Ewen-Trout Creek’s Eric Abramson (11) goes for a layup against Lake Leelanau St. Mary in an MHSAA Division 4 state semifinal on Thursday, March 24, 2022, in East Lansing, Mich. (Courtesy Photo/MHSAA)

EAST LANSING — The Ewen-Trout Creek Panthers beat Lake Leelanau St. Mary 62-56 on Thursday, advancing to the MHSAA Division 4 state championship game.

The Panthers (23-3) hit the gas early and stayed in front of Lake Leelanau the whole way.

Ewen-Trout Creek plays against the winner of Wyoming Tri-unity (19-6) against Genesee Christian (21-4) in the state championship at 10 a.m. Saturday.

Lake Leelanau (21-5) gained ground in the second half, outscoring the Panthers by nine points.

Kelsey Jilek led E-TC with 19 points. Jaden Borseth had 18 points, and Eric Abramson added 15. Jilek had 11 of the Panthers’ 33 rebounds.

Shawn Bramer had a game-high 25 points for Lake Leelanau. He scored 14 points in the second half. A free throw made it a 54-40 game with 3:11 remaining in the third quarter.

Lake Leelanau narrowed E-TC’s lead to 58-56 before quarter’s end.

Jilek hit a pair of free throws early in the fourth for a four-point lead. He then grabbed a defensive rebound with 15 seconds remaining and was fouled. Jaden Borseth knocked down both free throw shots to seal the win with eight seconds remaining.

“That was fantastic – high school sports at its finest,” Ewen-Trout Creek head coach Brad Besonen said. “These guys have dreamed about just being here since forever. They’ve been a group that’s played together since second grade and had to play up because we don’t have any kids at our school.

“So they played young all the way through when they got to high school. To play young, they grew up a lot. I don’t think without the lumps and all the grind that they put in through that, I don’t think we find a way to win that after losing that lead we had.”

E-TC held a 37-22 halftime lead.

“Stop 32,” Besonen said of Bramer about halftime adjustments. “He scored every touch it seemed like, especially in that second half. They transitioned us in the second half, which didn’t happen much in the first half. They were getting to the rim a lot in transition. So that was hurting us, because coming in here it was take away the rim as best that we can – we don’t want to give up the rim.”

Lake Leelanau coach Matt Barnowski said he was proud of the team for overcoming the first half deficit.

“That was a fun game. Everybody got their money’s worth, there’s no doubt about that. Proud of these kids. They had a great gameplan coming into it. It looked like they wanted to try and take Dylan (Barnowski) out of it. Couldn’t be more proud of the way that this team persevered throughout the year, and especially in the playoffs. We battled back from some adversity and, you know, being down 12 points, 15 points in the game. … We faced some really good teams this year. These kids don’t have have to hang their head. Super proud of them.”

Maroons also vying for state championship

The Panthers won’t be the only UP team playing for a state championship on Saturday. Menominee dominated Ecorse 74-56 in a Division 3 semifinal. The Maroons play Schoolcraft in the state championship at 4:30 p.m. Saturday.

LLSM 14 8 15 19 — 56

E-TC 20 17 11 14 — 62

LAKE LEELANAU ST. MARY (56): S. Bramer 25, Schaub 14, Barnowski 10, L. Bramer 5, Kohler 2. FT: 7-9. 3-point FG: 5-17 (Schaub 4, L. Bramer 1). F: 11. Rebounds: 30 (S. Bramer 8, Schaub 8). FG: 22-56.

EWEN-TROUT CREEK (62): Jilek 19, Borseth 18, Abramson 15, Polkky 8, Nordine 2. FT: 8-10. 3-point FG: 2-10 (Abramson 1, Jilek 1). F: 9. Rebounds: 33 (Jilek 11). FG: 26-52.