Baraga’s Reide Osterman (12) dribbles against Pickford during a MHSAA Division 4 state quarterfinal on Tuesday, March 15, 2022, in Munising, Mich. (Travis Nelson/Marquette Mining Journal)

MUNISING — The crowd supporting the Baraga High School girls basketball team came to life toward the end of Tuesday evening’s MHSAA Division 4 state quarterfinal game as a season-long dream was becoming reality. 

“Breslin Center! Breslin Center,” the crowd chanted.

The Vikings are heading downstate to the state semifinals at Michigan State University’s Breslin Center after knocking off the Pickford Panthers, 57-40, at Munising High School.

Baraga plays in the Division 4 semifinals against defending state champion Fowler at 5:30 p.m. today. The Vikings look to continue their historic run at the Breslin Center after their goal just to make it there has now been accomplished.

“It’s unreal, it’s such a great feeling,” Larson said. “This is one of those goals that these kids wanted as we started approaching the season. 

“They didn’t seem to know it was a reality until we won the regionals and I said, ‘We got one more girls,’ and their eyes lit up and they couldn’t believe it. This small-town gang here is going down to East Lansing and trying to make the U.P. proud.”

Baraga (23-1) won 16 games in a row, with the team’s only loss coming in late January to Houghton, one of the Upper Peninsula’s top Divisions 1-3 teams. 

Pickford (19-3) didn’t have an answer for the Vikings’ offensive barrage, and when the Panthers did, Baraga had players step up to the challenge.

“Everyone’s been taking their turns stepping up,” Baraga coach Tyler Larson said. “We spent a lot of time in the gym shooting, we spent a lot of time in the offseason. 

“These girls put in a lot of time when we’re not in the middle of the season here, and it’s paying off. I’m so proud of these girls to see them have success for the hours they put in.

“As a coach, you preach that, you preach that and you preach that, but the kids don’t always do it. This gang is one that has put in the time, and they are deservedly moving on to the Breslin Center this week, and it’s such a great feeling.”

The game was close to start, and Pickford star Kennedy Guild got involved early to give the Panthers a 7-6 lead. 

Leave it to Cori Jahfetson to spark the Baraga offense with two 3-pointers, and it was 12-7 Vikings all of a sudden. Lizzie Storey got Pickford back within two points, but Reide Osterman also did what she does, filling up the basket for the final five points of the quarter, including nailing a deep 3 to beat the buzzer. 

The Vikings came out — only figuratively — with their hair on fire to start the second quarter with baskets from Osterman, Autumn Tembreull and a long 3-pointer from Jahfetson that put the previous ones to shame. That long, long-range shot got the crowd into a frenzy. 

Guild and Storey were scoring almost exclusively for Pickford, while Baraga was getting balance. Guild cut the Baraga lead to 31-18, but not before an and-one from Kylie Michaelson and a putback from Osterman in the final seconds of the second quarter built up a 17-point halftime lead.

Baraga’s defense also caused the Panthers issues with its zone and some pressure. It threw Pickford’s offense out of sync with the Vikings playing a physical brand of defense. Combine that with the Vikings’ shooting performance from deep and it put the Panthers in a real hole.

“They’re a very good team, and they were shooting well tonight, and unfortunately we were not,” Pickford coach Christy Thurmes said. “We (were) trying to attack (Baraga’s zone), and we should’ve looked more at trying to dish the ball out and be able to get the outside shooters, and instead we were trying to draw the fouls and it wasn’t working out as well as the girls wanted it to.”

Osterman and Jahfetson have been Baraga’s top scorers that opponents most worry about, but both still got theirs on this night. 

However, the 3-point shooting and team-high 16-point performance from Michaelson also helped push the Vikings over the top in the second half. She drilled four triples, all in the third quarter as she was the key to Baraga maintaining its big lead whenever Pickford would get anything going.

“We just said, ‘If you’re feeling comfortable with the shot, you take it. If you’re open with the shot, you gotta take it,'” Larson said. “Sometimes girls don’t want to, but Kylie stepped up in a huge way for us tonight. 

“She’s an awesome shooter, she’s a great athlete, she just has to believe in herself. Tonight was one of those nights that she was feeling it, and she just kept pulling the trigger, and it was a beautiful thing.”

Baraga led 53-33 after three quarters, and a fourth quarter with continued tight defense by the Vikings didn’t allow a Panthers’ comeback. Pickford outscored Baraga 7-4 in the fourth, but the damage was done already. 

Michaelson led the Vikings with 16 points, while Osterman had 14, and both Jahfetson and Makenna Hendrickson scored nine. 

Pickford only had five players score with their short rotation, and only two of them had more than four points — Guild scored a game-high 21 points, while Storey chipped in 10. This was the Panthers second-ever quarterfinal appearance and the team didn’t appear to take that for granted.

“We haven’t done it for 34 years, and it’s the only other time that we’ve made the quarterfinals,” Thurmes said. “I said to the girls, ‘Don’t hang your heads, we’re still making history for coming this far, so still stay positive about the year.'”

BHS 18 17 18 4 — 57

PHS 11 7 15 7 — 40

Summary (field goals, free throws, total points)

BARAGA (57): Hendrickson 3-3-9, Osterman 6-0-14, Michaelson 6-0-16, Messer 1-0-2, Cori Jahfetson 3-0-9, Tembreull 3-1-7. Totals 22-4-57. FT; 4-11.

PICKFORD (40): Thurmes 1-0-3, Bennin 1-1-4, Storey 2-6-10, Fox 1-0-2, Guild 7-3-21. Totals 12-10-40. FT: 10-16.