Dundee makes it back-to-back district titles by holding off Ida

CARLETON – History narrowly eluded Dundee’s Braiden Whitaker Friday night.

But he made history in another way that probably means more to him.

The Dundee senior came into the finals of the Division 2 District at Airport needing 21 points to set a school record for career points.

He finished one shy of that but got a bigger prize.

Dundee held off arch-rival Ida 46-40 for its second-straight district title.

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"It wasn't pretty, but that's the first time we've won back-to-back Districts in 40 years," Dundee coach Jay Haselschwerdt said.

The last time Dundee repeated as district champs came when it won three straight from 1977-79.

Whitaker didn't eclipse the school record of 1,281 points that Norm Weyher set way back in 1958, but his defense was crucial to the Viking victory.

Haselschwerdt changed up his defensive plan from the first two meetings this season with Ida, putting the lanky Whitaker on Ida standout AJ Schrader.

“We decided to get a little more length on him,” Haselschwerdt explained. “We thought that might bother him a little.”

Schrader hit an early 3-pointer but finished the half with just 5 points.

Schrader was better in the second half and led Ida with 14 points, but Dundee was able to build an early lead that it never let slip away.

Ryan Zanger hit is third 3-pointer of the first quarter to give Dundee a 22-11 lead at the end of the frame, but Ida fought back with the first eight points of the second quarter to slice the Viking advantage to 21-19.

Dundee hit their last six free throws of the half, including four by Ethan Layton, to take a 27-21 lead at intermission.

Free throws also were the story of the second half.

Whitaker hit three baskets in the third quarter, then the final 12 points of the game for the Vikings came from the line – including 7 of 8 by Layton, who finished 12-for-14 to score all but three of his 15 points on free throws.

Zanger added 10 for the 20-4 Vikings.

“We were not pretty offensively, but we played enough defense to win,” Haselschwerdt said. “If you hold Ida to 40 points, that’s pretty good.”

Working so hard defensively might have taken a toll on Whitaker on the other end.

“He might have been a little tired there at the end,” Haselschwerdt said.

Missed free throws were an issue for Ida, which was just 11-for-22 from the line.

“We missed a lot of shots and a lot of free throws,” Blue Streak coach Jared Karner said. “Hat’s off to Dundee. It’s not easy playing against them. … The effort was there, especially defensively.”

Ida got progressively better against Dundee this season. The Blue Streaks were bombed 68-35 in the first meeting, then crept within 57-50 in the rematch before falling by six Friday.

“After the first time, people were questioning – maybe even on our own team – if we could hang with them,” Karner said.

Schrader was the only returning starter Ida had this season, but the 15-9 Blue Streaks finished just one win shy of last year’s total.

“I don’t think a lot of people thought we could do that,” Karner said.

Graduation will again hit Ida hard.

“This group of seniors has left a standard going forward and has set the tone for the program we are trying to build,” Karner said. “It will be hard for a group to win 31 games in two years again. I will miss them but couldn’t be more proud of them.”

Dundee’s seniors have at least one more game to play.

They move on to the Division 2 Regional at Flat Rock to play 19-4 Dearborn Heights Robichaud at 7 p.m. Tuesday. Detroit University Prep and Summit Academy will meet in the first game at 5:30.

This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: Dundee holds off Ida to capture second-consecutive district crown