STANDISH-STERLING - Mar. 3, 2010 - Not wanting a repeat of the teams' meeting the previous week, the Ogemaw Heights girls basketball team decided to slow down the pace of Wednesday's district semi-final against the Tawas Area Braves.

Tawas had topped Ogemaw in both teams' regular-season finale on Feb. 25, 66-39. With that in mind, the Falcons, much to the displeasure of the Tawas fans in attendance, controlled the ball after the opening tip and milked over five minutes off the clock before Ashley Thompson put up a shot with 2:40 to go in the quarter.

"(It was our) best shot," Ogemaw head coach Tim Hansen said. "(I wanted to) give them something they wouldn't expect, number one. Number two I wanted to stretch the game out, keep it close as long as possible.

"You want to get the team that is supposed to win to start scoreboard-watching."

Thompson's shot was blocked by Rachel Adaline, which sent the Braves racing down the court for their first possession of the game. Tawas forced an inside pass to Rachel Adaline, which was picked off by the Falcons to set up another stall.

Seeing an opponent attempt to slow the pace down to this extent wasn't something unfamiliar to Tawas head coach Todd Kaems, as Standish-Sterling has attempted a similar strategy against his team several times in recent years.

"It was a little bit more severe than what Standish does," Kaems said. "I don't know if they wanted it to be scoreless after the first or what."

Thompson put up a shot with 30 seconds left in the period, which clanged off the iron. After a Tawas rebound, Dana Kolnitys sped down the court for the game's first basket with 20 seconds to go in the first.

Thompson lofted her third shot of the quarter at the buzzer, but it was off the mark leave the Braves leading at the end of the period by the surreal score of 2-0.

The Braves turned the ball over on their first two possessions of the second quarter, as Ogemaw continued to take its time on the offensive end.

"We had a little bit of difficulty adjusting offensively," Kaems said, blaming the lack of offensive possessions for their rushed turnovers. "I thought they were way too impatient. We forced things instead of letting things develop."

Thompson finally cracked the scoreboard on a short jumper to tie the game at 2 with 5:30 left in the half.

Courtney Clothier put the Braves back on top at 4-2 less than a minute later, as the pace of the game gradually accelerated.

After a free throw by Ogemaw's Paige Bachelder cut the gap to 4-3, Kolnitys and Clothier both added baskets to extend the Tawas lead to 8-3.

Ogemaw's Molly Keetch added a late basket to bring the score to 8-5 at the half.

Tawas opened up a 20-9 lead at the end of the third quarter, in which Rachel Adaline scored six points. Adaline's fifth point of the quarter, a free throw with 2:04 to go in the quarter put the 6-3 center' in the record books as the Braves' all time leading scorer.

The Falcons were unable to mount much offense in the final stanza, as two free throws by Keetch early in the frame were their only points in the quarter.

"We had a couple breaks not go our way and that opened up the lead," Hansen said. "Everyone looks at them as tall and dominant but their guards are good too. They can cause all sorts of havoc and they did that."

The Braves were led by Adaline with eight points. Kolnitys put in six with Clothier and Emily Gracik both adding four.

"A game like that can wear you out," Kaems said. "We stayed positive and focused until things started going our way."

Ogemaw was led by Keetch with six points, with Thompson putting in four.

The Falcons end their season with a 16-5 record. It also ends the high school careers of Josie Wiltse and Thompson. Thompson graduates as Ogemaw's all time leading scorer.

"(They leave) big shoes to fill," Hansen said. "Not only are you graduating good basketball players but good kids. They both lead by example by attending everything during the summer and during the season but that is the natural transition of high school sports."

Tawas (18-3) continues its season on Friday against Gladwin (18-4), which topped Harrison 55-28 in Wednesday's other semifinal.