PERFECTION ACHIEVED! NC JETS THREE-PEAT

EAST LANSING---The North Central Jets completed an unprecedented three-year run on the basketball court Saturday afternoon with a third consecutive MHSAA Class D state championship.

The Jets raced to a 23-point lead and held off a furious rally from the Buckley Bears to post a 78-69 victory at Michigan State University. It finished off a 27-0 season for the Jets, and ran the team's nation's-best winning streak to an amazing 83 basketball games.

"Unbelievable," NCA Coach Adam Mercier said. "Words can't even describe the thrill of the victory for our team. I'm just so happy for our community, our players, our coaches."

North Central got off to an amazing start, making its first eleven shots from the field.

The Jets made 15 of its first 18 shots in the first quarter altogether, and had a 38-20 lead after the first eight minutes. Dawson Bilski was the hottest Jet, dcoring 18 of those points while draining four triples. Buckley played pretty well all in all, but North Central was rolling.

"When we came out and hit those ten shots, I was like, oh my goodness, we're gonna do this," Bilski said. "We're gonna shoot 75-percent like the we did the last two years! And we did tonight. We shot a great percentage. There was no letdown after that first quarter. We knew that we had to keep the job up, and we had to keep it going."

So, had Mercier ever seen anything like that start before?

"Never," the Michigan Class D Coach of the Year said. "Not in a state championship game, especially. For our kids to come off of that victory on Thursday and play that well in the first quarter, it shows a lot about our kids' mental toughness."

But if Jets fans were hoping for an easy path to the trophy, the Buckley Bears were having none of that. The Bears were also undefeated on the season, and their top two players, Denver Cade and Austin Harris, took turns at hitting big shots to keep their team afloat.

With Bilski on the bench with three fouls, Cade and Harris combined for 35 points in the first half. North Central still led at halftime, 54-40.

In the third quarter, Buckley continued to battle as Bilski quickly got his fourth foul and had to sit a second time.

But Marcus Krachinski made two straight baskets to restore the North Central lead to 14, at 64-50, at the end of the third quarter.

In the final quarter, Mercier continued to slow the tempo to drain clock, but his team's shooting went cold and the Bears caught fire. They made a big run over the first half of the quarter to close wto within three at 68-65, and the Blue and Gold crowd erupted.

But big players make big plays, and that's exactly what Bilski and Class D co-player of the Year Jason Whitens did. Bilski knocked down a a scoop shot, then Whitens scored two straight baskets, the second being an athletic play in the air that saw him change directions and float in a six-footer. North Central led, 74-65, with time running out.

"I think we had veteran leadership," Mercier said. "We had guys who've played a lot of games together. We just had to keep together. That's all we could do."

"These past couple of years, we've had some close games, especially down here," Bilski said. "Like against Waterford last year. They had a little run. They came on to us. But we just had to stay focused to get the job done. Keep getting lay-ups and make all of our free throws."

One unsung hero may have been junior Lucas Dombrowski. He played three minutes against Southfield Christian in the semifinal on Thursday and had two key defensive steals. On Saturday, he played 13 minutes in relief of Bilski, scoring four points. He also grabbed a defensive rebound.

"I'm always prepared to go in," Dombrowski said. "I just come off the bench when our team is in need, play some good defense, work the ball on offense, and get the ball to our seniors. I'm just ready all the time, do what I have to do, and hopefully, they (starters) can get back out."

The game was the last, of course, for the seniors Whitens, Bilski, Bobby Kleiman, Krachinski, and Seth Polfus, who was the hero of Thursday's state semifinal win.

But it was also the last game for senior Ryan Plunger, who rarely played but nevertheless was considered to be a big part of the team. Plunger played the final 20 seconds of Saturday's game.

And he says he cherished every single second.

"We just came together," Plunger said. "We said 'together' after every huddle, and pretty much, that's what we were. We just stayed together as a family, didn't whine or anything about playing time. We knew our roles, and that's what made us successful."

This was also a final game for Tyler Mercier, a former NCA Jet player who coached the junior varsity team to an undefeated season.

He was also his cousin Adam's assistant coach (along with Gerald Whitens).

"When he (Adam) started this, I was in the eighth grade, and we were 1-20," Tyler Mercier remembered. "We were so bad that I stopped going to games. But in the four years I played with him, we got better and better every year. Working with these guys when they were in junior high and elementary school, we said that these were special guys. But we didn't think this. We didn't think 83 in a row, three state titles!"

Tyler Mercier is moving to Madison, Wisconsin, to take a new job.

On Saturday, four Jets scored in double figures as Bilski finished with 25 points and Whitens tallied 23. Kleiman added 12 points and Krachinski chipped in with 11.

For Buckley, Cade had 25 points, Harris 22, and Joey Weber added 15 points.

The greatest basketball run in Upper Peninsula history may have ended on Saturday, but for these Jets players, they may still have one more run left in them.

You see, the NCA Jets varsity baseball team will be starting its season soon, and the boys all plan to play for Coach Snyder's team. Could there be one more parade in June? Stay tuned!

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