Cardinals hang with Trojans but bow out in district final

WATERSMEET - The Crystal Falls Forest Park Trojans captured the MHSAA Class D District 127 championship with a 56-43 victory over Wakefield-Marenisco in Nimrod Nation on Friday night.

It was the fifth district title in a row for Forest Park.

"We had to build a program and it took years to build," CFFP coach Jackie Guiliani said. "It's a tradition now and the girls want to be part of it. We talk to the girls a lot about being physically and mentally tough in the tournament and you have to play confident. We want to go deep in the tournament and to do that, we'll probably have to battle St. Ignace."

When Lauren Grace, Hallee and Kassidee Yon and Heather Hemming came up to the varsity as freshmen, they took their lumps and finished 4-17. Coach Pete Yon said they needed to learn how to win.

When Darienne Korpi joined the team the next season as a freshmen, the Cardinals ended the season on positive note winning seven of 11 games.

This year, Saundra Libertoski came on board and W-M took off and never looked back. They tied Hurley for the Indianhead Conference East title and won the final Porcupine Mountain Conference with an unbeaten 6-0 record.

Next year, it appears the Cardinals will need to learn to win tournament games. Most of the team will be seniors and the clock is ticking.

Guiliani has little doubt it will happen.

"That's a very well-rounded team and they've played played together a lot," Guiliani said. "They're well-coached and we knew two years ago they would be good.You saw that tonight."

Guiliani and Yon both agreed the key point in the game came early.

"We played hard, but we dug ourselves a hole quick and had to battle back,"Yon said. "It was basket for basket the rest of the way, but they are physical, strong and have good rebounders. And they shot well from the outside. The season ended too quick. I'm proud of them and I'm proud of our season. We went 19-4 and everybody's coming back. There's no reason to hang our heads."

At the 6:40 mark of the first quarter, Abby Nylund drilled a 3 from the left corner and Sierra Robarge buried a triple from the right wing to give the Trojans a 7-0 advantage. Then Nylund returned and splashed a corner 3.

Forest Park led 10-0 with 4:17 remaining and W-M had missed its first seven shots.

"That really was the key," Guiliani said."That set the tempo and they had to come out of their zone, which was better for us. They were always behind and never got the lead."

But W-M fought its way back into the game and with 25.7 seconds left in the quarter, Kassidee Yon hit a 3-ball and W-M nibbled the lead to 14-12.

But with 4.2 seconds left, Maria Stankewicz let fly with a 3 that found nothing but net.

The quarter ended at 17-12. A lot of things seemed to be going Forest Park's way.

But Kassidee Yon, Darienne Korpi and Grace opened the second quarter with baskets to whittle the lead to 20-18 with 6:37 left.

Forest Park surged ahead with three straight two-pointers, but Libertoski picked up a loose ball in the lane and tossed in a shot. Grace made two fouls shots and the Cardinals were within two points, 28-26.

But the Trojans surged again and when Adel Issaacson just beat the buzzer with a shot right before the half, CFFP had a 35-25 advantage.

In the third quarter, the Trojans ran its patient offense and passed sharply until they found an open shot.

Forest Park moved out to a 37-27 lead before Hallee Yon dropped in a long two from on top and then she passed ahead to Korpi who caught it in stride and took it hard to the basket. Korpi has come on late in the season, especially on offense.

But Forest Park ran the same play back the other way and went up 39-29 with 3:57 left in the third. They ended the quarter with a 42-33 lead.

Both teams had trouble scoring to start the fourth quarter, but the intensity and physicality of the game picked up.

With 5:15 and 4:41 remaining in the quarter, Forest Park's Sierra Robarge made two crucial plays. First, she hit a deep 3 from the left side and then made a steal and score that put the Trojans up 48-35.

Forest Park sank eight 3-pointers in the contest and ran down the clock with its semi-stall offense.

Robarge took top honors in scoring with 18 points, while the sophomore Nylund followed closely with 17.

W-M didn't have anyone in double figures as Korpi scored nine points and the Yon sisters added seven.

The Cardinals and Forest Park both have 19-4 records.

W-M had a large contingent of fans at the game and Yon said fan support for the team had been great all year.

"We really had positive fan support following the team all year and we appreciate it," Yon said.

Forest Park - Abby Nylund 17, Sierra Robarge 18, Maria Stankewicz 9, Rachel Roose 3, Libby Shamion 6, Adel Isaacson 3.. FTs:8-17, Fouls: 14, Fouled out:Roose, 3-pointers: Robarge 4, Nylund 2, Maria Stankewicz 1, Issacson 1.

W-M - Darienne Korpi 9, Saundra Libertoski 6, Lauren Grace 6, Brianna Dalbec 2, Hallee Yon 7, Kassidee Yon 7, Heather Hemming 6. FTs:10-15, Fouls:14, Fouled out: none, 3-pointers: Kassidee Yon.

Forest Park 17 35 42 56

W-M 12 25 33 43