TAWAS AREA - Feb. 25, 2010 - Every team hopes to hit the district tournament operating at peak performance.

Tawas Area's girls fulfilled coach Todd Kaems hopes in their regular-season finale Thursday, turning in a scintillating performance in a 66-39 victory over Ogemaw Heights that was every bit as dominating as the score implied.

"I can't say that I'm happy after too many games," Kaems said. "But tonight, I'm pleased."

It would be easy to point at Rachel Adaline's triple-double (career-high 37 points, 10 rebounds and 10 blocked shots) as the main reason Tawas won so decisively. And while the Falcons didn't have a way to contain the Braves' 6-3 center, it was the way she scored many of those points that bodes well for a deep tournament run. Tawas' ball movement was as crisp as a January Northeaster, leaving the Falcon defense in its wake as Adaline finished fast breaks off of one-touch passes, posted up for short turnaround jumpers or came off screens to meet the ball unchallenged under the basket.

"Our ball movement was real good," Kaems said. "A big thing is that we're finally healthy. We've struggled with injuries all year, but we're finally there if we can stay that way."

What started as a shooting match between the league's top two players -- Adaline and the Falcons' Ashley Thompson, who hit her first three shots to give Ogemaw an early 6-5 lead -- turned quickly midway through the first quarter. Thompson ended up with 27 of the Falcons' 39 points, but the Braves' Molly Stoll and Dana Kolnitys made life miserable for the Falcon standout, with Adaline always lurking in the middle to shut down her drives to the basket. 

In the final 12 minutes of the first half, Thompson managed just five points -- all on free throws -- while the Braves went on a 32-9 run.

"We'll go back and break down the film and see what we can do," said Ogemaw coach Tim Hansen, faced with a rematch against the Braves next Wednesday in both teams' district tournament opener. "We played scared tonight after the first couple of minutes. But there's not a whole lot to say other than, 'Wow.'"

Stoll was a big thorn in the Falcons' side with 12 assists -- mostly to Adaline in the post or on the break -- and 11 rebounds to go with five points.

Kaems said he was about to pull Adaline from the game with a 50-26 lead after three quarters, but said he wanted to give her a chance to break the school career scoring record in her final game on the Braves' home floor.

"She needed 41 points, and it never occurred to me that she'd have a chance at that tonight," he said. "But she had 23 at halftime, and then 31 after three quarters. I didn't tell her, but I told a couple of the other girls to keep getting the ball to her. And then she goes and keeps dumping the ball off to her teammates."

Adaline heads into the district tournament needing four points for the record and should also surpass the 1,000 rebound milestone before long if the Braves can keep on winning.

Courtney Clothier added 14 points as Tawas finished the regular season at 17-3 (10-0 NEMC). They won their final 21 NEMC contests dating back to the 2007-8 season, a streak that won't end with a loss as the Braves leave the conference at the end of this year.

Ogemaw (16-4, 7-3) finishes in a second-place tie with Standish-Sterling.