Freeland - With Alma well out of reach on the last day of the regular season in the Tri-Valley Central, Freeland and Ovid-Elsie hooked up to play for bragging right and to grab some momentum heading into the tournament next week.  Ovid-Elsie had revenge on their mind, dropping the first meeting at home to Freeland, 48-38.  Tonight's game was as good as advertised.  No team held a lead by more than three points to end each quarter, which was the difference when the final buzzer sounded, with Freeland sweeping the season series, 56-53.

Sam Blink got Ovid-Elsie started off with a bang, nailing a three ball to open the scoring.  Blink finished with 15 points on the evening.  Freeland answered with a 10-2 run, powered by 3 points from Ben WIlliams and 5 from Billy Glowacki, the games leading scorer.  Glowacki nailed a three ball to take the 10-5 lead.  The first quarter was a back and forth battle with Freeland taking a 2 point edge into the first intermission.  As would be the case all evening, Blink and big man Pat Schiffer paced the Marauders in the scoring department.  The two teamed up for 31 of Ovid-Elsie's 53 total points. 

The pace slowed in the 2nd quarter.  Midway through the 2nd, Blink scored another basket to put Ovid-Elsie up by 6 points at 24-18, the biggest lead of the game by either team.  Freeland picked up the pieces in time to even things up before the half.  Will Griffin scored three straight buckets to finish the half, including the tying score with just 3 seconds to go.  The score came on a bullet pass from Glowacki, through traffic, where Griffin laid it in.  The score at the half stood at 26.

The third quarter didn't break suit with the first two.  Neither team led by more than 4 points in the quarter.  The 4 point lead came on a Schiffer bucket for the Marauders, that put them up 37-33.  Glowacki answered right back from the Falcons, hitting from beyond the arc again, cutting the lead down to 1.  Glowacki had 10 in the third.  Schiffer put Ovid-Elsie up 40-38 at the end of the third quarter, his 6th and 7th points of the game.  The slugfest between the two first year Tri-Valley Central foes set the stage for an exciting and deciding final quarter of the regular season.

Down by 2, Freeland took charge early in the fourth.  With 3:18 to go in the contest, Glowacki nailed yet another three ball.  The shot was set up by Will Griffin slashing to the hoop and dishing the ball out to a wide open Glowacki as he collapsed the defense.  The bucket put Freeland up 47-42.  A few minutes later Sam Blink hit a three ball of his own, cutting the lead to just 2 at 49-47.  With a 1:05 to go, Ovid-Elsie pressed but the Falcons broke it and found a wide open Ben Williams streaking down the court for an easy lay in.  Freeland pushed the lead to as much as 7 on several free throws.  The Falcons failed to put the nail in the coffin however as they split on 6 consecutive trips to the charity stripe.  Up by 6 and possession of the ball, the Falcons called one last timeout to get their Seniors some recognition with about 12 seconds to go.  Ovid-Elsie wasn't finished however, at least not for the next few seconds.  The Marauders stole the inbounds pass, then Kyle Robertson connected on a three pointer.  The basket cut the lead to 3 but only 8 seconds remained.  It was the last bucket of the regular season for Ovid-Elsie.  Ben Williams connected on 2 free throws to seal the deal.  Schiffer put in a lay-up with under a second to go to make the final stand at 56-53.  It was an exciting finish to an exciting season.

Both teams now must prepare for the second season and forget what happened before  It is what happens now that matters and what you will be remembered for.  Ovid-Elsie heads to Portland and will play the host Red Raiders.  Freeland heads to Bullock Creek to take on Vassar in the opening round of the districts. 

CONFERENCE CHAMPIONS

Before the night started, 9 of the 13 conferences in the coverage area had crowned a champion.  Three took care of business tonight, while the Northeast Michigan Conference will be decided tomorrow due to a postponement of Ogemaw Heights' game vs. Whittemore-Prescott.

BIG NINE CHAMPION:  Powers
CAPITAL AREA I CHAMPION:  Okemos, Holt, East Lansing
CAPITAL AREA II CHAMPION:  Mason, Lumen Christi
CAPITAL AREA III CHAMPION:  Lansing C.C.
FLINT METRO CHAMPION:  Lapeer West
GENESEE AREA BLUE CHAMPION:  New Lothrop
GENESEE AREA RED CHAMPION:  Goodrich, LakeVille
GREATER THUMB WEST CHAMPION:  Reese
NORTHEAST MICHIGAN CHAMPION:  Standish-Sterling, TBD-Ogemaw Hts
SAGINAW VALLEY LEAGUE:  Saginaw High
TRI-VALLEY CENTRAL:  Alma
TRI-VALLEY EAST:  Bridgeport
TRI-VALLEY WEST:  Ithaca

Congrats to the champions of Mid-Michigan!