Reese makes long wait worth celebrating with district title win over Hemlock - mlive.com

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VASSAR, MI – Reese celebrated after the first quarter, asked the Hemlock fans to look at the scoreboard midway through the third and told the Huskies to go to Florida in the fourth.

The Rockets still had enough energy to celebrate a boys basketball district championship 379 days in the making, handing Hemlock its first loss in 32 games with a 55-43 Division 3 district final win Saturday at Vassar.

“We were supposed to play Hemlock in the final last year when the season got canceled,” Reese center Jacob Rau said. “We counted. It’s been 379 days since then. It was a long wait, but it was worth it.”

Reese takes a 14-1 record into the Division 3 regional at Reese, where it opens the tournament at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday against the winner of the Harbor Beach-Bad Axe district final. At 7 p.m. Tuesday, Flint Beecher (11-1) faces Marlette (6-8).

The manner of victory even surprised Reese coach Justin Shepherd, who saw the Rockets struggle in a 62-51 district semifinal win Thursday over Vassar.

“We didn’t shoot well Thursday, and we didn’t shoot well when we played Vassar the first time this season, so I was concerned how we would shoot in this gym,” Shepherd said. “So when we came out and made a bunch of baskets, it brought the stress down quite a bit.”

Reese made 9 of 11 from the floor in the first quarter, including two 3-pointers, in taking a 21-13 lead.

“They made a lot of shots at the start, and that kind of put us on our heels,” Hemlock coach Matt Bauer said. “We haven’t been behind all year. Some of our guys got that deer-in-the-headlights look after that. We took some bad shots, like we were trying to hit a home run instead of a bunch of singles.”

Rau scored 13 points in the first half, forcing Hemlock out of its zone.

“We wanted to stay in our zone longer, but they were making their shots so we had to get out of it,” Bauer said. “When we went man, they got good dribble penetration, and I told our players not to over-help, but we had some moments when we would over-help and Reese found the open player.

“Rau gives us problems because he can make that shot from 15 feet, and they set him up to pick at the top of the key. You have to make a decision on him and what to do on that pick.”

Rau finished with 19 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Rockets.

“I love that shot,” Rau said. “It’s a shot I’ve worked on a lot and I’m confident in. The first quarter so important, not just to get the open shots but to make the open shots. We made the shots.”

Damarquss Palmreuter added 17 points for the Rockets.

Michael Zolinski led the Huskies with 15 points, 13 in the second half. Nolan Finkbeiner added 13, including a 3-pointer at the buzzer to end the first half, cutting the Reese lead to 32-26.

“We got the fast start, and that was key,” Shepherd said. “But we won the game with our defense. That was the best defense we’ve played all year. We kept it up the whole game.”

Hemlock finishes with a 17-1 record.

“Reese was in our shorts the whole game, and we didn’t respond well,” Bauer said. “We stayed close, but Reese outplayed us during some long stretches in the game. They played better than us. They deserved to win.

“We had a great season and we had a great run with 32 straight wins, but Reese played better than we did.”

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Reese makes long wait worth celebrating with district title win over Hemlock - mlive.com
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