Marquette senior Kyler Sager raises aloft the MHSAA Division 1 boys basketball district tournament championship trophy as students rush the floor in celebration after a win over Traverse City West on Saturday in the Barb Crill Gymnasium at Marquette Senior High School. Sager finished with five points in the fourth quarter of a 64-60 victory over the Titans. (Escanaba Daily Press photo by Mitch Vosburg)

MARQUETTE — A lot can happen in a year.

Just ask the Marquette and Traverse City West high school boys basketball teams. Last season, TC West knocked off Marquette 58-45 in a district championship showdown on the Sentinels’ home floor.

Fast forward exactly one year later — to the day. This time it was the Sentinels celebrating a district championship win in the Barb Crill Gymnasium with a thrilling 64-60 district championship victory over the Titans on Saturday.

“It means a lot,” Marquette senior Jacob MacPhee said. “This means everything, especially to the seniors.”

Last season the Titans and Sentinels collided in a game that was set to be an instant classic. But Mother Nature decided to add an additional factor. An ice storm hit widespread areas of the Upper Peninsula the same day as the 2024 district semifinal action was scheduled to take place.

The Titans played their semifinal game as scheduled, a 63-52 win over Petoskey, but the Sentinels’ matchup with Gaylord was pushed back a day. Marquette needed overtime to beat the Blue Devils 62-56 on that Thursday, with the district title game between the Sentinels and Titans remained on schedule for Friday night.

By the time the fourth quarter rolled around in the district finale, the Sentinels had ran out of gas, exhausted from playing two intense games on back-to-back days.

Now we enter Saturday’s 2025 matchup for a district championship. Once again the Titans and Sentinels went back and forth. This time, though, the Sentinels wouldn’t be denied, hoisting the district trophy moments after the final buzzer sounded.

“It’s amazing,” MacPhee said. “There’s not a lot of people that get to experience this.”

Marquette clung to a 39-32 lead entering halftime. MacPhee was a force in the paint, netting 23 of his game-high 29 points in those first 16 minutes.

But the Marquette big man soon after found himself in foul trouble, picking up his third infraction 1:30 into the third quarter after knocking down five points to start the second half.

“I was pushing (head coach) Rich (Ledy) to try and get back in the game. I said ‘I promise I won’t foul, I swear,'” MacPhee admitted. “I trust my teammates, but I want to be out there as much as I can. The team was able to hold it down while I was out.”

The Titans took full advantage, holding Marquette to a pair of free throws by junior Conner Fierstine. TC West outscored Marquette 16-2 to close the third quarter and take a 48-46 lead entering the fourth.

“He’s relentless,” TC West coach Doug Baumann said of MacPhee. “He’s got that dog in him to go for the ball when he misses. That’s tough to defend.”

With both squads refusing to hold back, the Titans opened a pair of four-point leads in the final period. MacPhee connected with a putback, drew a foul and sank a free throw to get the Sentinels within one point at 54-53.

Then Kyler Sager made his presence felt. The MSHS senior guard was bottled up for a mere two points at that point in the game, something unusual for Marquette’s senior trio of Sager, MacPhee and Jaxon Jurmu, before Sager turned a steal turned into a layup to tie the game 50-50 with 5:18 to go.

Then with 2:21 left, Sager hit his biggest shot of not only the night, not only of the season, but arguably his entire career. Sager connected from downtown to give Marquette a 56-54 lead.

A lead which Marquette never surrendered, knocking down 9 of 10 free throws in the game’s final 1:41.

“We got dogs on our team,” Sager said. “When I don’t have to score and everyone else can and we still get the win, it’s awesome.”

Senior Lincoln Lockhart led TC West with 13 points, while fellow senior Mason Zimmerman, junior Blake LaFaive and senior Caden Stoops added 10 points each.

For the Titans, the loss ends their season at 19-5. For the first time in eight years, they won the Big North Conference. It also concludes Baumann’s fourth season at the helm of the program.

“I’ve watched the freshmen grow up to be seniors,” Baumann said. “That’s the best. Just to see their success within this program and where they brought it. The growth of this program and what they have done is probably the most exciting.”

The Sentinels, who also avenged a 70-65 loss to the Titans in Traverse City on Dec. 6, move on to regional action at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, colliding with Cadillac inside the confines of Gaylord High School’s Jim Mongeau Gymnasium.