There were 26 second left. The game was tied at 46. A Regional title was on the line.

This was not Hoosiers,a movie staged in a state of basketball legend. It was Leland playing, a school that hasn’t won a state basketball title since 1943.

And so maybe it was appropriate that coach Jason Stowe called on No. 10, a kid whose odds of playing Division I basketball would be easy to figure even if his favorite class wasn’t Functions, Statistics and Trigonometry, a junior who isn’t the team’s first or second-leading scorer, a role player who had been happy with his quiet role.

But Eric Larsen was also the player who had just stolen an errant pass and driven the length of the court for a layup, giving Leland a 46-45 lead with 59 seconds to play in the Regional finals March 5 at Traverse City Central. Following a free throw from Bellaire, which had won four of the past five Regional titles and knocked Leland from the tourney a year earlier, the Comets were in a position to break the tie and win.

Stowe looked at his team in the huddle, then settled his gaze on Larsen.

"Eric seemed to have the best legs," recalled Stowe, who had noticed other Comets were starting to wear down. "He gets to the basket better than anyone."

It didn’t hurt that Leland had been practicing for this moment for six weeks, a stretch during which Stowe started running a drill calling for guards to drive past their defenders to just below the free throw line, stop and pop. He figured the Comets would run into defensive front lines that would block layups. One solution: shoot over them.

"I was nervous," admitted Larsen. "I wasn’t expecting it to go to me. But they focused on Marcus (Whittaker) and Jordan (Gibson). I’m sure that helped me a lot."

Larsen didn’t need a lot of help. Drive, Stop. Pop.

Swish.

It was all over but the celebration, and that lasted well after the game. Bellaire, which Stowe said executed its game plan to perfection, came up two points short, 48-46.

How well did Bellaire play? The Eagles hit 11-of-16 shots in the second half, including 5-of-8 three-pointers. They hit 8-of-13 from behind the arc for the night.

They played almost the entire first half without best player Brad Guy, who averages 18 points a game. Guy picked up his third foul with 3:15 remaining in the first quarter.

But Bellaire coach Stan Sexton asked his players to take the air out of the basketball — to slow the game down — and he had the guards to do it. The Lancers played keep-away for much of the first half, and found enough open shots to tie the score at 16-16 three minutes before halftime.

Leland finished on a tear, thanks largely to a double-teaming zone that started to take its toll, scoring the last eight points of the half. Give much of the credit to the 6-foot-4 Whittaker brotherss, starting with sophomore Galen who hit a short jumper. Matt Rinehart followed with a fast break lay-up, then Marcus Whittaker provided a monster slam with 20 seconds left. He finished with a soft baseline jumper at the buzzer.

Bellaire wasn’t done, and took its first lead of the game on a steal and layup from Guy, who finished tied for game scoring honors at 13. The score was 31-30.

Coaches often preach about finishing halves and quarters strong, which might have been the difference for Leland. Sophomore guard Nate Sneed canned a three-pointer at the third quarter buzzer, putting Leland up, 35-31.

Guy’s three-pointer gave Bellaire its biggest lead of the game at 44-40 with 2:37 to play, but the Comets dug in their heels. Whittaker, who also scored 13, hit a banker from inside, and Gibson followed with a runner in the lane to tie the score at 44-44 with 1:55.

The Eagles split four free throw tries from there, while Larson scored Leland’s last four points for the win.

Leland and Bellaire each finished the game with 21-4 records, but the Comets clearly won the prize.

"They played a fantastic game," said Stowe, pointing to how Bellaire controlled the tempo to keep the score low. "But our boys didn’t quit. They wanted to keep playing."