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Jumping out to a 46-15 halftime lead on the Rams, the Blazers cruised to a 56-38 victory in the regular season finale.

It was an emotional night as three seniors played their final games on the Blazers' home floor.

Four year varsity players Katie Krause, Marissa Taylor, Khrysten Chandler and foreign exchange students Paula Werner were honored in pre-game ceremonies.

With the competitive phase of the game over by halftime, veteran coach Dave Dalton cleared his bench in the second half and got a lot of players into the game.

Krause, the school's all-time leading rebounder and fourth ever 1,000-point career scorer, finished with 17 points, hauled down 11 rebounds, dished out 4 assists and had 4 blocks.

Taylor had a big night in her final home game with 16 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists and 4 steals.

Freshman point guard Chelsea Matley contributed 8 points and hauled down 6 rebounds while Kara Ponstein added 7 assists and 5 steals. Kalkaska finished the regular season 15-5 overall and 9-5 in the Lake Michigan Conference.

Now, the Blazers must wait until Wednesday night to open district tournament play at Kingsley.

Dalton isn't happy about having so much time between the final regular season game and the first game in the districts. He's hoping that the Blazers don't lose their competitive edge while biding their time.

"You don't like to have that much time off before playing in the district, but it's the way the draw went,"Dalton said. "I'd prefer to play Monday night. But, that's something you can't control. It's the breaks.Ó

The Blazers contended for the league title late into the season, but dropped back-to-back games to Charlevoix and Boyne City for the second time to end their hopes of taking the brass ring.

Four of Kalkaska's losses in the league were to Charlevoix and Boyne City. A split of those four games would have given the Blazers at least a share of the title.

But, the Blazers managed to bounce back from that disappointment to finish the season strong.

One of their season goals escaped them, but the Blazers can still achieve the other with a district title.