KALKASKA — Frankfort girls basketball head coach Tim Reznich may not want to wash his lucky purple towel.
“I’ve used this same towel every game, and I can’t stop now,” Reznich said, smiling while wiping the sweat off his forehead.
The girls basketball program has made the Division 4 regional round four out of the last six seasons, but hasn’t won a regional championship game since the 2016-17 season.
This season, Reznich’s lucky towel came through.
Frankfort defeated defending Division 4 state champion Glen Lake in the regional semifinals with gritty defense that also helped it topple Gaylord St. Mary 64-37 Wednesday at Kalkaska High School.
“There’s eight teams left now, so it feels pretty good knowing we are one of those eight,” Panthers senior Evelyn VanTol said after a career-high 30 points. “Hopefully we can make it all the way.”
Frankfort (21-5) plays Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart (23-3) in the D4 state quarterfinals Tuesday at Houghton Lake High School.
Reznich’s lucky towel will have come through again Tuesday against the Irish, as Sacred Heart has gotten the best of Frankfort in the last several postseason meetings.
The last was in the 2017 state quarterfinals, with the Irish beating the Panthers 48-37.
The Panthers utilized the boys basketball team to prepare for the physicality Glen Lake plays with. Reznich had the team play five-on-six against the junior varsity team to prepare for the Snowbirds.
“We used extra players and let them push us a bit,” VanTol said of their preparation.
The Snowbirds jumped out to a 9-0 lead in the first quarter, with sophomore Emery Blust scoring seven of the nine points by splashing a couple 3-pointers.
Blust finished with a team-high 16 points.
“These girls have never been in this position. They’re so excited and anxious to get on the court because they have been waiting all day,” Reznich said on the slow start. “We’re all anticipating this. I knew they would settle down, and our defense would kick in.”
The Panthers’ first point came from sophomore Addison Chownyk splitting at the charity stripe with 5:16 to play to make it 9-1. Then VanTol came to life by scoring the six of the Panthers’ nine first-quarter points to cut the deficit to 15-9.
VanTol took a toll on the Snowbird defense the rest of the game by scoring 28 of her 30 points inside the paint. The senior also finished with 12 rebounds.
“Just the way (Evelyn) was carrying herself on the court, I knew she was going to have a big game when I taped her ankles,” Reznich said. “I told her this tape job is worth 30 and 15.”
Frankfort prided itself on defense this season, and it was on full display in the second quarter because the Panthers held the Snowbirds to seven points.
Junior Savina Anhalt held things on the defensive side by leading the team with four steals and five blocks.
With the Panthers defense going to work, the offense exploded on a 12-0 run to take a 21-15 lead before freshman Lilly Keister stopped the bleeding with a 2-pointer, but it wasn’t enough because VanTol continued to be a force inside by finishing with 12 points in the second to help the Panthers lead 30-22 at halftime.
VanTol surpassed her season average of 15.5 points with 18 in the first half.
“We didn’t have an answer for (VanTol),” St. Mary head coach Pat Schultz said. “When you spend so much time and energy trying to stop that, you’re going to give up something to take away something.”
The Snowbirds did what they could in the second half by slowing down VanTol, but Chownyk got involved by splashing seven of her 13 points in the third to help the Panthers lead 51-28 heading into the fourth.
VanTol set her career-high midway through the fourth quarter with the game already out of reach.
After the career night, she received a roar from Frankfort fans after being subbed out.
“It’s so great to be able to do this with my community,” VanTol said. “They’re all watching and supporting, so it feels good.”
VanTol said her performance doesn’t happen without her teammates.
Anhalt finished with a game-high nine assists to go along with 10 points. Chownyk splashed 13 points, seven boards and two steals.
St. Mary made it to the regional championship game with a group of underclassman and one senior. The Snowbirds continued to fight the entire game, even when being down double-digits.
“That’s what we build our program on,” Schultz said. “I’ve fortunately been here eight or nine times, then the quarterfinals nine times. Unfortunately, you need to go through these kinds of losses with young groups to be able to move on.”
The veteran head coach helped guide the young Snowbirds team to a 17-9 overall record.