KASKA -What started out as a season full of high hopes and lofty expectations for a Kalkaska boys basketball team returning some outstanding talent eventually dissolved into one of frustration and failed opportunities.
The Blazers had problems all season defensively, and their inability to stop their opponents from scoring doomed them to a second division finish.
As a result, they didn't earn much in the way of All-Conference recognition based on the league's system of rewarding the higher finishers.
It is what it is, and John Kasza was the only All-Conference selection off the Blazers' team that bottomed out with a losing streak in the middle of the season.
Kasza lit up scoreboards around the league, and outside of it as well, with his stunningly accurate 3-point field goal shooting accuracy.
When he could shake free of a defender and pop the jump shot from behind the arc, Kasza's missile launches were usually successful.
Travis Schuba, who actually led the Blazers in points per game average and 3-point field goal accuracy, received an Honorable Mention.
Schuba hit for almost 40 percent of his 3-point field goals, and he nailed a school-record 10 of the long range bombs in the Blazers' opening district tournament win against Brethren in Manton.
Both players tied a school record for free throw percentage, averaging about 80 percent for the season at the charity stripe. Schuba scored almost 18 points a game, and Kasza had a 17-point average.
Head coach David Manchester seldom took either off the floor during games, simply because of their leadership and effectiveness.
"So many teams put a triangle and two on us," Manchester said. "That was the pretty much the story. If you wanted to stop us, you stopped Travis and you stopped Johnny.
"Which is a compliment to them, but it points out that the opponent's didn't respect the other guys."
Manchester had good reason to keep both players on the floor, together, as much as possible.
"Unless I'm really swinging, I never brought them off the floor, so they led us in minutes (played) as well," Manchester said. "They were hard-nosed, and gave their all every game."
Kalkaska trailed Kingsley by 14 points in the third quarter before mounting a thrilling comeback that got the Blazers within one point of the Stags before time ran out on them.
The Stags put a man on Schuba the entire game, and the defensive pressure effectively neutralized his 3-point shooting since he couldn't get an open look at the basket.
Appearing to be down, and out, the Blazers refused to surrender without a fight and came out with defensive pressure in the fourth quarter.
Forcing the Stags to run by speeding up the tempo, and taking charge of the boards, Kalkaska melted the deficit away in record time.
But time was the Blazers' enemy by then, and they had too far to climb to get over the mountain.
"Our defense just didn't play well day in and day out," Manchester said. "Defense is probably 90 percent heart, and it's something we're going to work on next year.
"We're going to stress defense, especially our full-court man-to-man. We had some good things happen at the end of the season, but it was too little, too late."
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