Colon Magi fall to Kalamazoo Phoenix in boys D4 Regional Finals
BELLEVUE, MI. - The Colon Magi saw their 2022-23 boys basketball season come to a tough end Wednesday night, falling to the Kalamazoo Phoenix Fury in the Division Four Regional championship game by the score of 72-40.
“We knew coming in that Kalamazoo Phoenix was going to bring the pressure, that is a very athletic team,” said Colon head basketball coach Steven Vinson. “We talked about it and drilled on it in practice yesterday but you just can’t prepare for the speed and athleticism they bring to the court. At the end of the day they were better than us, they have better athletes and they were just a better team than we were. In the end, they did a much better job on the court today.”
Much like Monday’s regional semifinal win over Lawrence, Wednesday night’s championship started off slow for the Magi, as Colon struggled finding their offensive flow in the early going.
Kalamazoo Phoenix raced out of the gate to a 7-0 lead at the 5:45 mark thanks to a very suffocating full court pressure. Colon finally got on the board at the 5:30 mark with a little bit of history as senior Justin Wickey drove in for a tough two points, giving the senior star his 1000th career point in the process.
The Fury continued to control the pace of play in the early going however, as Magi turnovers paced the Kalamazoo Phoenix attack. Kalamazoo managed to build a 14-5 lead with only seconds remaining in the quarter until a Wickey drive and bucket just before the buzzer closed the score to 14-7 after one quarter of play.
Colon changed up their offensive philosophy in the second quarter, going to big man Simon Vinson in the paint as the senior started to heat up. Vinson rattled off two tough buckets inside, however Kalamazoo answered those points with a pair of three pointers, building a 20-11 lead at the 6:30 mark.
The Fury continued to get out and run on the Magi, eventually doubling up Colon at 30-15 at the 3:45 mark on an And-1 for Tyson Calicutt. Colon responded with another Vinson bucket, followed by a circus like scoop shot from behind the bucket by Wickey, closing the score to 30-19 with 2:45 left in the half.
Kalamazoo Phoenix regained control however, ending the quarter on a 7-3 run to extend their lead to 37-22 at the half.
Colon looked to get back into the game early in the second half however the Fury had other ideas, kicking off the third quarter with a quick 7-0 after taking advantage of a handful of Colon turnovers, building a 20-point lead at 44-22 with 6:36 left in the third.
Kalamazoo continued to dominant the pace of play using their athleticism and quickness, especially on the defensive side of the ball, creating a number of easy looks in transition off of Magi turnovers. In all the Fury went on to outscore Colon 26-12 throughout the third quarter to extend their lead to 63-34 after three quarters of play.
Kalamazoo Phoenix went to their bench early in the fourth quarter, getting some of their reserves some key minutes. Colon refused to show any quit, battling on each and every possession.
In the final minutes of the contest Colon head coach Steven Vinson substituted in some of his reserves, removing two of his seniors from the game in the process, including his son Simon who he shared an extended embrace with as his son left the court one final time.
“Yeah, that was a tough moment, I didn’t know it was going to be that tough,” said Vinson. To see him end his basketball career was pretty tough. Watching the end of his football career was a rough one, but basketball has a special meaning in our house so seeing him come off the floor the last time was tough.”
Along with Vinson the Colon Magi will say goodbye to seniors Justin Wickey, Connor Hetman, Franklin Edson and Jacob Bower.
“I’ve coached these same kids all the way up from junior pro to junior high and on to high school now,” said Vinson. “It’s tough to see it end.”
In the end the Fury attack was just too much however, with Kalamazoo Phoenix outscoring Colon 9-6 in the fourth quarter to find the final score of 72-40, giving the Fury the first regional basketball championship in school history.
Colon was led on the night by senior Simon Vinson who scored 20 points. Senior teammate Justin Wickey added 11 points in the tough loss, a total that included his 1000th career point. Also finding the scorebook for the Magi was Dominic Mock with five points and Dalton Williams with four points.
Kalamazoo Phoenix saw all five starters reach double figures in the win, led by De’Marcus Suggs with 16 points while Jhy’meir Wilkins added 15 points. Also hitting double digits was Cameron Lewis-Atkins with 14 points, Kahare Hinton with 12 points, and Tyson Calicutt with 11 points.
With the victory the ninth ranked Kalamazoo Phoenix Fury improve to 17-2 overall on the season and move on to the Division Four State Quarterfinals to face off with number two team in the state in Wyoming Tri-Unity Christian.
With the tough loss the Colon Magi finish their season at 18-8 overall.
This article originally appeared on Coldwater Daily Reporter: Colon Magi fall to Kalamazoo Phoenix in boys D4 Regional Finals
