By Mike Dunn
WOLVERINE -- Not only did the Wolverine boys make school history on Friday, they did it on the home floor in front of a packed house.
Hundreds of vocal Wolverine supporters filled the bleachers for the much-anticipated Class D district title game with Gaylord St. Mary and cheered lustily with every Wildcat basket, free throw and steal.
In that electric atmosphere, Wolverine finally did what no other Wildcat basketball team ever did before, earning a 40-33 victory to claim the privilege of hoisting a district championship trophy.
"Doing it here at home makes it mean that much more," said jubilant senior guard Josh Brush, a four-year varsity starter who paced the Wildcats with a game-high 14 points. "This is our house and we wanted to do this so bad for the school and for the community. We came close before but we all believed this was our year."
"This is the most amazing feeling in the world," said another smiling senior, Alex VandenHoek, amid the on-court postgame celebrating. "Our fans started getting here around 4:30 this afternoon and they were behind us 100 percent. It was a lot like our homecoming game with Ellsworth but this was even bigger."
The Wildcats (17-6) advance to Monday's regional semifinals at Pellston against Harbor Light Christian. St. Mary, which struggled offensively after taking a 24-21 lead into halftime, closes out the season with a 15-7 mark.
First-year Wolverine coach Stephen Seelye was ecstatic about his team's victory but not surprised.
"The kids banded together and believed in themselves," Seelye said, the emotion of the moment evident in his features. "The seniors on this team have been playing together a long time and this is a great accomplishment for them. I couldn't be happier for them and for everyone on this team."
Wolverine used a patient, ball-control offense to slow the game down and foil the Snowbirds, who favor an up-tempo attack. The Wildcats, taking several seconds off the clock with every possession, outscored St. Mary 9-3 in the third quarter to take a 30-27 lead into the final stanza.
The Wildcats led by four, 35-31, with 2:09 remaining after St. Mary senior Phil Spyhalski drained a short jumper. It was as close as the Snowbirds would get, though.
A layup after an offensive rebound by VandenHoek pushed the Wildcat lead to 37-31 with 1:01 showing on the clock and put St. Mary in a position where it had to start fouling. Brush drained a pair of free throws with 47 seconds left to make it a 39-31 score and the Snowbirds, unable to create good looks at the basket against the swarming Wildcat defense, could not bridge the gap.
"Give Wolverine credit," said St. Mary coach Chris McKenzie. "They played great defense and frustrated us when we had the ball. They wanted it a little more than us in the second half."
McKenzie said his players became too impatient at times after falling behind on the scoreboard.
"We didn't let the game come to us," he said. "They wanted to slow things down and we wanted to play a faster pace. After we got down, we didn't execute. We held them to 40 points and that's pretty good. I'll take that on any night. But when you only score 33 you don't win."
St. Mary had an uncharacteristic 17 turnovers in the contest, with 11 of them coming in the second half.
Spyhalski paced the Snowbirds with 10 points while his twin brother Pete and senior Clay Becker each scored eight.
Brush, who made 5 of 6 free throws in the fourth quarter, was the lone Wildcat in double figures on a night when points were scarce at both ends of the floor. Senior forward Jeremy Egas scored nine and pulled down three key defensive rebounds in the fourth quarter. VandenHoek and Ryce Brink each scored seven and point guard Jeremy Brush scored two with six assists.
