; 16 points, 12 rebounds and six blocks by Whittaker; Gibson's 16 points and 11 more from Sneed.
"We had a hard time with Whittaker all night long," Manistee Catholic coach Dale Edmondson Jr. said. "We knew he was going to be a horse to play in there and keeping him off the boards was huge, and we didn't do that. He ended up with 16 (points), but it seemed like every one of them killed us.
"We knew he was going to block some shots and grab rebounds. We talked about going into him and attacking him, and we didn't do that quite as well as we hoped. He only had one foul at half. He's the biggest reason we came up short."
Buckley didn't waste much time in the regional's nightcap, jumping out to an 11-4 lead early and owning a 25-11 bulge after one quarter.
Josh Ledford established the tone early on, draining a trio of 3-pointers in the first three minutes and ending the opening stanza with 13 of the team's 25 points.
The Bears led 48-25 at halftime, as Drew Corwin scored eight in the second quarter and Evan Chalker came off the bench to add five of his nine first-half points in the second stanza.
Corwin, Jeff Dreves and Chalker provided a tough rotation of big men in the middle for Buckley, which shot 56 percent for the night.
"We knew we were a lot bigger than them," said Ledford, who scored 31 points in 11-for-19 shooting. "(Gus) Meriwether is their biggest kid, and he had to take me, so that left the inside pretty wide open and our big men are pretty good."
Meriwether led the Trojans (9-14) with 17 points and Adam Folsom had 11.
"This was a goal for these kids," LaFraniere said of his team. "They got a taste of it last year, winning the district. And they said, 'That's not enough. We want to win our district and not just show up at the regional. We want to compete.' And by compete, I mean when it comes down to the last minute, we've got a shot to win it."
The Bears were a pair of rebounds short of having three post players put up double-doubles.
Dreves ended the game with 10 points and 11 rebounds, Corwin had eight boards and 13 points and Chalker came off the bench for 11 points and 11 boards.
Buckley (16-7) led 77-38 after the third quarter, as Ledford scored 17 in the period. Both teams played primarily reserves in the final quarter of play.
"I like playing here," Ledford said. "I always shoot well here. I like our chances (against Leland). We split during the regular season, but we've got a great crowd coming here. It's going to be a fun game."
Playing the Northwest, Leland and Buckley split two regular-season meetings. Now, a neutral-site game will decide the series.
"We played well at our place; they played well at their place," LaFraniere said. "We're just two very different styles. They like to get out a run and are perimeter-oriented, a lot of cutting to the basket, mid-range shots. Whereas we like to pound it inside and let the perimeter open up from there.
"Both teams are going to come and play. It's going to be knock down, drag out."
Buckley committed only five turnovers against Central Lake, and is hoping for the same production in Wednesday's 7 p.m. regional final.
"We've got to come with the same game plan and pound it inside and see if we can get some of their guys in foul trouble," Ledford said. "(Whittaker) is a guy that's their fiery guy. If we can handle Sneed on the outside and get Whittaker out of there, we can pound it in on them, too.
"It's not a coincidence that we're both here," Kiessel said. "We take hits all year long from Suttons Bay, Benzie, Glen Lake, all those bigger teams. It definitely pays off. We've been in a lot of tight games all year."
