HOUGHTON LAKE — McBain and Beal City shared the Highland Conference title after splitting two regular-season games.
There’s no sharing regional crowns.
Beal City won the third matchup on a neutral court after both won on the other’s floor during Highland play.
The Aggies (23-2) won 51-48 in Tuesday’s Division 3 boys basketball regional semifinal at Houghton Lake.
The Ramblers (22-3) lost just three games all season, two to Beal City and one against Traverse City St. Francis on the end of of back-to-back contests to close out the regular season.
“Not a bad year,” McBain coach Bruce Koopman said. “We won 22 games, won the conference and won a district. That’s not shabby.”
McBain led 22-15 with under four minutes left before halftime, but the Aggies took a 23-22 lead into the intermission on a late 3-pointer.
“I just told myself, ‘We can’t let them get the lead,'” Koopman said. “When you have the lead, you can dictate the game.”
Beal led 38-35 after three quarters.
Clayton Heuker led the Ramblers with 26 points, while Colton Haverkamp added nine and Trenton Brunink eight.
McBain loses eight players, graduating Haverkamp, Drew Hamilton, Brunink, Thomas Maloney, Kasen Pollington, Skyler Franklin and Grayson Guernsey, as well as Mongolian foreign-exchange student Chris Enkhbaatar.
Over the last two years, McBain won 46 games, two district titles, two Highland crowns and a regional.