With a district title on the line, the Traverse City Christian Sabres played a dominant game to defeat Lake Leelanau St. Mary Eagles (12-9) 43-24 on Friday night.
“It just came down to our execution,” St. Mary Coach Bunek said. “We knew our game plan, we knew what we wanted to do, and we held a really good team to 43. Offensively, we just didn’t execute.”
TC Christian struck first and steadily built momentum with a 16-0 start to the game. The Eagles finally scored their first points two minutes into the second quarter and ended the half down 21-11.
Lake Leelanau opened the second half with a basket, but TC Christian quickly responded.
With just under five minutes remaining in the third quarter, TC had extended its lead to 27-14.
St. Mary senior Josh Bunek made a pair of free throws at the end of the quarter to push the margin to 29-16.
Despite the loss, coach Bunek emphasized that effort was never a concern.
“With my group of kids, it’s never about their effort level. Those kids give it their all. It just didn’t happen for us tonight,” he said.
The Bunek boys carried the team. Josh Bunek led St. Mary scoring with 11 points, while James Bunek chipped in 8, and Rex Bunek added another four.
The Eagles were held to just 11 first-half points and struggled to find consistent offense throughout the game.
The emotional highlight of the evening came in the final minutes, when the seniors exited the floor and took a moment to shake hands and get hugs from their coaches on the sidelines.
“They put their heart into this year,” Bunek said. “No one expected anything out of us, and I think we gave a pretty good show this season. I’m very proud of them.”
Lakers fall to Elks
Elk Rapids rallied from a 13-point second-half deficit to defeat Glen Lake 61-58 in Friday’s D3 boys basketball district championship game at Elk Rapids.
Glen Lake led by 13 with 1:37 left in the third quarter, going up 52-39 on Max Lamerson’s right-wing 3-pointer.
Laker senior Jacob Plamondon had 24 points and junior Max Lammerson had 22 points. Breckin Nerg score five points.
Glen Lake ended Elk Rapids’ season six times since 2013, with the Elks’ only postseason win against the Lakers in that span coming in 2022 and Friday night.
Glen Lake finished the 2025-26 campaign with a 16-6 record and a Northwest Conference Championship.
