St. Mary knew it faced a tall order against a 20-1 Fairview team in the opening round of the Class D Regional at Traverse City Central High School Tuesday night.

ALYSSA KORSON splits a pair of Fairview
defenders while driving to the basket
Tuesday night.

Sure enough, the tallest player on the court was the difference in the game as Fairview marched on with a 69-55 win.

Fairview’s 5-foot-9 sophomore center Kayla Weaver was virtually unstoppable, especially in the second half, helping her team rally twice from deficits to end the season for St. Mary. Weaver had 23 points and 12 rebounds, and made several clutch free throws to deny undersized St. Mary a chance for only its second-ever trip to a Regional final.

The Eagles finished the season with a 17-6 mark, while Fairview will play 21-3 Johannesburg-Lewiston Thursday night for the Regional crown.

“They just kept feeding her the ball,” said St. Mary coach Paula Korson of Weaver, “and she responded.”

St. Mary took a 37-33 lead with two minutes left in the third quarter on a put-back by Alyssa Korson, but Fairview outscored the Eagles the rest of the game, 36-18, to win going away. A combination of Weaver, who had 18 points in the second half, and cold shooting from St. Mary in the final 10 minutes of the game sealed the Eagles’ fate.

“Our shots just didn’t fall in the second half. So many were on the rim, but just didn’t drop through,” said coach Korson. “We ran well, we pushed the ball well, but we just didn’t get relaxed on offense.”

After a season that included a Cherryland Conference championship and a District title, coach Korson said the team went out on a high note despite the loss.

“They gave it a good effort, and I’m not disappointed with their performance. They almost tried too hard,” she said.

The Eagles were paced by a balanced scoring attack, with Alyssa Korson scoring 12 points, Christy Miller 11, Brooke Fortner 10 and Allison Korson 8.

St. Mary got off to a fast start, and took a 4-0 lead in the first 90 seconds on a baseline runner from Miller and an inside basket by Fortner. Fairview went on a 14-5 run the rest of the quarter, but St. Mary stayed in the game in the second quarter and trailed at halftime, 23-22, despite 12 points from Fairview’s Alora Haskin.

After Alyssa Korson gave the Eagles a 24-23 lead early in the second half, both teams traded baskets until St. Mary went on a 7-0 spree for a 35-28 lead on field goals from Bradi Pasch, Breanna Korson and Susan Herman. Fairview came charging back behind Weaver, whose 3-point play with 1:27 left in the third quarter gave her team the lead for good. Weaver and Haskin kept the Eagles from making a charge with solid free throw shooting in the fourth quarter. Haskin made all seven of her free throws, and Fairview was 17 of 22 from the line during the game while St. Mary was just 9 of 16.

Coach Korson called the Eagles’ 17-win season “a big accomplishment” and credited the team’s seven seniors, who included Alyssa Korson, Breanna Korson, Kayla Kermode, Katherine Miller, Herman, Anne Kuznicki and Sarah Scahub.

“It was our goal to get to the Regional finals, and though we didn’t quite make it we still had a very good and enjoyable season,” coach Korson said.