Lakes rally past Cardinals in regional

By JASON JUNO

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HOUGHTON --- Wakefield-Marenisco experienced all of the emotions of March in a span of five days.

On Friday, they won their first district championship in 32 years with an exciting win over Ironwood.

On Tuesday, they led much bigger Lake Linden-Hubbell, ranked third in the Upper Peninsula, for much of the fourth quarter in the Division 4 regional semifinal. But the senior-dominated Lakes rallied late in a heartbreaking finish to end W-M's season with a 47-41 win.

"We played a great first half and we played a great third quarter," W-M coach Pat Libertoski said. "We just panicked a little bit at the end."

A Nathan Londo layup put the Cardinals ahead 38-34 midway through the final period of a back-and-forth game that W-M often led.

Lake Linden-Hubbell had called a timeout a couple of possessions earlier and their amped-up defense was already making its mark. They got a couple of steals but were still trailing.

"We were down and we needed to get some quick baskets so it didn't get out of hand," LL-H coach Brett Poisssant said. "I said let's get that pressure up as high as we can and you guys gotta fly around here."

Danny Marcotte hit a 3 to pull the Lakes within a point. W-M threw away a long pass and Gabe Popko hit a go-ahead 3 with 2:15 left. LL-H led 40-38 and the Cardinals looked dejected.

"That was huge," Poissant said. "I wish he would have hit that in the first quarter and gave us some life, but it came in the fourth and that's what we needed for the win."

W-M traveled on the next possession, but LL-H missed two free throws on the other end, giving the Cardinals the ball with 45.4 seconds left. W-M had a chance to tie or take the lead despite all that had gone wrong late in the game, but they threw it away soon after passing the timeline. Marcotte picked it off and completed the easy layup for a 42-38 lead.

"We were going for the last shot," Libertoski said. "There wasn't even pressure. We just made a bad pass, a bad read."

Poissant said he would have gone for the last shot also.

"That was big as well, force them to foul," he said. "We want to try and jump those passes and force them to throw it over the top and use our football instincts there and play free safety and get that ball."

LL-H iced the game at the free throw line from there.

"We had a good plan going in," Libertoski said. "We panicked the last minute. That's uncharateristic for us, we don't do that."

After a first half that featured eight lead changes, W-M led 25-20 at the half. They were 5 of 12 from 3 in the first half. W-M missed a couple of more early 3s to expand its lead in the second half and LL-H was able to tie the game at 27. The Cardinals, though, ended the frame on a 7-1 run with it ending on a logo 3 by Chase Lane, the hero in Friday's district final win.

W-M kept that lead until Popko's 3 with 2:15 left.

The Cardinals were 2 of 13 from 3 in the second half after shooting it so well in the first half, which was a good way to overcome LL-H's size advantage. Lane led the Cardinals with 13 points off three 3s and Carter Cole had 12 thanks to a good start.

"They run a good offense," Poissant said. "They lull you and force you to be a little bit lazy. And they were able to hit outside shots, just not closing out."

Popko, Lake Linden-Hubbell's 6-3, 205 pound senior force in the middle, led all scorers with 16 points and Marcotte had 13. Popko was an All-U.P. Dream Team football selection at defensive end and Marcotte was the Dream Team quarterback; and both seniors figure to do pretty well on the All-U.P. basketball team.

The Lakes overcame their second-worst offensive-performance of the year, their worst was against Houghton (31 points). Their second and fourth worst were against W-M, which allowed just 47 and 50 points.

LL-H shot 4 of 18 from 3 Tuesday night and 17 of 43 from the field overall.

"They played solid defense," Poissant said. "Their 2-3 really packed it in. They triple-teamed Gabe, which rightfully so, he's our big body, he's our rock down there. And we were just cold shooting across the board. They're showing me these last couple games they can shoot worse, so hopefully we can get going before the next one."

LL-H (22-3) will play Crystal Falls Forest Park (18-4), ranked fifth in the U.P., in a regional final Thursday night in Negaunee. The Lakes beat the Trojans 65-54 on Feb. 21.

"That'll be a tough game, we've got to come ready to play," Poissant said.

W-M's season ended at 14-11, but with a district trophy and a good showing in the regional.

LL-H --- Danny Marcotte 13, Josh Daavettila 8, Mason Holzberger 2, Gabe Popko 16, Matthew Jokela 8. FTs: 9-16. Fouls: 13. Fouled out: None. 3-pointers: Popko 2, Marcotte 1, Daavettila 1.

W-M --- Jordan Libertoski 6, Braylon Lane 8, Chase Lane 13, Carter Cole 12, Nathan Londo 2. FTs: 2-3. Fouls: 15. Fouled out: None. 3-pointers: C. Lane 3, B. Lane 2, Libertoski 1, Cole 1.

LL-H 11 20 28 47

W-M 13 25 34 41