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The Lady Lakers won their second straight GTW league title this season and finished undefeated in league play. The Pirates finished tied for third in the GTE, but in the last 10 days they knocked off two of the other top three teams in their division including Ubly and league champion Marlette.

With these two teams simultaneously peaking as they headed into the post-season, anticipation was high for this match-up of teams that split their two regular season match-ups. And they delivered as EPBP withstood a late Harbor Beach comeback to hold on for a 55-50 win in the district quarterfinals.

The Pirates trailed by 13 (43-30) heading into the fourth, but Alicia Seltz sparked the comeback as she scored nine of her 13 points in the fourth quarter including a pair of triples. Bri Woycehoski added seven of her team high 17 points in the final eight minutes, including a three-pointer with just over a minute to go, which cut the Laker advantage to 52-50.

On their next possession, EPBP scored on a free throw from Kaycee Damm to extend the lead to three.

With 37 seconds to go and trailing 53-50, Harbor Beach coach Marilee Schock thought the team's defense could help them pull out a late comeback win.

"Coming out of the huddle we wanted to score quickly," Schock explained. "Our defense was doing really well in the end and we had them shook up a little, so we wanted to get that quick bucket and get back on defense right away so we can create a turnover and have another chance on offense, rather than going for the tie (right away)."

But the Laker defense prevented the Pirates from getting the quick shot they had hoped for, which forced them to circle the wagons looking for an open shooter. Their shot attempt didn't fall, but Harbor Beach managed to get one final possession with five seconds to go, but were called for a violation on the inbounds pass. That gave the ball back to EPBP, who scored quickly on a touchdown pass to Chelsea Dubey and secured the win.

"Whether you win by one or you win by 30, you move on and that is the main thing," Laker coach Todd Comment said of his team's close win.

"I give them credit for being behind and battling back like that," he added. "When you are playing Harbor Beach, the game is not over until there is not another second on the clock."

"I think they played hard and we played scared to lose at the end," Comment admitted.

EPBP led 16-11 after the first and 29-20 heading into the half. The team was sparked offensively by Stephanie Maxwell, who scored 10 of her game-high 28 points in the first. "I knew Maxwell had a good game but I didn't realize (she scored that many points)," he said, noting this was the first time all season that a Laker player has scored 20 points all season.

He added, "She has been solid and clutch all year (and was again tonight)."

While the Lakers were firing on all cylinders early on, Harbor Beach left a lot of points on the table, as they missed multiple lay-ups and several short jump shots from five feet out or closer.

"We missed a lot of easy, uncontested shots," Schock said. "That was our M.O. at the beginning of the season and then we had three great games leading up to this and did a lot better job of being patient and getting the good shots."

She added, "You have to make those shots and we just weren't doing it tonight."

Despite the offensive struggles and disappointing loss in the district opener, Schock is pleased overall with how the season turned out for her 13-7 Pirates. "I thought we started out pretty good and we stumbled in the middle of the season," she said. "We came around the last third of the season and played some really good basketball. I'm excited about the next two years (with these young players)."

For EPBP, the future is now as the Laker's next obstacle on the road to back-to-back district crowns is Ubly, a team EPBP beat twice in the regular season in two highly competitive contests. In their last match-up a few weeks ago at Lakers, Maxwell hit a jumper at the buzzer to beat the Bearcats.

"They are good as any team in the Thumb," Comment said.

Comment knows for the Lakers to pull out the win on Wednesday at 5 p.m., his team will have to play better than they did against Harbor Beach. "The last thing we talked about was, we got the jitters out of the way and know we have to play more comfortable," he explained. "Wednesday our seniors need to come through for us."