BY DAN STICKRADT
CORRESPONDENT
dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com
Twitter: @LocalSportsFans
EAST LANSING — Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart has earned a date with top-ranked Pittsford.
The third-ranked Irish pulled away from eighth-ranked and Upper Peninsula foe Stephenson, 45-38, Thursday night in the Class D state semifinals at Michigan State University’s Breslin Center.
Sacred Heart (24-1) will face off with Pittsford (25-0) at 10 a.m. Saturday and will try to win its second title in three years. The Irish captured the crown in 2014 and lost in the finals in 2008.
After escaping Gaylord St. Mary in the quarterfinals (27-26), Sacred Heart found itself in a near dead-heat with Stephenson (24-3). The Irish used a 6-2 run to close out the third quarter and build a 33-28 advantage.
In the fourth frame, Sacred Heart, which has reached at least the quarterfinals in four straight seasons, polished off the win with a 12-10 run over the final eight minutes.
“Overall, this didn’t look pretty. To be honest that’s been our M.O. all year,” said Sacred Heart coach Damon Brown. “It’s not always pretty, but we find a way to get it done.”
Sacred Heart led 21-20 at the half and 33-28 through three quarters of play. The Irish closed out the third stanza with a 6-2 run for the five-point lead.
Senior center Averi Gamble, a 6-foot-2 standout named as the Associated Press Class D Player of the Year on Tuesday, scored three points, had two rebounds and a blocked shot in the final 30 seconds to keep Stephenson from staging a late-night comeback. Gamble scored 13 points with 13 rebounds and four blocks for the Irish, who held a 36-30 edge on the boards.
“We won it as a sophomore and that was the best feeling in my life until now,” smiled Gamble. “We want to win another one Saturday.”
Sophomore forward Sophie Ruggles and freshman guard Scout Nelson both added 10 points for the Irish, who finished 15-for-43 from the floor (34.9 percent).
Stephenson finished the night shooting only at a 28.6 clip from the floor (14-for-49).
Senior guard Karley Johnson scored 12 points for Stephenson, which enjoyed its best season in school history. Junior guard Autumn Rasner added nine points, senior guard Kelsey Johnson scored nine and senior center Tori Wangerin scored six with 13 rebounds for the Eagles.
“There are no words the pain (the pain of the loss),” said Stephenson coach Shanna Beal. “They have worked so hard to get here. This has always been a dream of theirs to make it here. I believe we fought hard until the end. I just hope the girls feel the same we I do that we have a lot of pride for our school. Most of our community was here. We’re pretty small community and they were all here. I think we are all proud of the accomplishments of this year being the first (girls) team in school history to get here.”
Sacred Heart not lost to a Class D school this season and face an experienced undefeated squad in the title bout on Saturday. Pittsford is 51-1 over the course of two seasons, while Sacred Heart has two starters back from its 2014 state title game.
“We’ve been going back and fourth in the rankings and I think this is the matchup everyone kind of expected,” said Brown. “You have two great teams that are hungry, as you would expect at this time of the season. We match up well with them and it should be a great game.”