St. Francis Gladiators prepare for battle against Flint Beecher in state championship game

Mar. 24—EAST LANSING — Sean Finnegan knew this summer that a trip to East Lansing in late March was a possibility. That is how much he believed in his team.

"I'm not trying to be cocky or arrogant about it," the head coach of the Traverse City St. Francis varsity boys basketball team said ahead of their state championship game. "I know the way we played this summer against some of the big (Division 1) programs and the success we were having, I just felt that if things came together ... we could be where we're at now."

And where the Gladiators are is one win away from hoisting a Division 3 state championship trophy on the home court of the Michigan State Spartans. St. Francis (24-4) needs one more notch in the win column to make that a reality as the Glads square off against Flint Beecher (24-3) with a 4:30 p.m. scheduled tipoff at the Breslin Center on Saturday.

"We've been clicking," Finnegan said. "This group has been playing together so much; and this summer, we had moments where it was clear that we were going to be pretty damn good this year."

The Gladiators have been pretty damn good and more during the 2022-23 campaign, racking up Lake Michigan Conference, district and regional championships while playing a competitive schedule that pushed St. Francis to be better each and every day.

"They've put in a lot of hard work and have really bought in," Finnegan said. "When you get kids to believe they're capable of bigger things than they imagine, that can go a long way. This group believes it. They believe in each other. They believe in the coaches. They believe in themselves."

The Glads' dedicated and determined roster is led by a strong core of upperclassmen. Seniors Wyatt Nausadis and Joey Donahue have been on the varsity squad since they were freshmen, and the other seniors — John Hagelstein, Drew Breimayer, Charlie King, Henry Reineck and Owen Somerville — have played varsity since they were sophomores.

"It's a special group, and every year you lose seniors that made a big difference in your season and on the program as a whole," Finnegan said. "It's a crazy feeling because most seasons you don't know when that last game is going to be. But now we know that it'll be our last game, either way — and we'll be saying 'goodbye' to some seniors who are going to be really hard to say 'goodbye' to."

Hopefully, the sting of the goodbye will be soothed by a championship win. But don't expect Flint Beecher to make it easy.

The Bucs have been a thorn in the Gladiators' side the last two times St. Francis made it to the Breslin Center, defeating them in the 2012 championship game and the 2006 state semifinals.

"I think it's our turn," Finnegan said. "Why not? Why not us?"

The Flint Beecher offense is no slouch when it comes to putting up points. The Bucs eclipsed triple digits twice this season, scoring 109 points and 106 points in the span of three games. They scored 75 or more points nine times this season and only scored fewer than 50 points twice.

But Flint Beecher will go toe to toe with a St. Francis defense that has been as stingy as Ebeneezer Scrooge before he was visited by four ghosts on Christmas Eve. During their postseason run, the Gladiators have held their opponents under the 40-point mark in five of six games and gave up just 47 to St. Ignace in a 25-point win in the quarterfinals.

"I know I sound like a broken record, but we've prepared our guys with the schedule we've put together," Finnegan said, noting that the Glads have won four of six games they played against D1 programs this season. "We've played these teams. We know what it takes to beat these teams. We've seen this type of pressure and athleticism, and we've had success."

The Glads and Bucs have a bit in common as they prepare for battle. They both won their respective conferences. They both lost their final game of the regular season, and they both lost to Division 1 top-ranked Detroit Cass Tech — with the Bucs falling 69-63 to the Technicians and the Glads dropping a 46-39 decision.

"If a couple things go different down the stretch and we don't have foul trouble for Joey, who knows what could have happened?" Finnegan said of their game against Cass Tech, which also plays for a state title Saturday. "The boys felt that. They believed that. We've proven that we deserve to be here."

So much of that success can be attributed to how close this St. Francis team is.

"There's been a lot of time spent off the court with these boys," Finnegan said. "When you've got kids for three or four years, they become like extended parts of your family. My kids know them and look up to them. It means more because it's people that care, people you care about, people that care about you and care about winning."

Finnegan said he knows exactly what a championship would mean to Traverse City and the St. Francis community.

"To bring something like this up north and bring it home, that would be special," Finnegan said. "To finish the mission and finish our goal, that would be something people would talk about for the rest of my life and beyond."

All it will take is one more win. One more day when St. Francis is better than the team across from them. They hope that day is Saturday.