Traverse City St. Francis uses football toughness to reach Division 3 basketball final
EAST LANSING — Traverse City St. Francis has had its fair share of success on the gridiron, but now it’s time for the Gladiators to be under the basketball spotlight.
Led by their All-State football quarterback Wyatt Nausadis, St. Francis earned its second-trip ever to a basketball state final with a 46-36 Division 3 semifinal victory Thursday over Niles Brandywine at Breslin Center.
The 6-foot-4 Nausadis finished with 21 points, seven rebounds and three assists. He made two free throws and came up with a key steal in the final minute to preserve the win for the Gladiators (24-4), who will face Flint Beecher (23-4) for the D3 title t 4:30 p.m. Saturday.
John Hagelstein, a 6-6 senior who will play football at Michigan Tech, added nine points and 15 rebounds, while 6-3 senior Joey Donahue, who also played on St. Francis’ runner-up D7 football team, contributed eight points.
Niles Brandywine (25-3), seeking its first-ever state championship final, made just 16 of 44 shots from the floor (36.4%) and only 2 of 13 from 3-point range.
Junior guards Jaremiah and Jamier Palmer had eight and six points, respectively, for the Bobcats. Jamier also grabbed nine rebounds.
Brandywine pulled to within three in the final quarter, 35-32, on a basket by Robert Whiting with 7:15 remaining, but never got any closer.
Despite being outrebounded, 11-6, Brandywine led, 11-9, after one quarter hitting 5 of 12 shots. Nausadis had five points for the Gladiators, who made 4 of 14 first attempts.
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In the second quarter, a layup with 6:25 left by Donahue put St. Francis up 15-12 and the Gladiators extended their lead to 19-12 on a pair of free throws by Donahue with 5:28 to go.
Brandywine fought back to tie it at 19-all thanks to a backdoor layup by Jamier Palmer off an assist from his brother Jaremiah with 3:10 to play in the half.
St. Francis took a 23-19 advantage into the locker room as Drew Breimayer scored on a reverse layup with 10 seconds to go off a long pass from Nausadis, who led all first-half scorers with nine points.
The Gladiators went 10 of 24 from the floor (41.7%), while Brandywine was 8 of 20 (40%).
In football, St. Francis has captured six MHSAA titles and finished runner-up in four others. The boys basketball team lost to Beecher in the 2012 Class C state championship game.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Traverse City St. Francis reaches Division 3 boys basketball final
