By Robert Tomlinson
News Director
MARCELLUS — Fans of the Colon Magi could feel that history was happening with every shot taken in the last few minutes of Thursday night’s MHSAA Division 4 boys’ basketball regional finals game against Battle Creek St. Philip.
With nearly every shot attempt by the Magi, every bucket, every near-miss down the stretch, the crowd grew louder and louder.
When all was said and done, the noise and jubilation from the fans and students was louder than possibly anything a Magi boys’ basketball game had ever witnessed. And for good reason.
For the first time in school history, the Magi boys’ basketball team won a regional championship, with a 49-40 win over the Fighting Tigers in Marcellus, and will be going to the state quarterfinals next week.
While it may seem improbable to some, Colon head coach Steve Vinson said he had a good feeling his team was built for a championship run from the get-go.
“I had a lot of high hopes for this season and whether or not we would actually win it all, but I knew this team was special,” Vinson said. “How far we would go, I didn’t know, but it doesn’t surprise me with this group; these guys are resilient, there’s no quit in them, they’ve been playing ball together for years, and it’s been an awesome, awesome experience.”
Resilience would be needed early on in the game for the Magi, as St. Philip did not make it easy on them early on. Colon got into foul trouble within the first couple minutes of the game as the Fighting Tigers took an early 7-0 lead. Colon would bring it back to a 7-7 tie with three and a half minutes to go in the quarter, but St. Philip would go on a 9-2 run to end the quarter, thanks to a bucket and two free throws by Lincoln Dzwik, and a three-pointer and baseline bucket from Carter Dzwik, putting the Fighting Tigers up 16-9 at the end of the quarter.
In the second quarter, St. Phil notched the biggest lead anyone would have in the game as Carter Dzwik hit a three-pointer on the first possession to make it 19-9. After a couple of dueling buckets made it 21-11, Colon went on a 10-2 run to end the half, with a baseline floater by Dalton Williams, a bucket by Jeremiah West following a turnover, a bucket by Quincy Blair, and a pair of shots by Brennan Morrell in the paint to shrink St. Phil’s lead to 23-21 at the half.
The third quarter is where Colon exploded on offense, doubling up on the Fighting Tigers 18-9 in the quarter, taking their first lead of the game with three minutes left. After a pair of buckets by Lincoln Dzwik to start the quarter for St. Phil, Williams hit a jumper and Morrell hit a three-pointer to bring Colon back to within a point, 27-26. Lincoln Dzwik would score down low to make it 29-26, but Morrell would tie the game for the first time since the first quarter with a three-pointer with 3:36 to go in the quarter. Gio Lugo would answer with a three-pointer of his own to put St. Phil back on top briefly on the next possession, but Blair would hit a bucket down low to get Colon back up 33-32. A pair of back-to-back turnovers would spark part of the 8-0 run the Magi had to end the quarter, with Williams finishing on breakaways at the other end to make it 37-32. A layup by Blair would end the scoring, making it 39-32 Magi at the end of the quarter.
St. Phil would battle back in the fourth quarter, betting back to within three points, 43-40 with less than a minute to go after Jackson Dzwik got a bucket and hit the subsequent free throw after a foul. However, things started to get chippy, as two flagrant fouls were called on St. Phil on the next two Colon possessions – including the possession after the first flagrant foul – for hard foul calls that St. Phil’s players and coaches strongly objected to. Colon would make two of the subsequent four foul shots from those fouls to go up 45-40.
“This is the third time we’ve beaten them this season, and all three times have been a really rough game, a really physical game, emotions ran high in all three games. I wasn’t surprised about that at all,” Vinson said.
After a couple more free throws by Williams made it 47-40 with 26 seconds left, the game was essentially sealed when an inbound pass by a St. Phil player sailed out of bounds. Colon would hit two more free throws before time expired and the celebrations began, with Colon taking the 49-40 victory.
Colon was led in the scorebook by the trio of Williams, Blair and Morrell, who each scored 15 points. West added three points, and Dylan Smith chipped in with a free throw. Vinson said he was proud of his players, particularly the defense, which clamped down a bit after the first quarter.
“Our defensive intensity picked up a little bit; we had to get Jeremiah out of the game the first part of the second quarter, he had to sit on the bench for a little bit, and that didn’t help us offensively, but we were able to stick around,” Vinson said. “We were able to apply our pressure, which we’ve been really relying on the last several games of the season. I’ve been proud of our guys defensively.”
For St. Philip, Carter Dzwik and Lincoln Dzwik each had 13 points to lead the way, while Jackson Dzwik added nine points and Lugo had five points to round out the scoring. Vinson complimented St. Phil for their efforts on the evening.
“They always play us tough, and those three triplets are the heart and soul of St. Phil basketball, and they have been now for five years,” Vinson said. “I know Mike [Kimber, head coach] has done a good job with those guys over there, they’re very competitive and they’re very good basketball players. I don’t think their shots were falling tonight like they’re used to seeing, and good players sometimes have those kinds of games. Sometimes you have to contribute that to a good defensive effort.”
With the victory, Colon moves on to face ninth-ranked Concord in the state quarterfinals, which takes place Tuesday, March 10, at 7 p.m. at the Igloo at Portage Northern High School. The winner of that game will move on to the Breslin Center at Michigan State University to take on the winner of Onekama-Wyoming Try-Unity Christian on Thursday, March 12.
Robert Tomlinson can be reached at 279-7488 or robert@wilcoxnewspapers.com.
