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Click the thumbnails to see photos and videos from the game, and to hear post-game comments from Liam Tourtillott, Baron Colbert, and Coach Jesse Kentala.
GLADSTONE---It was eight years ago that the Dollar Bay Blue Bolts boys basketball team made it to the state semifinals at Michigan State University. That team was led by Devin Schmitz, who is now the assistant woman's basketball coach at Bay College.
Schmitz's nephew, Liam Tourtillott, is one of the best players in the Upper Peninsula this season, and he has beat Schmitz's scoring records to become the all-time leading scorer in Dollar Bay High School basketball history.
Now, you can add state semifinalist to Tourtillott's resume, after he led the Blue Bolts to a 55-46 come-from-behind win over the Pickford Panthers Tuesday night in the MHSAA Division Four state quarterfinal in Gladstone.
The Blue Bolts will face Detroit Douglass High School in the state semifinal Thursday afternoon.
“I've been dreaming of this since Devin did it when I was in the fourth grade,” Tourtillott said. “It means a lot. It's been our plan all season to get here, and we finally made it happen.”
“I can't put it into words,” Blue Bolts junior Baron Colbert said. “I'm just blessed to be here. Blessed to be with my teammates and my coaches. Man, I'm so excited.”
“It's a great feeling to be able to go there and play there,” Dollar Bay Coach Jesse Kentala said. “To be there again, it's our third time. Every time is special.”
But to do it, the Blue Bolts had to beat the Upper Peninsula's only undefeated team in the Pickford Panthers. And Pickford jumped to a 12-3 lead out of the gate, prompting Kentala to call a time out. The Panthers hounded Tourtillott early with excellent defense by senior Mac Collins, and Collins also put the ball in the hole on offense.
“They had a great defensive scheme against us,” Tourtillott said. “They really got out on me and that helped them. He (Collins) is a great defender. He knew the game plan and he stuck to it. It really took our defense to get us back in this game because our defense turns into our offense.”
It was Colbert who kept his team afloat offensively in the second quarter. He scored 14 of his 16 points in the first half, and Dollar Bay rallied to take a 27-25 halftime lead.
“That's what we do as a team,” Colbert said. “We knew from the start of the season that they were going to be on (Tourtillott). I mean, that's our all-time leading scorer over there. We had to help out and make open shots and that's what we did, and that's what I've been trying to do all season long.”
Pickford, though, kept battling, outscoring the Blue Bolts in the third quarter, 16-8, to take a 40-35 lead early in the fourth quarter. From there, it was a dogfight.
Tourtillott nailed a triple to give his team a 41-40 lead with 5:06 to play, and the team's only other senior, Caleb Kentala, made a lefty hook in the lane to give Dollar Bay a 43-40 lead with 4:44 left on the clock. But Collins willed his Panthers team back into the fight. His triple with 4:01 to play tied the game at 43-43.
Freshman Tyler Jaehnig scored on the next possession to give Dollar Bay a 45-43 lead, but Collins drained another triple to put Pickford ahead, 46-45, with 3:08 toi play.
Who knew that Pickford would not score the rest of the game? Tourtillott came up court and swished another triple to put the Blue Bolts ahead, 48-46 with 2:45 to play. After a turnover, Tourtillott knocked down another triple. It was all over after Colbert took a long pass from Tourtillott to score a lay-up, wrapping up a 10-0 run over the final three minutes and punching Dollar Bay's ticket to East Lansing.
“Pickford is good,” Coach Kentala said. “They're fast. They're physical. They rebound. They're well-coached. We had to weather the storm. They came out hot and they hit some shots. I thought we were a little late with some of our defensive rotations.”
An unsung hero for Dollar Bay is Kentala's son, Caleb, who played lockdown defense, holding Pickford's Gunner Benin in check. Benin scored just six points and fouled out of the game. Kentala scored ten points in the Dollar Bay victory.
Collins led Pickford (25-1) with 17 points. Carter Yiirs added 12 points for the Panthers.
Dollar Bay (24-2) will now play Detroit Douglass (20-7) in the state semifinals Thursday at 5:30 at the Breslin Center. The Lions' school is located in downtown Detroit on Woodward Avenue. They've won six straight games.
But for now, as the Blue Bolts left Gladstone toward the Mackinac Bridge, that doesn't matter yet. For a few hours anyway, the Blue Bolts are flying high.
