By MIKE ECKERT
TRAVERSE CITY -- Suttons Bay scored seven points in the first minute Monday and never looked back.
The Norsemen rolled to an 81-58 Class C regional semifinal win over Boyne City at Traverse City West on Monday and will return for Wednesday's final against Mason County Central.
"We jumped out to a great start," Suttons Bay junior Jared Orban said. "We knew it was regionals. We had a great crowd here to watch us and everything, so we had to give them a good show."
The Norse (22-1) started out with a Dwaun Anderson bucket in the paint, a Shane Kaufman lay-up off a steal and a David Wheelock 3-pointer for a 7-0 lead in the first minute. It was 16-0 before Boyne City (4-19) scored off a Kolbi Shumaker jumper with two minutes to play and the Norse closed the quarter with a 20-4 advantage.
"I was proud of the way we started," Suttons Bay coach Todd Hursey said. "Our focus has been strong defense, and we got off on that note tonight. This time of year, it's all about how you play on defense."
Suttons Bay forced the Ramblers into nine first-quarter turnovers.
"They were a lot better than us tonight, plain and simple," Boyne City coach Nick Redman said. "They got off to a good start. They hurt us with their pressure early and then they shot the lights out. They're physically better than us and we'd have to play perfectly to compete with them."
There was no letdown for the Norsemen, who advanced on Friday with a gritty 53-51 win over Traverse City St. Francis in the districton Friday.
"We know (Boyne City had) some shooters," Hursey said. "It was a completely different style than St. Francis with the big post players inside. This was more of a guard-oriented shooting team. To go from Friday to Monday two different styles, we handled that transition well."
Suttons Bay continued to play up-tempo in the second quarter and led 44-18 at the break. Eight players scored at least a basket in the half for the Norse.
"It's fun when everybody's clicking," Orban said. "Everyone was making shots, moving the ball and doing things right. It's fun to play with them."
Anderson finished with a game-high 18 points and didn't play in the fourth quarter. Orban and Noah Rehyl each had 10 points while Marcus Russell scored nine and Wheelock added eight.
Chase Palmer had seven points and 10 rebounds, including nine boards in the first half.
"Chase controlled things inside, and more importantly, those rebounds lead to fast breaks," Hursey said. "We're a team that likes to push the ball. Not only is he getting rebounds, but his outlets lead to the transition game."
For Boyne City, Nick Young and Shumaker each scored 12 points.
The loss ended a memorable finish to the season for the Ramblers. After ending the regular season 2-18, they beat Lake Michigan Conference rivals East Jordan and Charlevoix to earn their first regional title in 12 years.
"We weren't favored by any means going in," Redman said. "To beat Charlevoix and win our first district in 12 years, that was huge for our program.
"A lot of the younger kids are excited about playing. There was huge excitement at the school today. So that's what we're hoping is to get it jump-started."
Boyne City had support along the way. The team had a pep-rally before Monday's game and was followed to Traverse City by a bus for parents and another for spectators.
Suttons Bay will now turn its attention to Mason County Central, which beat Rogers City 56-46 in Monday's first semifinal.
"They're similar to teams that have given us trouble," Hursey said. "The guard-oriented teams that can shoot threes are tough for us. We're going to have to spend this brief amount of time preparing."
The Spartans (8-15) had 18 points each from Mitch Young and David Soraci while Jared Lauber scored all of his 13 points in the second half.
Rogers City (12-10) had 28 points from senior Erik Meharg.
