Bay City Western boys basketball team gets championship lesson from Saginaw Nouvel

AUBURN — Bay City Western played its first game below a championship banner, as the state semifinal flag flew high in honor of the 2011 boys basketball team that made school history.

Four quarters later, it seemed like ancient history.

With a nearly all-new lineup, the Warriors showed more than their share of early season flaws while faltering 47-44 against Saginaw Nouvel, an eye-opening, home-opening performance that harshly reminded Western that this season is last season not.

"We're trying to find our identity, and that's complicated right now," said Western coach Chris Watz, who guided his team to the first regional title in program history nine months ago. "I didn't see a lot of heart, I saw some division on the team and, frankly, we got what we asked for tonight."

Even without the likes of Tyler Ellis, Brandon Havercamp, Ryan Haag and Aaron Tithof in the lineup — or striped-shirted super fan Jesse Metz in the student section — the Western faithful filled the bleachers, packed with expectations and poised to erupt.

But the Warriors and Matt Costello — the Michigan State University signee who is touted as the top player in the state — couldn't deliver as anticipated.

"We've talked a lot about expectations," Watz said. "That's part of life and part of building a program. But we've got to stand up to that."

Instead it was Nouvel — a team that knows a bit about championships after winning the Division 7 football state title two weeks ago — that played like a winner.

Despite putting nobody in double figures for scoring, the Panthers pulled together to pull out the meaningful early-season victory.

"I told the kids it was time to shock the world and get a little respect," said Nouvel coach Dale Roberts, who took an extra measure of satisfaction being a teacher in Bay City. "They took that to heart, and they wanted this one bad."

Nouvel, which reached the Class C regional a year ago with five junior starters, had just five practices as a team to prepare for the defending Class A champion Warriors. But the Panthers showed a spark right from the start and led virtually the entire ballgame.

Nouvel took a 27-22 lead into halftime and still led 39-34 heading into the final stanza. But Western went on a 10-2 run, finally taking a 44-43 lead on a pair of Cameron Roth free throws with 2:30 to play.

It was the final time Western put points on the board.Nick Hammis hit a jumper on the other end to put Nouvel back on top, then fed Joe Buchalski for a fastbreak layup for the 47-44 margin in the final minute. Needing to foul in the final 12 seconds, Western instead saw Nouvel guard Zach Collins weave his way through the Warriors for eight seconds to effectively end the game.

Western had several opportunities down the stretch, but the 6-foot-10 Costello could never shake loose and finished with a 14-point, 14-rebound game that was lacking at crunch time.

"He can't have a great game every game," Watz said. "But if you're going to carry the baggage of being a Division I player, you've got to bring more than 14. You've got to want to do more than that."

Western had a strong offensive game from its guards as Connor Foley scored 13 points and Jake Watz knocked down four 3-pointers in a 12-point night. But only three Western players hit a shot from the field while Nouvel got scoring from eight different sources.

Josh Buchalski, Trevor Bohnhoff and Nick Hammis each scored nine for Nouvel while Garrett Graham added eight.

"I told the kids that (Nouvel) has athletic, competitive kids who know how to win," Watz said. "I don't doubt that we'll get there, too.

"When I look at our team, I know we've got the guys who can play and play well. I'm glad we went through this now so we can go forward from here."