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That's how close Kalkaska came to winning the district championship in boys basketball this season.

If the Blazers would have had one more minute, or even 30 seconds perhaps, they might just have had enough time to overtake Kingsley.

But they didn't have the time.

So instead of celebrating an unlikely district title, Kalkaska was left to ponder what might have been had it not played so poorly for most of the game.

"We waited until the final two minutes to play basketball," head coach David Manchester said later.

And that was true.

The Blazers, who had dominated Brethren from start to finish in the semifinals at Manton High School, fell into some of their old habits against the Stags.

Kingsley's defense contributed to the Blazers' difficulties, putting a defender on guard Travis Schuba and keeping him from catching fire.

Schuba burned the Brethren defense for a school-record 10 shots from beyond the 3-point line and scored 34 points.

Having watched that spectacular display from the bleachers, Kingsley was not going to let Schuba do the same to them.

It seemed that with Schuba constantly shadowed from the opening whistle, the Blazers were at a loss on offense.

Kingsley soon had the game in hand, building a 14-point lead in the first half and continuing to dominate early in the second half.

But then, like a boxer suddenly realizing that the bout was slipping away from him, Kalkaska rose up and started applying some punishing body blows to the Stags.

Gradually, the lead shrank.

Finally, the Blazers had a very real chance of completing their incredible comeback with a win.

Time, however, was their enemy now and the clock kept ticking their season to an end.

Alex Krause scored on a driving baseline layup, but it still left the Blazers one point short.

One point. That's hard to accept.

Still, it proved that the Blazers had the talent and ability to win the game.

Kalkaska's season was full of such disappointing scenarios.

Close, but not quite good enough.

The reason was defense. Or, rather, the lack of it.

Manchester pointed to the Blazers' inability to shut teams down as their most glaring weakness this season.

It's something he vowed to fix after the Kingsley game.

"We're going to work on our defense next year," Manchester said. "I'm going to issue the challenge to them that they have to play defense, or they won't play."

Manchester had no complaints about the offense.

John Kasza averaged 17 points per game to lead the Blazers in scoring, while Schuba had the most 3-point baskets on the team and scored 15 per game.

The three other starters all averaged around 10 points a game, making the Blazers a dangerous team.

But it was the Blazers' gave up too many points defensively and lost several games by 5 points or less.

Kalkaska should be just as threatening offensively next season with Kasza and Schuba coming back.

What the Blazers have to do is stiffen up their defense if they hope to take the next step.

Playing in what is considered one of the strongest conferences in the state doesn't make that job any easier.

Still, it's doable.

And if the Blazers can become a better defensive team, a move up in the Lake Michigan Conference standings is not improbable.