McBAIN — Alie Bisballe played point guard for a good four and a half minutes.
Lake City’s lead held steady at 10.
With the Trojans’ leading scorer and point guard, MacKenzie Bisballe, sitting much of the fourth quarter with four fouls, her 6-foot-4 cousin took the reins and helped lead Lake City to a regional championship appearance.
The Trojans (23-2) beat Manton (19-6) by a 44-28 count in Monday’s Division 3 girls basketball regional semifinal at McBain.
“I was faking it until I made it,” Alie Bisballe joked of moving from center to the point. “It was difficult, but it was definitely big shoes to fill.”
A charge against 6-foot senior MacKenzie Bisballe two seconds before the third quarter’s end gave her four fouls. She didn’t start the fourth with Lake City up 29-19, but she returned with 3:24 remaining and the Trojans up 35-25.
“She brings up the ball, she goes in the paint, she does most of the stuff for us,” Alie Bisballe said. “Her position is pretty hard. A bunch of girls stepped up and really helped us out. When she came back in, things started to flow a little bit better.”
Lake City’s lead grew to as much as 17 after MacKenzie Bisballe returned in the fourth quarter.
The No. 3-ranked Trojans move on to Wednesday’s regional championship game, facing sixth-ranked and regional host Sanford-Meridian (23-1), a team that’s been held under 50 points only once this season.
“They press 32 minutes,” Lake City head coach Bill Tisron said. “It’s time to take care of the ball and figure out how we want to beat that. But you get to this level, every team’s good; so we’ll be ready for that competition.”
Meridian hit the 60-point mark in 16 of 24 games this season. The Trojans, meanwhile, have slowed it down in the playoffs and haven’t hit 50 points yet — but they also haven’t allowed a foe to reach 35.
“They’re kind of like Hemlock; very similar, but they don’t have the size,” Tisron said of Meridian, comparing it to the team that knocked the Trojans from the playoffs in last year’s regional final. “They just play fast. They have a couple of 1,000-point scorers on their team. They’re averaging like 60 points a game. If it’s in the 40s, we have a good chance to win. If it gets to the 60s, that’s a lot of points.”
But before trying to tame the Mustangs, the Trojans had to deal with the Rangers.
Manton tied the game at 12-12 on a rainbow 3-pointer by Aubrey Hiller midway through the second quarter before Payton Hogan scored four of her 11 points to put Lake City back in front 18-12. Another Hiller triple and two Lauren Wilder free throws pulled Manton within a point at halftime.
Hogan’s 11 points are only two shy of her career high.
“Payton really kept us in it in the first half,” Tisron said. “She had nine in the first half for us. They were running their triangle-and-two that gave her some open opportunities. Alie and MacKenzie do a great job passing. With their size, they can see over things and make the right plays.”
Hogan also had three rebounds and two steals.
“We all worked as a team, and just being able to step up and make the right plays at the right time really helped,” Hogan said. “They were really tight on Kenzie and Alie, so back cuts were really working out really well. Them getting a lot of attention, it helps. Nobody really pays attention to me, so it makes it so I can make bigger plays for the team.”
MacKenzie Bisballe finished with 18 points, seven rebounds and two blocks, while Alie Bisballe pitched in nine points, eight boards, four blocks and five assists, hitting Hogan on cuts to the basket multiple times. Baylie Eisenga had three rebounds, two assists and three blocks, while Hannah Allen chipped in three assists.
Hiller scored nine and Wilder eight for Manton in the first half, the only two Rangers to score.
That trend continued in the second half, as they finished the game with all of Manton’s points — 15 for Wilder and 13 by Hiller. Wilder added five rebounds and was 9-for-9 from the free-throw line. Hiller had three boards and knocked down four 3-pointers.
“Aubrey had three threes in the first half,” Manton head coach J.P. Katona said. “That was huge. That got us back into the game.”
Manton won only the fifth district title in program history and improved from seven to 19 victories. Wilder eclipsed the 1,000-point mark in her career despite missing almost an entire season with a torn ACL.
The Rangers didn’t have the height to battle the Bisballes, but Katona said he liked how his team stayed in the game.
“Literally a tall task,” Katona said. “They wear on you over time. We were able to maintain it in the first half. Our goal was to keep it within five, and we were successful on that. But we all know over time, the length does wear on you.”