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MANCELONA — Tim Smith didn’t need to hear about how it’s hard to beat a good team multiple times in the same season.
The longtime coach has been leading on the hardwood long enough to know that topping a 21-win Mancelona team for a third time Friday night would be a heck of a challenge.
No mind the fact it was played in the Mancelona gym, with the season and a Division 3 district title on the line.
In the end, the score shows a 10-point win and a 64-54 final for Smith’s Red Devils, who captured their first district title since 2014, but it doesn’t show the battle it took to get there.
“They were 21-2 for a reason, because they’re very good,” Smith said. “They can score points in bunches.”
EJ found that out after a 10-point halftime lead in a 31-21 game, as the Ironmen quickly controlled the third quarter behind a 24-point busrt, bringing the lead back their way in a 45-44 game entering the fourth.
“It was self inflicted a bit,” Smith said. “We played at their pace and we didn’t take care of the ball. That’s pretty uncharacteristic to give up that many points. We had a three or four minute stretch where we forgot what got us there and they made us pay.”
East Jordan buckled down in the final quarter, out-scoring the Ironmen 20-9 to bring home the title.
While they remembered how they got their on the court, Smith knows a big part of the season overall has also been what’s surrounded the team off the court and he was happy to share in the moment Friday night with the East Jordan community.
“Our motto is, we play for our community, play for our family and, our community tonight was tremendous,” Smith said. “Our guys were excited to put a lot of smiles on a lot of faces. It’s been 12 years and our community came out and packed the gym.”
Ellis Malpass led the way for East Jordan with a 27-point night, while William Webb came through in the clutch, delivering 10 of his 14 points in the fourth.
Max Beal added nine, Brady Wilson scored seven and Hadley McCafferty added six.
While there have been some great seasons on the hardwood for the Red Devils, none since that 2014 team earned a district title. That same season, the Red Devils made a legendary run to the quarterfinals in Petoskey.
For Smith, getting that postseason hardware – to match with the Ski Valley trophy this season – makes everything sweeter.
“As coaches, we talked about that,” he said. “We had a really good year winning our league and being 20-2, but winning a district just takes your season to another level. There was a lot of excitement.”
East Jordan, now 22-2 overall, will next meet up with Elk Rapids (20-3) in a Division 3 regional semifinal game at 7 p.m., Tuesday, March 3 in Charlevoix. A win in that one would then send them to a Newberry hosted regional title game against either Ishpeming-Westwood or Menominee.
Elk Rapids advanced behind a 61-58 win over Maple City Glen Lake.
Northern Michigan boys district finals
DIVISION 1
Marquette 69, Traverse City West 52
DIVISION 2
Cheboygan 49, Ogemaw Heights 44
DIVISION 3
East Jordan 64, Mancelona 54
Elk Rapids 61, Glen Lake 58
McBain 66, Manton 23
Beal City 51, Beaverton 23
DIVISION 4
Burt Lake NMCA 61, Harbor Light 55
Traverse City Christian 43, Lake Leelanau St. Mary 24
Ellsworth 63, Central Lake 33
Pickford 71, St. Ignace 60
Hillman 68, Gaylord St. Mary 64 (OT)
Rudyard 62, Brimley 60
Onekama 50, McBain NMC 31
Contact or send game stats/info to Sports Editor Drew Kochanny at [email protected]. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @DrewKochanny, and Instagram, @drewkochanny
This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: East Jordan upends Mancelona for first D3 district title since 2014