LELAND -- Lake Leelanau St. Mary's was able to put the run with its gun.
Trailing for all of the first half, the Eagles closed the third quarter with a 14-0 run and turned the momentum into a 57-51 win over host Leland in Friday's Class D district championship game.
The title -- just the second for St. Mary's girls basketball -- advances the Eagles (17-5) to the regional at TC Central where St. Mary's will face Fairview on Tuesday.
But if not for the spurt that turned a nine-point deficit into a 44-39 advantage, it may have been Leland (10-12) that advanced.
"(Leland) really hustled back," St. Mary's coach Paula Korson said. "They know we're a running team and they did a good job in the first half because we're a transition team.
"We just came out with a strong third quarter."
"It was our intensity and our defense that stepped up," added senior forward Susan Herman, a three-year captain. "We came out strong and were determined to win."
St. Mary's was also able to get the ball to its three Korsons in that critical third-quarter stretch.
Two free throws by Brooke Fortner started the 14-0 spurt by St. Mary's. Alyssa Korson (six points), Breanna Korson (four) and Allison Korson (two) scored the next 12 to give the Eagles a 44-39 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
The biggest bucket during that run came from Breanna Korson. After an Alyssa Korson fastbreak layup, Breanna snuck in front of Leland's inbounds pass and scored to give the Eagles four points in five seconds.
"That really got the crowd into the game," Paula Korson said.
Alyssa Korson -- held scoreless in the first half -- scored nine seconds into the fourth quarter to make the decisive run 16-0 over a span of 5:45.
"We gave St. Mary's a couple minutes of basketball at their pace and that's where it was," Leland coach Jon Kiessel said.
Despite the Korson-driven blitz by St. Mary's, Leland still found a way to make things interesting. The Comets got as close as two points, 49-47, with 3:13 remaining.
But a baseline jumper by Fortner and a baby hook-shot from Allison Korson stemmed the tide.
"I thought the girls played their best game of the year," said Kiessel, whose team lost two games to St. Mary's by a total of 47 points during the regular season. "They played four good quarters.
"It really wasn't over either. We had our chances until the last 20 seconds. The girls should be real proud of themselves."
St. Mary's can say the same thing after winning its first district since 2000.
"We wanted this very badly," Herman said. "That was our goal this year, to win districts. From the beginning of the season we knew we had something special and that we could work hard and get that goal. Now we have some other goals, but the first step is regionals."
Even though the three Korsons keyed the big run, St. Mary's boasted a true balanced attack as six players had at least eight points but no one had more than 12.
Allison Korson led the way with 12 points, six rebounds and three steals while Fortner added 10 points and 10 rebounds. Christy Miller also had 10 points and Herman nine while Alyssa and Breanna Korson had eight.
"That's the way this team has been all year long," Paula Korson said.
Leland got big nights from its lone seniors, Erin Sneed and Erica Breen. Each poured in 18 points while Ellen Duperon added seven and Kaleigh Stinson five assists.
"That's a great finish for the two of them," Kiessel said of Breen and Sneed. "It's nice to see two real good friends and teammates going out like that."
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