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The Green Devils, now 19-1 overall, fought off Marlette for a 32-19 triumph at Raider Pavilion. They will move into tonight's (Wednesday's) semifinals against Memphis. Marlette, which suffered a lopsided loss the week before to BC to close the regular season, finished at 7-13.

The Raiders, from the start, spread out the court and went to a delay game against the Devils. The tactic by Marlette coach Chris Storm worked as his team led 7-5 after a quarter and trailed by just one, 14-13, at the break.

"In practice Sunday," explained Burton, Green Devil head coach, "we anticipated two things. Jim and I thought that they would either zone us because Donovan (Ogboh) had been so successful against them the first two games. And, we thought they would slow the game. So, we worked on a 1-3-1 (zone) defense."

It was good defensive strategy, but Burton then noted something else at halftime. "We got fatigued in the first half.... because we were trying to trap and force turnovers. We came to the conclusion that if we got a lead, we'd sit back and rest."

After BC scored the first three points of the third quarter, sit is what they did, holding the ball, according to one report, for nearly five and a half minutes.

Perhaps the biggest play of the night came at the end of the quarter when junior Jack McPhail buried a triple to give the Devils a 20-13 edge. The Raiders were not able to recover in the fourth quarter.

"You have to give them credit. Chris did a nice job of giving his team a chance to win. And, (his kids) were very disciplined," said Burton

Ogboh, a senior forward, was the only player in double figures for the Devils, finishing with 14 points. Jon Muxlow and McPhail added seven and six points.

Marlette was led by junior forward John Bishop with 10 points.

Burton Bentley 56 Sandusky 53

The Sandusky Redskins came back from a double-digit deficit in the first half, but the rally fell short in the opening contest at Marlette Monday night.

The Redskins missed a pair of late shots that could have put them in the lead or tied the game.

Sandusky (10-11) trailed 31-21 at the half but gained a 44-42 lead going into the final eight minutes.

Junior guard Ty Loding paced the ‘Skins with 17 points. Seniors Matt Gribitz and Derek Neumayer chipped in with nine and seven points.

Pirates hold off Eagles

Class D at Peck

The Peck Pirates, champions of the NCTL South, had all they could handle from the Deckerville Eagles Monday night in the District opener on their home court.

The Pirates (18-3) jumped out to a nice lead, 18-11, in the first quarter, but then were strapped by foul problems.

"We got into serious foul trouble. We had Michael Mann, Zac Overstreet and Bryan Carrier (all starters), on the bench in the first half," said Garnett Kohler, Pirates coach.

It was a scrap the rest of the way. The Eagles (2-17) pulled within three, 23-20, by halftime and stayed within six, 3529, after three quarters.

"We had a few guys come off the bench that gave us a spark and maintained our lead - Jordan Alexander, Jesse Germain and Tim Zacharias all did a good job," added Kohler.

Overstreet, a 6'4" junior, led all scorers with 15 points, 13 coming in the first half, and added eight rebounds. Junior Billy Burns tossed in 10 points for the Pirates.

For the Eagles, junior forward Ethyan Kramer led the way with 10 points and senior center Sean Hornby followed with nine.

Kohler praised Deckerville's effort. "We knew it wouldn't be easy. Steve (Keinath, Deckerville coach) always has his kids ready to play every game.

"We had a couple of breaks at the end and we were fortunate enough to come away with a win."

The Pirates move into tonight's semifinals against Marine City Cardinal Mooney. The title game at Peck will be Friday evening at 7 p.m.

CPS 60 New Life Christian 25

The Tigers, who were in the NCTL South title hunt until the final week of the regular season, advanced to the semis at Peck tonight after Monday's lopsided victory.

Senior forward Justin Taylor and junior guard Todd Albrecht combined 20 points in the first half as CPS built a 40-10 lead.

Taylor and junior James Lusher each finished with 12 points and Albrecht added 11. Eleven players scored for the Tigers (15-6).

CPS plays in the opener tonight at Peck against Kingston (11-9). The two teams divided their pair of league games this season.

What else? Shooting woes oust Pioneers

Class B at Millington

Scoring has been the Achilles heel for the Cros-Lex Pioneers all season long. Monday night, it ended their season

The Pioneers made just 13 of 48 shots from the floor in a 38-31 loss to Millington in the Class B District opener.

"We did everything we wanted to do, offensively and defensively, except score. We out-rebounded them and we out-played them," bemoaned Don Roberts Pioneers coach.

Cros-Lex (9-12) trailed at the half, 16-13, and continued its offensive struggles the final two quarters.

"It's frustrating," added Roberts. "We feel bad as coaches that we couldn't find the right buttons to push to make us score.

"The positive of this is that the heart and soul of this team was youngsters," continued Roberts. "The experience of this season - finishing off close games and not finishing off close games - can pay big dividends next year."

Senior center Jacob Munger led the Pioneers Monday night with seven points and nine rebounds. Junior Taylor Kasper added five points.

Millington will meet Yale in the first of two semifinal games, at Millington, tonight.