Lake Leelanau St. Mary and Traverse City Christian boys basketball defeated their semifinal opponents to set up a district final battle at Suttons Bay Friday (7 p.m.).
The Eagles (12-8) defeated Leland 53-45, while the Sabres (23-0) defeated Frankfort 66-57 in the late game.
“We knew we were bigger than them, stronger than them. We had to get the ball inside. It was either we got a layup, or we found our guards for a shot,” St. Mary senior Josh Bunek said.
“We've got to show up (Friday). We've shown them the last few games. We have a chance to beat them. They are undefeated so far this season, and we came really close last time. We knew it was the end if we lost tonight, and we were not letting that happen again (against Leland).”
St. Mary jumped out to a fast double-digit start before the Comets clawed back to go into halftime down 24-19.
Leland would keep the game close until the final minutes, cutting into the Eagles' lead 46-43 in the fourth quarter.
The Eagles would run out the clock to advance to the district final.
“I loved the defensive action tonight.
That's something we pride ourselves on. Our matchups, we had specific matchups we were looking to hold in this game,” St. Mary coach Jim Bunek said. “My guys did a great job holding (Leland) under what they did against us last time, which gave us that opportunity to put us in a position where.”
Senior Josh Bunek led the Eagles with a double-double of 21 points and 12 rebounds, while Oliver Mitchell had 11 points and four rebounds. St. Mary senior Cody Couturier added another nine points and six rebounds during the win.
The Comets were led by Hayden VanSteenhouse with 13 points and 11 rebounds, along with Luigi Maresca’s 13 points and four rebounds. Chris Knudsen added 10 points, six rebounds, and three assists. Adrian Spencer finished his career with nine points.
The Comets finish the season with a 12-11 overall record and 7-11 in the Northwest Conference (NWC).
Sabres down Panthers
Traverse City Christian defeated Frankfort 66-57, led by streaky shooting and lockdown defense.
Hudson Worm led the Panthers with 22 points, followed by Sam Volkema with 15 points and Carson Fillison with nine points.
Frankfort pulled within seven points in the fourth quarter before the Sabres held on for the win. The Panthers went down 33-21 at halftime.
I liked our intensity. I like our enthusiasm. You know, they've been, they've been that way all season. This was actually a good matchup for us because Frankfurt is a team we haven't played this year, and our guys really come out well against a new opponent,” Traverse City Christian coach Rob LaFreniere said. “Friday will look a lot different because that's a common opponent … there's a couple of times where they get a little too excited in transition, and we forget who we are, and they need to find a guard. But other than that, some sloppy turnovers now and then, but it had been almost a week since we played, so that was almost to be expected. Plus, it's a tournament; they were a little amped up. We have to clean it up and play our game.”
The Sabres were led by Sam Bigger with 26 points, followed by Gavin Schultz with 20 points, and Isaac Torbet with six points. Ethan Johns also chipped in five points during the win.
“We knew what they were going to do coming into it, and we just did our sets to our plays and executed on them,” Biggar said.”I'm just looking if we come out with more density and just, uh, be aggressive, I think that'll win.”
Hudson Worm led the Panthers with a team-high 22 points, followed by Sam Volkema with 15 points and Carson Gillison with nine points.
Frankfort finished its 2025-26 campaign with a 10-13 overall record and 8-6 in the NWC.
