Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Midland defeats Zwolle 79-78, Advances to Class B Championship




         Midland's BJ Cormier                                                                               Zwolle's Marvin Frazier

Zwolle's Breion Beaver


What a game, if you like shooting, hard nosed, fundamental basketball then the Midland Rebels of Coach Briley is the team to watch. Midland started the game out very slow as they missed 3 jumpers in the first two minutes as Zwolle took a 11-6 lead early on. It didn't last long as halfway through the quarter BJ Cormier  and Allen Fontenot caught fire. Fontenot started it and Cormier finished it. Fontenot buried the first one at the 2:27 mark,  then Cormier buried one a minute later and gave Midland the 12-11 lead. Cormier would go on to hit two more in the quarter, including a 23 footer at the buzzer to give the Rebels a 21-11 lead after the first.

The second quarter was more Midland and more threes. Allen Fontenot connected on two right off the bat as Zwolle called a timeout. After the time, Fontenot hit another to make it 32-13 with 4:48 left in the half. Then Zwolle finally made their run.  A layup by  David Smith, layup by Jerry Palmer, layup by Frazier, and another jumper by Palmer cut the lead to 16. Then once again, Cormier with a 3, Fontenot follows off a Cormier assist before Zwolle called another timeout. Zwolle would then answer with big Frazier again with a layup, followed by a 3 by Jerry Palmer, a lay up by Smith before Fontenot hit another 3 to close out the half. After 2 Midland led 43-28.

As the first half ended with Zwolle having momentum, it carried into the 3rd quarter. A jumper by Dave Smith got things rolling as Zwolle went on a 18-4 run to start the half, it was led primarily by Smith and Frazier. Big time rebounds, big time blocks and a handful of jumpers later the lead was 47-46 Midland with 3:22 left. Midland would finally answer with a pair of triples by Cormier and Fontenot to extend the lead to 55-52 after the third.

As Zwolle finally got back to playing Hawk basketball, the fourth quarter was nip/tuck the rest of the game. Basket for basket, defensive stops and tough play by Frazier on the inside carried Zwolle back and tied the game at 70 after regulation.

At the start of the overtime period, Midland immediately went to the stall offense with Miles Prejean being a big factor in the OT. After struggling all game and being limited on his touches by the Zwolle D, Prejean took control as he made 6/6 free throws down the stretch to lead his team to the state title. As good as he had been all year and to be overshadowed by the great shooting of Fontenot and Cormier, Prejean really came through in the clutch as Midland defeated Zwolle.

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