MUSKEGON – Muskegon Catholic’s Erin Lavigne was clearly not ready for the season to end.

She didn’t score any points in the first half of Wednesday’s Division 4 district semifinal game against Fruitport Calvary Christian, but she came alive when the end seemed perilously close.

LaVigne tossed in four points early in the fourth quarter, keeping the Crusaders within reach of the Eagles. Then she added three crucial points during a decisive 9-0 run, helping the MCC rally for an exciting 38-36 victory on its home court.

Fruitport Calvary led 33-27 with just under three minutes remaining when MCC made its final move.

McKenna Gentry hit a three-pointer to start the rally, LaVigne followed with a bucket and one, Sara Albanese added a two-pointer with 1:03 remaining, then LaVigne hit a free throw with 15 seconds left to put the win on ice.

MCC’s Erin LaVigne goes up for two easy points. Photo/Jeremy Clark

MCC, which trailed at key points throughout the contest before coming back at the end, now moves on to face Muskegon Heights on Friday night in the district championship game.

“We had to be reminded that we were only down one at the end of the first half,” LaVigne said about the comeback win. “We beat this team by 12 the last time we played them, so it was all about the mindset.

“District is the goal, we haven’t won a district in 11 years, maybe, so that’s the main goal right now.”

The game did not start out well for the Crusaders, who found themselves trailing 7-0 in the early minutes and 11-2 at the end of the first quarter.

MCC roared back in the second quarter, pressing effectively on defense and getting some shots to finally fall. They outscored the Eagles 12-4 in the quarter, with Carrie Ladd leading the way with six points, and only trailed 15-14 at halftime.

Fruitport Calvary’s McKena Wilson gets ready to shoot over MCC’s Cara Burkall. Photo/Jeremy Clark

“We missed a bunch of shots, we had to have been below 10 percent in that first quarter,” said MCC head coach Adam Callow about his team’s early struggles. “We kind of let it impact our energy and execution. In the second quarter we got some fresh bodies in, and they gave us a spark.”

MCC took its first lead about three minutes into the third quarter, then the teams traded buckets and Calvary clung to a 24-23 edge heading into the fourth.

The Eagles opened the fourth quarter with a 7-0 run and increased their lead to 31-23. But LaVigne answered with a coast-to-coast layup, then stole an inbound pass and another bucket, making the score 31-27.

Calvary collected a pair of free throws from Cate Anhalt, pushing the lead back to six. That’s when MCC went on the 9-0 run to steal the lead and the victory.

Fruitport Calvary went to the free throw line four times in the final minutes, but missed each shot.

MCC’s Grace Staniforth drives in for a layup. Photo/Jeremy Clark

The Crusaders helped themselves with strong rebounding throughout the game, leaving to numerous second chances and putback buckets.

“We write keys on the board every single night, and the word rebound is always up there in all caps,” Callow said. “We talked about it. The games where we’ve won the rebound battle, we’ve won the game.”

LaVigne finished with 10 points in the contest to lead the Crusaders, who are now 9-11 on the season. Albanese, Ladd and Claire LaVigne all added six points for MCC.

Wilson scored a game-high 19 points for Fruitport Calvary, including three triples. Anhalt added 11 points for the Eagles, who finished the season with a 13-7 record.