Petoskey girls win emotional Division 2 district title on home court
PETOSKEY — For Coach Pollion.
When the Petoskey hosted Division 2 girls basketball district championship game closed Friday night, Petoskey head coach Bryan Shaw clung to a bag of popcorn amongst his whiteboard and other little items.
The popcorn wasn’t Shaw’s, however, or anyone’s for that matter. It was placed on a vacant seat along the PHS bench during the Sean Pollion Memorial Invite in early December and each home game since as a symbol representing their late assistant coach.
On Friday night against visiting Kingsley, Petoskey represented Coach P and the effort he help instill by celebrating a Division 2 district title with a 31-27 victory.
As the celebration took place, Pollion was on the mind of many.
“This is absolutely the most special game for Coach Pollion,” Petoskey senior Quinn Matthews said afterward. “I wish he could have been here to experience this. I hope he knows we’re playing for him above anyone else.”
Petoskey last captured a district title back in the 2020-21 season at the Division 1 level, though moved down to Division 2 this season and met teams they haven’t always been familiar with during the postseason.
No matter who was up on the schedule, Shaw was confident that what his team had gone through during the season – including a six game losing streak against tough teams – hardened them for the postseason.
“I’m just really proud of the girls,” Shaw said. “It’s been a long season. We went to Mount Pleasant, Midland and Traverse City Central and fell all in the same week. That’s tough. But, it built us stronger for the end. We played a heck of a schedule and the girls showed that tonight.”
While the final score might look more like a halftime score, that hasn’t been uncommon for Petoskey this season, with the Stags being the fourth straight team they’ve held below 30 points.
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“I can’t say enough about the defense of our guards,” Shaw said. “Their guards are really good and ours did a really good job getting into them and not letting them get up shots.
“Pollion’s popcorn is probably going to go to Naveah (Leonard) tonight because she did a great job on (Chissy) Whims. She’s a great player and I’m just really proud of the girls.”
Halftime had Kingsley up in a 19-17 game, then baskets came few and far between during the third quarter, which closed in a 22-21 advantage for Kingsley.
When Petoskey broke the huddle for the fourth, finish was the word the broke the huddle, and that they did.
Petoskey quickly grabbed the lead in the fourth and never returned it back to the Stags, again leaning on that defense.
“This was a full defensive game,” Petoskey junior Sadie Corey said. “We won this game because of defense.”
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With Petoskey clinging to a two-point lead inside 30 seconds and the two trading timeouts, it was a Leonard pass to Corey, who finished for a layup with 18 seconds renaming that sealed the night and the title.
“It made me feel so good,” Corey said. “We were only up two and that put us up by four late. It was a really big basket to make.
“I wanted this so bad and it feels so good right now. We’re just a team. We play so well together and everybody is just so connected. It feels so good. We’ve got a huge connection and we’re all having so much fun.”
Petoskey’s Caitlyn Matelski led on the night with 13 points, 11 rebounds, four blocks and three steals, while Matthews had six and three assists and Braylin Adair had six and seven rebounds.
The win advanced Petoskey (13-10) into a Division 2 regional semifinal game vs. Negaunee (23-1) at Manistique on Monday, March 11. A win there would then bring the Northmen back to a hosted regional final against either Ludington or Clare on Wednesday, March 13.
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To be at this point in the season, with the chance to celebrate two titles on their home court and honor Coach Pollion, Matthews was feeling it all Friday night through tears of joy.
“It feels amazing,” she said. “This team has grown so much over the course of the year. From the Coach P tournament we’ve just been climbing back. We’ve had some injuries, but we’re here, we’re back and I couldn’t be prouder of this team.”
Contact or send game stats/info to Sports Editor Drew Kochanny at dkochanny@petoskeynews.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @DrewKochanny, and Instagram, @drewkochanny
This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Petoskey girls basketball tops Kingsley for Division 2 district title
