St. Mary has won the Cherryland Conference title.

“We faced a couple good games along the way, especially our last game with Northport, and we were happy to complete the conference schedule undefeated. We hope to build on that,” said Eagles coach Jim Smith.

St. Mary finished 6-0 in the four-team boys' basketball race, after posting victories this week over Traverse City Christian and the Leelanau School.
Leelanau fell victim first on Saturday, 78-36.

Tim Wigton scored 21 points for St. Mary in the effort. Junior Kienan Sutton chipped in 14.

Chris Omerza of Empire led Leelanau with 10 points.

St. Mary had three players in double figures in its 78-66 victory over T-C Christian Monday night.

Sutton led the Eagles with 18 points. Senior Ryan Couturier contributed 17, and Adam Peplinski chipped in 14.

Nathan Banks scored nearly half the Sabres’ total points with 32 points.

In a non-conference outing, St. Mary last Thursday gave Glen Lake all it could handle before Laker Aaron King was fouled with two seconds left on a shot from behind the arc.

With the score tied at 60, King sank all three free throws — including one his coach wanted him to miss.

King made his first two pressure-packed shots, which were followed by a timeout. Laker coach Todd Hazelton asked King to miss his third shot with hopes that time would run out during a scramble for the loose ball — but the ball rolled in anyway.

Regardless, St. Mary did not manage to get off a shot as time expired, giving Glen Lake a 63-60 win.

Hazelton was proud of how his players stepped up with the Lakers’ leading scorer ineligible for a discipline reason.

“It was a good win without Ryan (Dyksterhouse). It gave some other kids some confidence.”

Junior Andrew White and freshman Matt O’Brien topped Glen Lake in scoring with 17 points each. Will Hendricks, who finished with 11 points and 12 rebounds, and Jack Drow came off the Laker bench to help maintain a two-point halftime lead.

Matt Pasch topped St. Mary with 19.

Northport had some fun during senior night, which resulted in a 46-16 win Tuesday over Leelanau School, according to coach Jeff Tropf. The Wildcats five seniors started, and “we asked to have the ball go through them for the entire game.”

The strategy had its intended outcome, as seniors Jason Roman (8 points), Eddie Gonzalez, Ryan Blessing, Basil Stowe (all three with 6 points) and Erik Johnson (5 points) paced the offense. Jesse Bressette scored 8 points.

Coupled with a 63-55 win over Christian Friday, Northport improved to 3-2 in the Cherryland. Another win at Christian Friday in the Wildcats’ regular season finale, and they would lock down second place.

“They are not a bad squad,” said Tropf of Christian. “We just need to remember the importance of the game, especially considering that we won’t play next week and will face Leland in the first round of the District.”

Stowe and Bressette paced Northport with 17 points apiece, and helped the Wildcats outscore Christian by 10 points in the second quarter for a 35-25 halftime lead. Jason Roman also scored 10 for Northport, while Jason Tropf pulled down 10 rebounds and blocked 6 shots.

The Wildcats are 9-9 overall.

Leelanau School, 3-7 and winless in the Cherryland, hopes to wrap up the 2007-08 season with a victory Friday hosting Traverse City Prep. St. Mary will host Onekama Tuesday and the Traverse City Bulldogs next Thursday, Feb. 21, as teams put their sights on District play.