District Champions!!

Cardinals Rule.
Faced with a 10-point deficit as the game entered the fourth quarter, Millington staged an amazing comeback on Friday night.
Led by Dustin Griesing's nine fourth quarter points, the Cardinals erased the deficit against North Branch and won, 52-49, taking the Class B, District 57 championship as well. The District title is the first boys title for the school since 1999.
Griesing was 'Mr. Clutch' down the stretch. The senior calmly was 6-for-6 in free throws within the game's last minute of play, giving his team the title over the Broncos. It was obvious that Griesing was not going to allow his team to lose, as he put them on his back and carried them to the title when they needed it most.
Millington, down by as much as 12 in the third quarter (34-22), was in desperate need of an offensive spark when the game entered the fourth. Griesing, as much the general on the court as he was on the football field, took over at the point and directed the comeback.
North Branch was running an odd 2-3 zone defense, pushing the Cardinals out further on the offensive than coach Walk Kujat would have liked. It's no secret that the Cardinals are not considered a three-point shooting team. The team reacts off Griesing's ability to drive to the hoop. He either takes it to the hole or he dishes it off and finds the open man. For three quarters, North Branch kept Griesing far enough away to make him ineffective.
But in the fourth, Griesing took over. He finally found a few seams in the Bronco defense, which caused NB to collapse on Griesing. Of course, Griesing distributed the ball to the open Cardinal shooters, but the difference in the fourth was, the three's began to drop.
Gerry Smith connected from beyond the arc twice, Garrett Stier and Tyler Reinert hit the others and NB coach Jim Marshal had to adjust his defense to account for the suddenly hot Cardinal shooters. That adjustment finally freed Griesing to find his way to the basket, and the rest, as they say, is history.

The emergence of Dustin Griesing.
Griesing is already looked at by his fellow players as the leader of the team, but he's slowly becoming the emotional leader as well. He played with a fire in him last night that I have not seen before. When the final shot from NB's Luke Bonner caroomed off the rim, Griesing ran the length of the court in a way similar to the classic shot of Jimmy Valvano after did after his NC State pulled of the upset in the 1983 NCAA National Championship game.
Griesing sprinted from the south end of the gym right to the Millington section on the north west section of the bleechers, held his hands high and started to celebrate with the students who had painted their faces to resemble a gathering of angry cardinals.
It was an amazing scene that no one who was in attendence will soon forget. If Millington is going to have any sort of success in the Regionals, they're going to need Griesing to continue to elevate his game and his intensity as well.

Will it be on the air?
92.1 spurned the Millington game so that they could broadcast the USA-Cass City District final game on Friday night (which had an exciting finish that Christian Selich has posted on this site. The announcers did a great job of calling a once-in-a-lifetime finish).
Since that game is done, and since 102.1 WLEW (a competing station) will undoubtedly be calling the USA Regional game, will 92.1 broadcast the Millington game from Imlay City?
In my opinion, I'd have to say, not likely.
For some reason, that company has always ignored Millington and the sports at the school, preferring instead to focus the majority of it's attention on USA and Reese and the rest of the Greater Thumb Conference teams. Don't believe me....take a look at their broadcast schedule. The USA game on Friday night was at least the fourth time this year that the Patriots have been on the air, the second time that USA-Cass City was on (would have been the third if not for a game canceled due to the snow).
By my count, Millington has been on the twice, I think, and both games have been at Millington. They weren't there when the Cardinals pulled off the upset of Frankenmuth (yes, it was a Thursday, but so what? WLEW calls Thursday games). They weren't there last night when the Cardinals won their first District title since 1999. And my bet says that they won't be there on Monday when Millington plays in the Regionals. Unless of course USA loses, then they'll go to Imlay City because Millington might be the only team left.
This could easily be solved by the way. If you want to hear your Cardinals on the radio, and not have a Tuscola County radio station continue to broadcast games from a school that is located in Huron County, then call the station. Implore the stations sales department to contact Millington businesses. Contact any business owner in Millington and encourage them to contact the station and have them pledge their financial support to get the Cardinals on the air.
Because if the town's business owners don't care enough to pony up to get the Cardinals on the air, then the station won't care enough to broadcast the game.