Tawas Area's Jenny Jacques drilled four first-half 3-pointers to help the Braves stake a 20-point halftime lead.
The Falcons' Ashley Thompson fights with Tawas Area's Courtney Clothier for a rebound during Friday's district title game.
Brent Baker
Tawas celebrates its district championship after defeating Ogemaw Heights 55-35.

HOUGHTON LAKE - Mar. 6, 2009 - Fourteen minutes of devastating efficiency proved to be enough for Tawas Area in Friday's Class B girls basketball district championship at Houghton Lake.

The Braves took Ogemaw Heights out of the game early in building a 40-20 halftime lead, then never led the Falcons get any closer than 17 points in taking a 55-35 victory.

"Offensively we were just fantastic in the first half," said Tawas coach Todd Kaems. "Everything just clicked and we shot the lights out. For us to get 40 points in a half, the way we like to play possession basketball, is pretty amazing."

"They had to have shot 90 percent in the first half," said Ogemaw Heights coach Tim Hansen. "Todd does an awesome job with his team. They have fundamentally sound kids, do the right things and get the ball in the right players' hands at the right times."

In the first half that meant getting the ball into Jenny Jacques' hands. The Tawas senior came into the tournament averaging just over three points a game, but hit 4-of-6 3-pointers as Ogemaw tried to account for Braves center Rachel Adaline and guard Gina Gerow. Jacques often found herself open deep in the corner and took full advantage of it, hitting back-to-back treys in the first quarter that turned an 11-7 lead to 17-7 in the blink of an eye. In the second quarter she hit two more on three Tawas possessions to give the Braves 36-19 lead.

That opened up the inside even further for Adaline, who 13 points in the first half and finished with a team-high 20. Jacques finished with 12.

Thompson finished with 21 points to lead the Falcons, but no one else had more than five.

"The girls were very focused and ready to go," Kaems said. "It's the third straight district final for Rachel, Gina and (Audrey) Thoryk, and I really think that experienced helped."

The Falcons didn't have that kind of experience going for them and after Wednesday's 75-71 semifinal victory over Standish-Sterling didn't seem to have much energy left. Ogemaw turned the ball over on its first three possessions and were a step behind the Braves' offense.

"(Wednesday) had a lot to do with the way we came out," Hansen said. "We couldn't have a full practice (Thursday); we had kids in the ice tub trying to heal up. And it wasn't just that it was a physical game, it was such an emotional game, too."

After building its big lead, Tawas went into a nearly eight-minute scoring drought that lasted most of the third quarter, but Ogemaw managed just three points during that span. Adaline broke the drought with the Braves' only four points of the quarter and opened the fourth with a free throw and basket to make it 47-25. Gerow directed the Braves through a final quarter of ball-denial offense that kept Ogemaw from having any real chance at a comeback.

"Gina really controlled the tempo of the game," Kaems said. "She was outstanding tonight. We didn't want to get into an up-and-down kind of game and she made sure that didn't happen and didn't turn the ball over.

"We got a lot of great things from a lot of players, and it was a real good time for that."

The victory sends Tawas (20-2) to Tuesday's 6 pm regional semifinal game against Petoskey.

Ogemaw wraps up its best season since 1982 at 17-5.

"These girls have a lot to be proud of," Hansen said. "These seniors put their mark on the program.

"I really enjoyed the season. We far surpassed everyone's expectations and it's because of the effort and togetherness of these 10 girls. We've raised the bar for girls basketball ... Hard work in the off-season and summer is going to be important for improvement next year for those  who are up to the challenge."

Hansen added that one reason for Tawas Area's sustained success is its community center, which allows kids time to practice their shooting on their own.

"Hopefully they'll have to shut that down," he said, tongue-in-cheek. "That would keep their kids from getting in and shooting so much.

"Seriously, that's one of our Achilles' heels. Our kids have no place to go and shoot when they have nothing to do. I know times are tough right now, but it would really be nice if our communities could rally and get something built."