Leland senior Erica Breen couldn't believe it when she found herself mostly unguarded during the first quarter of the Class D girls' basketball District championship at Leland Friday.

ST. MARY celebrates its District championship
Friday night after rallying past host Leland,
57-51.

Alone, with the ball in her hand, she made St. Mary pay, going 3-for-3 from two-point range to help give the Comets a 17-12 lead at the end of the first stanza.
“I was very surprised that they didn’t have someone on me right away,” she said.
In the end, however, it was St. Mary who made Leland pay as the Eagles won their first District championship since 2000 with a come-from-behind 57-51 victory.
Meanwhile, Glen Lake saw its Class C District hopes come to a close last Wednesday after falling to host St. Francis, 51-34.
St. Mary won despite the fact that Leland held the Eagles’ leading scorer, senior Alyssa Korson, scoreless in the first half. But, the St. Mary stalwart was not concerned.
“I realized other people were scoring and that it was taking two girls to cover me, so I wasn’t very worried,” Korson said. “I knew I wasn’t playing terrible, Leland just played some great defense.”
To start the second half St. Mary coach Paula Korson made some adjustments on defense, going from a moving screen to man-to-man, and loosened up the Comets’ defense just enough to allow them to run a little. The Eagles and Leland traded baskets through the first part of the third quarter, then Leland went on five-minute cold spell and St. Mary’s pulled ahead 38-36 with just under two minutes remaining in the third quarter. St. Mary increased the lead to 44-39 after three quarters, and outscored the Comets in the final stanza 14-12 to secure the win.
Leland coach Jon Kiessel said he was proud of how his players were able to keep Korson under wraps through the first half. “They didn’t let her run and that is a big thing, because when she starts to run, look out,” he said.
Kiessel said he knew Leland was in trouble when he saw Korson come back out onto the floor about mid-way through the third. “She had to sit because she had four fouls. When she came back out onto the floor, you could tell by the look in her eye she wasn’t going to go down without a fight,” he said.
A key momentum change came about mid-way through the third for St. Mary. Brooke Fortner hit two free throws to bring St. Mary’s to within six. After Leland missed a shot, Korson grabbed the rebound, drove down the court and made a fast-break layup. When the Comets went to inbound the ball, Breanna Korson stole the pass and scored.
“That really brought the St. Mary’s people to their feet. They were really into the game after that,” Kiessel said.
Coach Korson said while she was reeling a little from Leland’s powerful first quarter performance and was wondering what she would say to the players in the huddle, she did not have to worry. “Susan (Herman) came in and said, ‘Okay girls, that was our bad quarter, that was it. Let’s go.’ The girls really responded and played much better in the second quarter,” Korson said.
For the game Allison Korson had 14 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 steals to lead St. Mary. Fortner had 10 points, 10 rebounds; Herman had 9 points; and Christy Miller, Breanna Korson and Alyssa Korson each scored 8 points.
For Leland, seniors Breen and Erin Sneed each scored 18 points in their final game as Comets. Ellen Duperon had 7 points and 6 rebounds; Kaleigh Stinson had 5 assists; and Rachel Lichty had 4 points.
Kiessel said Stinson and Lichty had big games for the Comets.
“They were doubling Erin so Kaleigh was able to get the ball to the open person. Rachel had the tough job of defending Alyssa all night. To her credit Rachel only had one turnover against a pretty good player,” he said.
The season came to an end for Glen Lake during the Class C semifinals last Wednesday against St. Francis. The Glads led by scores of 11-7, 23-13 and 38-30 at the quarter breaks.
“The St. Francis team we saw play Monday night against Suttons Bay was not the same team that showed up to play us. They were ready to play,” Laker coach Pete Woessner said. “We didn’t play a bad game, but we did not have the intensity you need to play a District game on your opponent’s home court.”
Kaelyn Thayer and Paige Stachnik each scored 12 points to lead the Lakers. Thayer added 9 rebounds while Amanda Lautner had 8. Glen Lake finished the year with an 8-12 record overall.