CLIMAX – St. Philip has waited a long time to celebrate a district championship in boys basketball.
But the wait is over.
St. Philip defeated Climax-Scotts 67-59 in double overtime to win this Division 4 boys basketball district championship at Climax-Scotts High School on Friday, Feb. 27.
A senior-laden St. Philip team has had its sites set on a district championship the past few years, only to come up short.
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“It’s been a major goal for us to win a district,” St. Philip coach Michael Kimber said. “This feels like a 10-ton gorilla has been lifted off our backs. We’ve had two really close calls in the districts the last two years. It just felt like as if this was never going to come. Just happy for the seniors to get this done. It’s an awesome feeling.”
It is the first district championship in boys basketball for St. Philip since 2014.
Even on Friday, St. Philip had to wait to celebrate the title as the game went into two overtimes before it was decided. And, that was after Climax-Scotts was up double digits in the first half.
“We had to do whatever it took to get the job done tonight,” Kimber said. “The kids left nothing in the gas tanks. It was a gritty, not pretty win. But, we don’t care how we did it, we just care that we won.
“We had some great defense down the end and were disciplined and locked in to finish it off.”
St. Philip had swept Climax-Scotts in the regular season as the Tigers improve to 15-8 with the third victory over the Panthers. Jackson Dzwik had 25 points to lead St. Philip with Carter Dzwik getting 21 and Lincoln Dzwik adding 12.
St. Philip advances to face Lawrence (14-10) in a Division 4 regional final at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Marcellus High School.
Dane Sattler had 20 points to lead Climax-Scotts, which ends the season at 7-15, with Nyle Sattler adding 10.
Division 1 at Loy Norrix
Loy Norrix had a late surge in the fourth quarter to beat Battle Creek Central 69-52 in this Division 1 boys basketball district final.
Loy Norrix, which beat BCC twice in the regular season, led 32-28 at halftime and was up just 49-43 at the end of the third quarter.
“In the fourth quarter, they were able to get some easy baskets as we didn’t play as tight a defense that we played earlier. We might’ve been a little tired and we got down on ourselves and it snowballed from there,” BCC coach Durant Crum said.
BCC, which started two freshmen and two sophomores all season, end the year at 10-11, as freshman Damoni Spraggins had 14 points and sophomore Lee Campbell Jr. added 12.
“We feel pretty good about the fact that we were able to experience the success that we did and get to a district final game with as much youth as we have. We can’t feel too bad about that,” Crum said.
Division 3 at Centreville
Bronson defeated host Centreville (11-11) 78-64 to win this Division 3 district championship. Bronson improves to 12-12 and will face Schoolcraft (14-10) in a regional semifinal at Bangor on Tuesday, March 3.
Division 4 at Mendon
Colon defeated host Mendon 54-47 to win this Division 4 district title. Colon had lost twice to Mendon (22-2) in the regular season. Dalton Williams had 28 points to lead Colon. The Magi improve to 20-4 and advance to face New Buffalo in a Division 4 regional at Marcellus on Tuesday, March 3.
Thursday’s Girls Basketball
Gull Lake 46, Portage Northern 35
Gull Lake clinched the outright title in the Southwestern Michigan Athletic Conference with a win over Portage Northern. Gull Lake ends the league schedule at 13-3, one game ahead of second-place Kalamazoo Central (12-4 in the SMAC). Gull Lake improved to 17-3 overall with Ali Bates leading the way with 13 points and Kenadie Schuemann adding 11.
Lakeview 72, Loy Norrix 42
Lakeview ended the regular season at 12-10 with Da’Nayah Williams leading the Spartans with 19 with Lucia Austin and Aaliyah Smith each adding 10.
Pennfield 35, Galesburg-Augusta 29
Madelyn Hensel had 13 points, four assists and three steals with Peyton Rhoades adding eight points and six rebounds as Pennfield ends the regular season at 6-15 with win over 12-9 Galesburg-Augusta.
Chelsea 55, Harper Creek 27
Harper Creek ends the regular season at 5-15 with Taegen Anderson getting 11 points in the loss to Chelsea (13-7).
Marshall 46, Ovid-Elsie 33
Marshall improves to 16-6 with a win in its final regular season game. Brielle Kelly and Grace Shubert each had 12 points for the Redhawks.
St. Philip 55, Martin 47
Addi Dzwik had 18 points and nine rebounds in this St. Philip win over Martin. St. Philip (13-8) will also see Martin (10-10) in the first round of the district tournament. Quinn Dzwik added 12 points and nine rebounds for the Tigers with Mylee Grimm and Adrianna Olsen each adding nine points.
Jackson Northwest 50, Homer 41
Brooklen Minix had 12 points and five rebounds to lead Homer with Ava Fetterman adding nine points.
Union City 64, Bronson 46
Union City finished the regular season at 16-6 with Ellie Williams leading the Chargers with 15 points with Calli Winkinson adding 10 points and seven rebounds.
Colon 61, Litchfield 23
Colon led 32-9 at halftime as the Magi improve to 10-12. Raegan Thaxton led Colon with 17 points and 11 rebounds with Lily Preston adding 15 points and Madi Kulpinski chipping in 14.
Bill Broderick can be reached at bbroderi@battlecreekenquirer.com. Follow him on X/Twitter: @billbroderick
This article originally appeared on Battle Creek Enquirer: St. Philip wins first boys district title since 2014; BCC falls short
Reporting by Bill Broderick, Battle Creek Enquirer / Battle Creek Enquirer
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