DOUBLE OVERTIME WAR: North Central Survives

EAST LANSING---They were knocked down during one game more times than they had been knocked down in any contest over the past three seasons.

But the North Central High School basketball team got up each time, and battled a great Southfield Christian team for four quarters...and then some. NCA senior Seth Polfus scored a layup as time expired in a second overtime period to beat Southfield Christian, 84-83, in the Class D state semfinals Thursday night at Michigan State University.

"Just knowing that we did it, after all of the talk about Southfield Christian, all the talk about The Streak, we game together and we just did it," Polfus said. "That's all you can say. Everyone just stepped up. I'm just happy to get out of here with a win."

"There's not a feeling like it," a hoarse NCAsenior Bobby Kleiman said. "We've worked our butts off for this specific moment. We knew that we had this coming. There is not a kid more deserving than Seth Polfus. He came out to play today.

"We all did. We watched film on Southfield Christian. We knew they were the team to beat. We were the underdogs coming into today. We knew what we were coming into."

The win kept the nation's longest high school basketball winning streak alive at 82 games, and gave the Jets the right to play for their third straight state championship on Saturday. The Jets battled back from eight and ten-point deficits, and they battled exhaustion as the Eagles pushed them up and down the floor for nearly two hours straight. And now the group of seniors will play together for one more time, Saturday morning, in the state championship game, against Buckley High, at the Breslin Center.

"It was unbelievable," NCA Coach Adam Mercier said. "The resliency our kids showed tonight was just unreal. I'm so proud of our effort. I'm so proud of our enthusiasm. It'such a great group of kids. Hard work pays off."

Southfield Christian came in with a 21-5 record, but had lost all five of those games to much larger schools. The Eagles were actually favored in this one, by most observers anyway, but not in the minds of the Jets players, nor of the hundreds of fans who made the long trip downstate.

"I'm exhausted," NCA senior Marcus Krachinski admitted. "We played 38 minutes tonight (actually 40). It was nice to have the longer time-outs, though, to at least suck down some water. We just don't give up. We don't back down from anybody. When the lights come on, it's time to go play."

And play they did, with a near-constant deafening noise reverberating throughout the Breslin Center from start to finish.

he game was tied at 16-16 after one, and Southfield Christian took a 28-20 lead in the second quarter as the Eagles were red hot from three-point land. But the Jets finished the second quarter on an 11-2 run to take a 31-30 lead at halftime.

In the third quarter, a few bad passes and a couple of empty trips were turned into points at the other end by the talented Eagles lineup. They took their biggest lead, 49-39, midway through the third quarter. But Krachinski and Jason Whitens hit back-to-back three's of their own to bring North Central back to within striking distance.

In the fourth quarter, Polfus, who had missed a pair of line-drive three-pointers earlier in the game, came up with a big one to give the Jets a 62-57 lead with 4:30 left on the clock.'

But the Eagles battled back, and after a turnover led to a Bryce Washington slam dunk, giving Southfield Christian a 68-67 lead with 43.6 seconds left.

Whitens sank a pair of free throws a half minute later to put the Jets back up by one, but Harlond Beverly was fouled and had a chance to sink two free throws but split the pair.

Whitens got the rebound on the missed foul shot, drove thje other way, and missed at the buzzer. And so, we went to overtime.

Both teams scored seven points in the first overtime, with Whitens nailing a monster three with a man in his face to prolong the game into a second four minute period. And when Brock Washington nailed a three with 6.5 seconds left, NCA was down, 83-82.

So, the Jets came back up court, and Polfus describes what happened next.

"I didn't really know how much time was left on the clock," Polfus said. "I just pump-faked, because that's just kind of what I do. And they both (defenders) went for the fake, surprisingly, and if they would've stayed on the ground, I don't know what I would have done. So, I got lucky, it rolled up on the rim, and in."

The MHSAA reviews all baskets at the final buzzer, and when the replay showed Polfus got it off on time, it was pandamonium.

The Streak lives!

"True heart of a champion tonight," Mercier said. "They kept bouncing back. When bad things happened, they just bounced back and picked themselves up off the ground."

Whitens scored 31 points and grabbed ten rebounds to lead the Jets.

Dawson Bilski scored 23 points, grabbed 12 rebounds, and had three big blocked shots. Kleiman added 14 points, Krachinski scored nine, and Polfus had seven...inlcuding the biggest two.

Southfield Christian made eleven three-point baskets, including five by Beverly, who scored 22 points. Bryce Washington had three triples and 23 points. Three other Eagle players scored in double figures, but the Jets had one more point at the end.

North Central faces the Buckley Bears in the Class D state championship game Saturday morning at 10:00 ET/9:00 CT. The game will be broadcast on FM-107.3, FM-96.7, and AM-1490, and on all three station pages on the web at www.radioresultsnetwork.com.

Click the thumbnails in the ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS box above to see photos, and to listen to radio calls of Whitens' big three, a Bilski blocked shot, Polfus's winner, and interviews with Polfus, Kleiman, and Krachinski.