Kent City beat Calumet on Wednesday 59-53 in a division three state semifinal game at the Breslin Center.
The Eagles did not shoot the ball well in the first half, but sophomore Lexi Bowers came off the bench to hit three 3-pointers in the second quarter and scored all 10 of her points in the first half to help Kent City lead by 2 (24-22) at halftime.
"Anybody can be a leading scorer," senior Jenna Harrison, who a scored a team best 15 points, said. "If somebody is going off, we are going to hit them like we did Lexie Bowers in the first half, she was a big help."
Kent City hasn't trailed much this season, but the Eagles trailed by 5 at one point in the second quarter and by four in the third before they finally got some jump shots to fall.
"There was no sense of worry or anything like that," head coach Scott Carslon said. "We knew what would happen, we just needed to play Kent City basketball and it took awhile for us to get going but once we started we got some steals, we got hit some threes and you could just feel, yeah, now we are in our groove and that is how we play."
Freshman Maddie Geers scored 14 points but also defended, rebound and handled the ball well.
Senior Kenzie Bowers scored 13 for the Eagles.
"It is so exciting," Bowers said about advancing to the division three state championship game. "This is something I have dreamed about since I was little. Ever since me and my sister (Lexie) and Emma (Geers) and her sister (Maddie) were little we always knew this was going to be the year. We knew we would always be good but this was going to be the year and know it is really happening so it is really exciting."
Kent City will play Grass Lake for the title on Friday at 3 p.m. at the Breslin Center.
