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The Lady Raiders, now 9-1 in the East, avenged their only East defeat with the victory over the Bearcats. It also lifted them into sole possession of first place. Then, Ubly's loss at Harbor Beach on Thursday and Marlette's win Monday all but wrapped up the championship. Ubly at 8-3 and Sandusky, a five-time defending champion, at 7-3 would need a miracle to gain a share. The Lady Raiders (14-4 overall) were to play Mayville (0-10, 2-16) last night (Tuesday) and close out the season at home against Harbor Beach this Thursday.

In a tightly played first half last Tuesday, Ubly held a 22-21 lead over Marlette. The Bearcats, though, went on a 9-2 run to start the third quarter to go up 31-23. Seven of the points came from guard Lindsey White.

That's when veteran Raider coach Fred Mroczek changed tactics.

"We switched to man-to-man when Lindsey White got hot. We had been concentrating on (Alecia) Leipprandt and (Shannon) Webber. I think that was the turning point," said Mroczek. Meanwhile, Weber and Leipprandt, Ubly's top two scorers, had just eight points the rest of the way.

A bucket by Catherine Distelrath and a triple by Amara Wilson jump-started the Marlette offense. Then, six points from senior center Kelsey Hall helped the Lady Raiders tie the game at 36-36 before White hit a three at the buzzer, her last points of the night.

Marlette took the lead for goad, 42-40, on a pair of free throws by senior Jenna Lange with 4:02 to go. In the final minute, Wilson sank three free throws and Distelrath added another that proved to be the difference.

Wilson, a sophomore, has adapted to the point guard well in recent weeks and stepped up her point production, including a season-high 12 against the Bearcats. Her rise up is a factor in the Lady Raiders' current eight-game winning streak.

"Amara has been playing steady the last month or so," lauded Mroczek. "She's been shooting the ball well and driving to the basket. She has a quick, first step. When she sees an opening, she gets their in a hurry, and finishes."

Mroczek also dished out the praise for his defense. "I think Catherine (Distelrath) on Leipprandt and Kelsey's (Hall) defense on Weber was really good. Plus, we had some really good awareness on our help defense."

White and Weber finished with 12 points each for Ubly, who was also without perimeter threat Gwen Pionk (shoulder injury).

Meanwhile, Hall led Marlette in scoring with 14 points while Lange finished with 10. Kendra Smith, a third six-footer in Mroczek's line-up, along with Hall and Lange, grabbed 11 rebounds.

Marlette 56 Deckerville 46

The Lady Raiders outscored the Eagles, 38-12, in the first and third quarters and led 46-21 going into the fourth quarter.

Lange paced a balanced scoring attack with 14 points. Distelrath and Hall each chipped in with 11 and Wilson and Smith had nine and seven points, respectively. Lange also had eight assists and three steals.

For Deckerville, senior forward Ashley Szymanski fired in 14 points and grabbed six rebounds.