GRAYLING - Mar. 9, 2010 - For the first 20 minutes of Tuesday's regional semi-final against Kingsford everything went Tawas Area's way.

The last 12 minutes however, went the way of the Flivvers, which unfortunately for Tawas resulted in a 51-42 season ending loss.

Tawas led 26-14 midway through the third quarter, and took a 28-14 lead on a steal and a breakaway basket by Dana Kolnitys with just over five minutes to play in the quarter.

After a Kingsford time-out, the Flivvers suddenly caught fire from the field.

“I'm thinking hey, we're doing everything we need to do to win,” said Tawas head coach Todd Kaems. “(I thought) If we can keep doing this we'll be fine. The problem was they were getting a lot of threes off; they just weren't making them. They're a team that can shoot the three. They've hit double digits form the three point line numerous times”

Abby Tresedder began the Flivver run with a three point shot to cut the gap to 28-17. A Rachel Adaline put-back gave Tawas a 30-17 lead, but Kingsford quickly got back into the game scoring two quick baskets, and added another three pointer by Tresedder to bring the score to 30-24 with 2:46 still to go in the third.

A free throw by Adaline gave Tawas a 31-28 edge, but the Flivvers milked the last 30 seconds off the clock before Jaime Roberts lifted a shot from beyond the arc, hitting all cotton as the buzzer sounded to tie the score at 31.

“I thought we defended that last possession well,” Kaems said. “She just somehow got free from about 26 feet and hit it at the buzzer.”

Kingsford turned the ball on its first possession of the fourth, which Tawas converted into an Adaline layup to give the Braves a 33-31 lead. It was the last lead for Tawas, as the Flivvers clipped off 12 straight points to take a 43-33 lead with 1:30 to play.

“The third quarter they got hot. It obviously was the breaker for us,” Kaems said. “They got to the point where they got the lead and we had to put them on the free throw line.”

A basket by Adaline and a three pointer by Audrey Thoryk helped cut the lead to 44-38, with just under a minute to play, but the Flivvers hit seven of their 10 free throws in the final minute to hang on for the 51-42 win.

The loss seemed almost unimaginable for Tawas early on, as the Braves seemed well in control of the contest, taking a 9-3 lead after the first and a 21-11 edge at the half.

“We really handled their pressure early and I think that Kingsford was tired,” Kaems said. “I think it was pretty obvious that when they got on the offensive end they were pretty tired. I think that had a lot to do with how they were playing. Up 10 at half, I don' think you feel comfortable. You are happy you're up ten and not down 10. A 10 point lead against a team with as much fire power as they do you don't feel comfortable with that. Me as a coach, I don't feel comfortable with a lead until the game is over and we won.”

Adaline had been a force to be reckoned with in the first half, scoring five points in the first and eight in the second quarter, but the Flivvers slowed her down in the second half, double-teaming her most of the time. Though Adaline still scored eight points in the second half, she wasn't able to control the game down low as she had done in the first.

“We'll always try to take advantage of that,” Kaems said. “She's a focal part of our offense so we try to use her as much as we can. I don't think it's any secret. Defensively she takes away everything inside. Unfortunately that's not what hurt us.”

Tawas was led by Adaline's 21 points. Molly Stoll had nine and Courtney Clothier put in four.

Tresedder led Kingsford with 21 points, with Emily Droese scoring 15.

The loss ends the Braves' season at 19-4, after earning their third straight district and Northeast Michigan Conference titles.

The loss also closed the chapter on Adaline's high school career. The Western Michigan commit finished with a school record 1370 points in her career.

“I'm still stinging a little bit because its a game we could have won,” Kaems said. “We had it in control with 12 minutes to go. Then all of a sudden things turn real quick.”

Kingsford (18-5) moves on to play in Thursday's regional final against Petoskey (22-1), a 54-51 overtime winner over Manistee in the regionals' other semi-final.