FOWLERVILLE — The finish for Markese Murray and the Sexton boys basketball team wasn’t to their standard.
But the J-Dubbs got the final result they wanted.
And they will have a chance to continue pushing toward their dreams of getting to the Breslin Center.
Sexton hung on for a 58-55 victory over Michigan Center in a Division 2 regional semifinal Tuesday, March 3, at Fowlerville High School.
The J-Dubbs got key free throws from Kivon Brown, Murray and Keyshawn Summerville while advancing to face Chelsea in the regional final Thursday, March 5.
“(It took) a lot of brotherhood,” Murray said. “We were slacking on defense. (It was) just grit, honestly.
“We can’t have third quarters or any quarters of scoring under 10 points, let alone five points and then just giving up a bunch of baskets. Michigan Center, I feel like we just underestimated them in that second half so it took a lot of grit.”
CAAC White champion Sexton (23-2) survived a wild late sequence after Michigan Center (18-3) got a late basket inside to pull within one. The J-Dubbs threw an in-bounds play from under their own basket the full length of the court with 0.3 seconds remaining but the ball wasn’t touched and went out of bounds.
That gave Cascades Conference East champion Michigan Center possession under the basket with a chance to go for the win. But the Cardinals called a timeout they didn’t have, leading to a technical foul. Summerville made both technical free throws as Sexton closed out the win.
“They came out hot in the second half, but I feel like we’ve been in that situation a lot this year,” Summerville said. “I feel like we stayed together through the tough times in the game. Basketball is a game of runs. They are going to go on their run and we’re going to go on our run, but as long as we stay together we’ll come out on top every time.”
Sexton never trailed, but had its 13-point halftime advantage cut to one. In the back half of the final quarter, Sexton played with a one-possession lead and got a number of key points from Summerville, who had a team-best 23 points.
Summerville scored 10 points in the fourth with eight of those coming in the final 2:53. He went 6-for-6 from the free-throw line in the quarter and helped Sexton knock down 8-of-10 free throws in the final minutes.
“(There were) a lot of things we could have (done) better collectively as a team, but I’m happy we pulled through and got the win,” Sexton coach Deleon Dearing said. “We could have (done) a lot of things better so we’ll get back to the drawing board.
“It’s tournament time. Teams are going to give everything they’ve got so you can’t afford to take a play off and you can’t afford to have a lot of bad possessions. That could cost you the game. No matter what your record is, everybody is back to square zero right now.”
Contact Brian Calloway at bcalloway@lsj.com. Follow him on X @brian_calloway and Bluesky @briancalloway.
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Sexton boys basketball hangs on late to advance to regional final
Reporting by Brian Calloway, Lansing State Journal / Lansing State Journal
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