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Witt, Borseth lead E-TC past Bessemer 63-59 to remain unbeaten

Ewen-Trout Creek's Jake Witt shoots over Bessemer's Tyler Busch Friday night at the House of Noise in Bessemer. (Daily Globe/Jason Juno)

BESSEMER — It wasn’t much of a surprise when Ewen-Trout Creek big man Jake Witt was winning the one-on-one battles inside early on against Bessemer Friday night.

It’s another thing when his pull-up from 20 feet gets nothing but net prior to getting his only dunk of the night. Or he gets a fadeaway to drop early in the second half. And especially the two big jumpers in the fourth quarter when E-TC was able to build the separation it needed.

Witt, with help from eighth-grader Jaden Borseth, led the Panthers to a 63-59 victory over Bessemer.

Witt finished with 31 points, 14 boards and six assists. Borseth had 16 points and he was 4 of 4 at the line in the fourth quarter, part of E-TC’s 11 of 13 performance there in the final quarter.

Witt finished 5 of 6 on 15 to 19 foot shots Friday night.

“It’s a good thing his mid-range game was clicking tonight,” E-TC coach Brad Besonen said. “Every bucket he made from the perimeter was huge. He was real special tonight. It was a good thing, too, because we needed every bit of it.”

For Bessemer, it was the second time this week the team went toe-to-toe with one of the top Class D teams in the Upper Peninsula. But like against Dollar Bay Monday night, Bessemer came up just short again.

“We’re just not quite there yet being a fourth-quarter team,” Bessemer coach Richard Matrella said. “We got open looks, we didn’t knock them down. They made their free throws. Obviously, Witt’s a big difference, Jaden played well and Ewen as a whole played well.”

Witt’s baseline drive and slam dunk put E-TC up 20-14, but Cade Mazzon hit a 3 at the first-quarter buzzer to pull Bessemer within a possession.

Borseth hit a 3 late in the half, but Bessemer got another shot to go at the buzzer, this time a 2 by T.J. Mazurek. E-TC led 30-26 at the half.

The Speedboys led by as many as three points late in the third quarter and a 3 by Uriah Aili gave them a 44-43 lead heading into the fourth.

Two free throws by Borseth to start the fourth gave E-TC the lead for good, not that the Panthers ran away with it.

Witt’s two key jumpers early in the fourth were part of a 12-2 run to start the quarter by E-TC. Borseth hit two more free throws and stuck a corner 3 while Eli Nordine got to the basket. The Panthers led 56-46.

Matrella didn’t want to give Witt open shots, but he got them.

“You take away the inside and he hits the outside. Obviously, you take away the outside, he’s going to go inside,” Matrella said. “Brad has enough players around him, you can’t cheat too much. Pick your poison.”

As the Panthers kept making free throws, Bessemer’s comeback fell just short. A 3 by Brayden Tomes with 13.4 seconds left pulled the Speedboys within a possession.

But Nordine was fouled after catching the inbound pass and he made one to make it a two-possession game again at 63-59 with nine seconds left.

“Our boys really stepped up and drilled free throws,” Besonen said. “Eli was huge at the line. Cole (Besonen) stuck a couple. Jake has had some free throw frustrations the last couple games, he was really solid tonight. Jaden hit a couple big ones there. Us going to the line and not coming away with one or none in those situations was the big difference tonight, I thought.”

Borseth didn’t look like an eighth grader.

“Jaden was huge for us tonight,” Besonen said. “It was nice to see him hit some perimeter shots.”

Nordine finished with 10 points.

Tomes led Bessemer with 16 points and Mazzon had 15.

These teams might meet here again in the postseason district tournament. Bessemer has a first-round bye and will host the winner of E-TC vs. Watersmeet.

E-TC was able to win at the House of Noise after losing big here last year, late in the regular season, but it sure wasn’t easy.

“Just a fun game to play and I’m glad we finally ended up on top of it here for a change,” Besonen said.

The Panthers (4-0, 2-0) host Wakefield-Marenisco Monday night in a battle of unbeatens.

“That’s going to be fun,” Besonen said. “They’ve got a nice lineup. They’re dangerous everyone on the floor and they’ve got good size to go with it and they play real hard.”

Bessemer (1-3, 1-2) goes to Ontonagon Thursday night.

– – –

E-TC 20 10 13 20 — 63

Bessemer 17 8 19 15 — 59

E-TC – Tommy Cousineau 2, Eli Nordine 10, Cole Borseth 4, Jaden Borseth 16, Jake Witt 31. FTs: 16-20. Fouls: 12. Fouled out: None. 3-pointers: Borseth 2, Nordine 1.

Bessemer – T.J. Mazurek 2, Cade Mazzon 15, Andy Aspinwall 2, Uriah Aili 7, Isaiah Aili 7, Jared Janczak 2, Tim Rowe 2, Brayden Tomes 16, Tyler Busch 11. FTs: 5-8. Fouls: 16. Fouled out: None. 3-pointers: U. Aili 2, Tomes 2, Busch 1.

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