By Greg Chrapek
WKTV Contributor
The Breslin Center on the campus of Michigan State University has seen hundreds of wins over the years with the home team playing stingy defense and dominating on the offensive boards.
Tri-unity Christian took those pages out of that successful Michigan State playbook during Thursday’s Division 4 state semifinal game against Frankfort and the result was a 54-37 win that sends the Defenders on to Saturday’s D-4 state championship game against Munising at 10 a.m.
Tri-unity played solid defense from the opening tip to the final buzzer as it limited Frankfort to 10 points or less in three of the four quarters.
“We focused in on making sure we challenged them (Frankfort) and not letting them have anything easy,” said Tri-unity Coach Mark Keeler. “We played great defense. I was really happy with our defense.”
The Defenders also dominated the boards, outrebounding Frankfort 41-22 for the game including pulling down a whopping 21 offensive rebounds.
“I was really happy with the way our guys controlled the boards,” Keeler said. “That was huge to have that many second shots.”
Akais Giplaye led the way on the boards as he pulled down 11 rebounds including nine offensive rebounds. Wesley Kaman added four offensive rebounds while Roy Fogg and Trey Rillema had three offensive boards.
Offensively, Tri-unity did a solid job of sharing the ball and spreading the scoring load around. Owen Rosendall led the Defenders in scoring with 13 points while Fogg added 11 points, Rillema, seven; Giplaye and Kaman, six apiece and Jordan VanKlompenberg, five. Keaton Blanker added two points, three assists, a steal and an offensive rebound.
‘Everyone contributes’
“We had great balance which I really like,” Keeler said. “This team does a great job of sharing the ball. We don’t have one or two guys that do all the scoring. Everyone contributes on offense and we really take pride in that.”
Tri-unity took control of the game in the first quarter. The Defenders jumped out to a 10-4 lead in the early minutes thanks to three-point shots from VanKlompenberg and Rosendall.
Tri-unity led 16-8 going into the second quarter. Frankfort kept the score close throughout the second quarter and trailed 25-21 at halftime.
The Defenders began to pull away in the third quarter. Up by two points early in the quarter, Tri-unity closed out the third on a 15-4 run to take a 40-27 lead into the fourth. Frankfort managed to cut the margin to 10 points before Tri-unity pulled away in the final quarter.
Defenders succeed at wearing them down
“Our desire was to really up the tempo of the game,” Keeler said. “We did not want them to walk the ball up the court. They had a couple of big guys and we wanted to get them tired so every chance we got we pushed the ball trying to wear them down. By the fourth quarter it seemed they were pretty tired.”
Tri-unity improved to 22-6 for the season, while Frankfort finished at 18-9.
14th appearance in the state semifinals
The Defenders made their 14th appearance in the semifinal round at the Breslin Center.
“It’s not so much the number of times we’ve been here so much as it is special for these young men to get here,” Keeler said. “This is a different group. Every year it is a different group of young mean and it’s something we don’t want to take for granted. Thise guys really love each other and play for each other.”
The Defenders, who defeated Ewen-Trout Creek in overtime to win last year’s Division 4 state title, face Munising in Saturday’s championship game at 10 a.m. Munising (26-1) defeated Marine City Cardinal Mooney 55-44 in the other semifinal game.
“We know they are a good team and there is no quit in them,” Keeler said. “They had a lead on Cardinal Mooney before Cardinal Mooney came back at the end of the third quarter. Munising then turned it up a notch in the fourth quarter and pulled away. We are going to have to come in ready to play.”
