CHEBOYGAN — History was worth the wait.
Inland Lakes suffered through some delayed gratification before finally winning a regional basketball championship Saturday, a game originally scheduled for Wednesday.
The Bulldogs beat Newberry 39-29 in Saturday’s Division 4 regional championship at Cheboygan, the only varsity girls basketball game played in the state that day.
“It’s wonderful,” sixth-year head coach Daryl Vizina said. “It’s such a great group of girls. They’ve had so many opportunities to quit or doubt, but they haven’t. It says a lot about this group, the character, the fight.”
The title is the first regional crown in basketball, either boys or girls.
The Bulldogs (22-3) dealt with injuries all season. Vizina suffered an Achilles injury five minutes into the first practice of the season.
Inland Lakes led by 16 points at halftime after posting a 15-0 shutout in the second quarter, but Newberry (19-3) cut the deficit to four in the third quarter.
The Bulldogs, who typically run nine deep, surprisingly tired out in the third quarter. Vizina called off the team’s full-court press.
Senior Molly Monthei, playing with a broken finger taped to the one next to it, drilled a 3-pointer at the third quarter’s horn to put Inland Lakes up seven.
“We regrouped and created some separation in the fourth quarter,” Vizina said.
Mary Myshock, wearing a knee brace while playing with a partially torn meniscus, held the Eastern UP Player of the Year, Gracie Johnson, to 11 points.
The Bulldogs lost in regionals each of the last three seasons, the last two years to St. Ignace and in 2023 to Mackinaw City. Two of those three were tantalizingly a win away from the school’s first basketball regional title.
The Bulldogs didn’t practice for three days prior to Saturday’s game, largely due to weather, both in postponing games, but also making it difficult for players to safely assemble to work out. Inland Lakes did have a shootaround Thursday evening while waiting for Newberry to show up in Cheboygan, only to have the contests postponed a second time.
“In fairness to Newberry, their situation was worse than ours,” Vizina said. “They deserve a lot of credit.”
Newberry had almost no fans in attendance, as the Mackinac Bridge was closed Saturday. The team traveled across the bridge Friday and stayed overnight at a hotel, but most fans couldn’t cross Saturday into the Lower Peninsula due to hazardous ice conditions closing the bridge for the third time in three days.
Tuesday’s quarterfinal against No. 6-ranked Ishpeming (22-3) is scheduled for Gladstone, although the contest could be moved more east in the Upper Peninsula. The quarterfinal winner would play in Thursday’s 5:30 p.m. semifinal at Michigan State University’s Breslin Student Events Center.
Sophomore center Ava Belford led the Bulldogs with 15 points and multiple blocks. Senior Chloe Robinson played with a broken nose and scored 10 points, while fellow senior Addison Byrne added six.
Sydney Duflo led Newberry with 14 points.