HALE - Mar. 12, 2010 - The Hale Eagles had to watch an opposing team celebrate a district championship four straight seasons.

Friday night was Hale's fifth consecutive trip to the district finals, and after the Eagles held off a late surge to top visiting Hillman 43-41 it was the Eagles turn to celebrate.

“It was a great win for us,” said Hale head coach Ryan Parkinson. “After being so close the last four years, it really feels good for these boys to get this win.”

After going back and forth most of the way, the Eagles pulled ahead 38-28 with 2:30 remaining, but a 9-0 run by the Tigers cut the gap to 38-37 with under a minute to play.

With 33 seconds to go, the Tigers put Hale senior Christian Moody on the line. Moody had missed Hale's previous five games -- including the Feb. 26 loss to Hillman that forced the Eagles to share the North Star League title with the Tigers -- with a knee injury that originally was considered season-ending.

But to the Eagles' delight, Moody was cleared to play earlier in the day.

“We had no idea what we were going to get out of him tonight,” Parkinson said. “In real live play, we hadn't seen him. We did know he could still make free throws. We knew when we got to this point in the game we would need him.”

Moody calmly hit both free throws to put the Eagles up 40-37, and Hale also added a free throw by Evan Caverly to go up 41-37. Hillman's Andrew Smith hit two free throws to close the gap to 41-39 with 18 seconds left.

Moody iced the game with 16 seconds left, hitting two more charity shots to put the Eagles up four. Hillman managed a buzzer beating basket by Kevin Tracey to account for the 43-41 final, but it was the Eagles that stormed the court in celebration.

“We knew this was going to be a game like this,” Parkinson said. “Both of the previous meetings were hard fought close games and this one was the same.”

Hale led 7-6 in the opening quarter, but three point baskets by Ben Katterman and Tanner Shellenbarger but the Eagles up 13-6 late in the frame before Hillman's Jonathan Robinson hit a shot before the buzzer to cut the gap to 13-8.

“We did a nice job getting a good start,” Parkinson said. “We did a good job on both ends of the floor in the first quarter.”

Hillman took a small 14-13 lead on an early second quarter basket by Devon Shumaker, but an and-one play by Katterman put Hale back up 16-14. The Eagles closed the half on a 7-2 run to take a 20-16 lead at the break.

“I don't know if I ever felt like we were in control,” Parkinson said. “In some stretches we were able to do what we wanted to. I was pretty pleased most of the game.”

The Eagles opened up a 26-18 lead on a Christian Mudry basket in the third quarter, but Hillman refused to go away, pulling to within 30-25 after three.

Hale went on a 7-0 run on a three-ball and two free throws by Shellenbarger and two more courtesy shots by Katterman to go up 38-28 with under three minutes to play.

“I really wasn't (comfortable up 10),” Parkinson said. “I thought it was physical game in the open court. I knew at some point they would try to trap the ball and go after it.”

Go after it they did, as it was at this point that Hillman increased its defensive pressure, which forced several late turnovers by Hale, letting the Tigers back in the game.

“I thought we made a couple poor decisions and Hillman did exactly what they should do in that situation,” Parkinson said. “It was a physical game at the end and we had the ball just pop out on us a couple times.”

The Eagles were led by Shellenbarger with 14 points and two assists, with Mudry adding 13 points and eight rebounds. Katterman scored 11 points while grabbing 10 rebounds and two steals. Moody finished with four points and three rebounds.

Hale (21-2) continues play on Monday at the Pellston regional against Cedarville (17-5). The Trojans, who topped DeTour 69-54 in their district final, bring in an impressive resume, winning the Class D state title in 2007, and losing in last year's state final 62-61 against Muskegon Western Michigan Christian. The Trojans won their fifth straight district title and also have a string of four consecutive regional championships.

“They play the same style (as they always have), up in the full court and they try to score 100 every game,” Parkinson said. “Hale has never won a regional game. I'm hoping for us to be able to go up there to compete and give them a game. We have to establish our basketball game to do it but I think we can.”