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That was corrected Monday night when the Green Devils opened Class C District hoops play with a 57-40 win over the Deckerville Eagles. Brown City, 18-3, moves into the semifinals on their home court tonight (Wednesday) against rival Marlette (8-12). Tonight’s winner will play in Friday evening’s championship game against either Sandusky or Mayville.

A fast start is what Burton was looking for against the Eagles (5-16). The Devils responded by building a 22-10 lead.

“We got off to a good start, and we need that,” expressed Burton. “The first quarter was important and we rebounded well, and that was one of the goals we set. We wanted to get off to a good start if we could and we wanted to control the glass.”

Senior guard Justin McPhail ignited the first eight minutes by scoring 12 of his game-high 20 points.

“We ran some off-the-ball screens and he was able to gain some space,” Burton explained. McPhail went on to add six assists and six rebounds for the night.

Brown City led 28-18 at halftime and then extended its lead to 45-29 in the third quarter.

McPhail had plenty of other help, statistically. Donovan Ogboh and Cameron Mason had 13 and 10 points, respectively, and Jeremy Burgess finished with 10 boards.

Deckerville senior center Seth McVittie ended a strong senior season with 20 points.