Daryl T. Jarvinen photo North Central’s Jesse Sampson, right, tries to get around the defense of Munising’s Hayden Rockhill in the first quarter of their MHSAA Division 4 regional tournament semifinal game played at Lakeview Memorial Gymnasium in Negaunee on Monday.

NEGAUNEE — North Central put on a defensive clinic in the MHSAA Division 4 boys basketball regional tournament semifinals on Monday evening, containing the Munising offense in a 49-33 win to advance at Lakeview Memorial Gymnasium in Negaunee.

The Mustangs (19-3) had a potent offense just about all season, not being held under 45 points since a loss to Rudyard in January. Two of Munising’s losses on the season came to the Jets (19-4) as a good look was hard to find.

Even when the Mustangs did get a good look at the bucket, they weren’t able to capitalize.

“That was the best defensive effort we’ve had all year long,” NC coach Mike Malone said. “We talked about trying to cover up certain shooters, trying to make sure that guys didn’t get clean looks at the rim, and I think we did that for a good portion of the game.

“We didn’t give up a ton of easy shots, and that showed up in the final score.”

The neutral gym also was credited with helping the Jets’ defense, getting Munising out of their own gym and into a new environment, Malone said.

MHS had a short bench with some players out, and that hurt the team’s shooting legs as the game wore on, Munising coach Terry Kienitz added.

“I think you can credit North Central’s defense for some of it, probably later in the game, it might’ve been fatigue on our part,” Kienitz said. “We lost two of our senior captains (who) weren’t available today, and I had another one that was out, so my bench shrunk on me real quick. A little fatigue, a little of their defense, but a lot of shots that we should’ve made.”

The Jets got off to a strong start, leading 6-0 with baskets from three players. Kane Nebel scored the Mustangs’ only first-quarter points to cut the deficit to 6-2, but the Jets ripped off five straight points from Connor Florenski and Jesse Sampson to take a nine-point lead after one quarter.

NC was up 13-4 before Munising finally started to click. Cully Trzeciak and Jesse Duran led a 7-0 Mustangs run by themselves, cutting the Jets lead to 13-11.

But NC had a quick answer and scored the final eight points of the half to take a 21-11 lead going into the break. Luke Gorzinski got going for the Jets to spark the run, and he didn’t stop there.

Munising only had four scorers, mostly relying on Nebel and Duran. In a back-and-forth third quarter, North Central led Munising 35-22 entering the fourth. Every time that Munising tried to make a comeback, North Central seemed to have an answer.

“They just found a way to make that basket, and I’ll give Coach Malone credit, he changed things up in the second half,” Kienitz said. “They were getting mismatches that benefitted them, and we just weren’t realizing it.

“In a gym this loud, I can’t scream 80 feet, they’re not going to hear me. You only have so many timeouts, so many adjustments. They made their adjustments first, and we never made ours.”

Nebel, who just recently returned to the lineup from a football injury, tried to will his team down the stretch and scored all of Munising’s 11 fourth-quarter points. But the duo of Gorzinski and Sampson proved to be too much. Gorzinski finished with a team-high 14 points with his playmaking on full display.