E-TC tops Wakefield-Marenisco, wins District 97 championship
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WAKEFIELD -- At Ewen-Trout Creek, three years without a district championship is a long time.
They lost on a go-ahead shot in the final seconds by Bessemer's Uriah Aili three years ago. They qualified for the championship game two years ago, but COVID wiped out the rest of the tournament before they could play it. And they lost at Bessemer last year, a major upset for the Panthers, who were ranked first in the U.P.
The big favorites again this year, E-TC took care of business, beating Wakefield-Marenisco 57-38 Friday night.
"It's an amazing feeling," said E-TC senior Jaden Borseth, who scored his 2,000th career point in the second half. "After last year, just a heartbreaker, to come back this year and punch it to them is amazing."
Borseth shut down Wakefield-Marenisco's Kyle Sorensen, who was named to the Elite Team in the Copper Mountain Conference, and he got offensive support from Eric Abramson (16 points), Kelsey Jilek (12) and Caden Besonen (9) to add to his 14-point effort.
"I'm so happy for our guys," E-TC coach Brad Besonen said. "I've been blessed with so many good teams in my 13 years. You're always happy for those guys when they win a district or they win something big. I've never been so happy for a group of guys as I am for this group right here after the way things went the last two years in the tournament.
"And it wasn't given to them tonight, they had to earn it. Wakefield was outstanding."
E-TC (19-3) advanced to the regional semifinal to play Lake Linden-Hubbell (13-8) today in Negaunee.
"We just couldn't score," W-M coach Pat Libertoski said. "They're a great team. It's just unfortunate that we have to be in the same district this year. I can't complain, we won 17 games."
The Cardinals (17-5) had E-TC on upset alert early on. A 3 by Austin Shirkey put them up 10-3 in the first quarter. E-TC freshman Caden Besonen hit a 3, Shirkey hit another and Borseth got to the hoop as W-M led 13-10 going into the second quarter.
"They were tough to deal with out there," Besonen said. "They were in your face, we were grinding hard defensively and Shirkey was making shots and they were crashing the glass."
The game went back and forth for much of the second quarter. It was tied at 20 when Kelsey Jilek scored the final four points of the half to put E-TC up 24-20. He scored E-TC's last eight points of the period and he had 10 in the quarter. He also suggested going to man so they would stop losing Shirkey behind the arc in the press.
"That worked," Besonen said. "It didn't make us as scrambly where we pressure people into turnovers and points off that, but the way we played in the half-court defense was outstanding."
Defense was big with it being such a low-scoring game. Borseth's effort on Sorensen, who had played such a big role in the Cardinals' strong season, was the difference in the game, Besonen said. Leo Imhoff led W-M with 13 points and Shirkey finished with 11. Sorensen was held to five.
"That was one thing we really talked about in prepping for them is Kyle cannot own the paint," he said. "Jaden did a nice job on him."
His physique and athleticism makes him a solid defender, Besonen said.
"He can build that wall and especially against bigs, he moves his feet well enough it's hard to get by him," he said. "For really his whole career, he's done a great job of not fouling. When Kyle would drive on him, those arms would come out and he kept the chest up on him and he'd build that wall."
Being smart is another part of it. They watched film and picked up tendencies on Sorensen, especially on handoffs, and he took that into the game.
He also scored his 2,000th career point on a jumper in the third quarter, helping the Panthers buld the lead to 40-33 entering the fourth when they really blew the game open.
"Having to deal with 2,000 points in a district championship, that's not easy," Besonen said. "He had, for him, an uncharacteristic start. But once we started getting going, he played fantastic."
"I think he deserves it more than anybody," Jilek said. "I've been with him ever since we were in elementary school and he's been the best ball player I've ever played with and ever seen. He really does it every night. Even when we're not doing great, he still puts it out there for us and I think that's the best accomplishment."
E-TC needed some offense, too, and that improved as the game went on.
"We were making the looks, but they were too fast and it was not in the groove that we usually do, so we slowed things down so we could find our spots," Jilek said.
And Jilek got to the rim a lot in the second quarter.
"He was big tonight," Besonen said.
"We were looking inside, so I was cutting through the defense, finding my way through so I could get to the rim. We knew if we attacked the rim we could get Kyle in foul trouble and we could get our shots going up because they'd be collapsing the paint," Jilek said.
Abramson was big on the glass.
"If he doesn't rebound like he did in that second half, then there's a good chance we don't win," Besonen said.
Caden Besonen again provided some great minutes off the bench. Jonah Nordine played his typical great defense. Brendan Polkky fought through an ankle injury to chip in as well.
"I'm just really happy with everyone who stepped on the floor tonight," Besonen said.
It was a big win for the Panthers.
"We were looking forward to this all year," Jilek said. "This is the one we really wanted. Last year we couldn't get over that hump. ... We've had a great season all year and we just wanted to prove it tonight, we're the team."
W-M 13 7 13 5 -- 38
E-TC 10 14 16 17 -- 57
WAKEFIELD-MARENISCO (38): Imhoff 13, Shirkey 11, Grace 9, Sorensen 5. FT: 8-13. F: 10. Fouled out: Sorensen. 3-pointers: Shirkey 3, Grace 1.
EWEN-TROUT CREEK (57): Abramson 16, Borseth 14, Jilek 12, Besonen 9, Polkky 4, Nordine 2. FT: 4-5. F: 11. Fouled out: None. 3-pointers: Abramson 2, Besonen 1.