Baldwin's Louie Jackson goes to to the basket against Pentwater on Friday night in the district title game.
John Raffel/Courtesy photoBALDWIN – Baldwin’s boys basketball team has celebrated many wins this season, but coming into this week none was perhaps as sweet as the 62-36 win over Pentwater on Friday.
It put the Panthers, 22-1, in Monday’s regional semifinal game at Fowler against defending state champions Wyoming Tri-unity Christian (see related story).
Freshman Chance Dockery had a strong floor game for the Panthers.
“We played well as a team,” he said. “We didn’t start out that good. But we made a big run to the finish. I feel I played an all-around good game. I got stops on defense and I shot the ball very well.
“It was important to win this. It’s my best friend’s last year.”
He was referring to senior guard Carmelo Lindsey who scored 17 points.
Dockery was confident his team could go farther.
“We have to stay focused and listen to our coach every practice,” he said.
Post player Louie Jackson cited strong defense and team play as the keys for keying the Baldwin championship victory. The Panthers beat a dangerous Pentwater team three times this season.
“It was a matter of playing hard and playing tough defense,” he said. “We wanted to win this real bad. We’ve been waiting for this three to four years.”
The only loss was to Chippewa Hills but the Panthers had two key injuries in that game, Jackson pointed out.
SJ Hossler seemed to be on fire by scoring 18 points for Baldwin.
“But honestly, tonight I wasn’t on fire,” he said. “I had to take a minute, get things under control and find my shot.
“We need better communication, ball movement, things like that. (Winning a district) was pretty important. It gives us more confidence for regionals.”
