CLAWSON >> Perimeter shooting kept Lutheran Northwest in Wednesday night’s battle with Detroit Pershing, but it was mid-range shooting and aggressive takes to the rim in the second half that helped the Crusaders lift a regional championship trophy by the end of the night.

That precision and persistence inside the arc after halftime helped get the Crusaders back in the Division 3 quarterfinals again with their 58-46 victory over the Doughgirls.

Down by one at intermission to this year’s PSL Gold champs, little separated Lutheran Northwest from Pershing throughout much of the third quarter after an opening half in which the lead got traded on multiple occasions, but Northwest did hold a two-point advantage with a little under two minutes left in the quarter.

The Crusaders, however, began to make their move before the quarter reached its end. On consecutive drives, Addie Troska and Paige Macavage drew fouls on drives to the rack that resulted in a combined three free throws, and Macavage stopped and knocked down a jumper with 14 seconds left to make it 45-38 heading into the last eight minutes.

That scoring approach for Lutheran Northwest was a contrast from much of the first half, particularly the second quarter when 3-pointers by Scarlet Brown, Morgan Griswold and Macavage helped keep pace with the Doughgirls.

“We made a lot of big threes in the second to keep us hanging in there,” Lutheran Northwest head coach Jimmy Mehlburg said. “We didn’t get to the basket and couldn’t get out in transition, but we hit a couple nice threes at the right time that kept us in the game.”

Early in the fourth, Pershing went to talented freshman guard Des’knei McDaniels, who helped counter a mid-range jumper from Macavage and a bucket from the low block by Keaira Spiehs (11 points). With 4:07 remaining, a steal by Macavage led to a transition opportunity that not only drew the fifth foul from Pershing’s Jaziah McDaniels — detrimental to the Doughgirls, who dressed just six players altogether — but resulted in a three-point play that made it 53-41.

“The defense was super spread out, so keeping your composure, driving and hoping for a call is all you can do,” said Macavage, who scored a team-high 13 points. “I felt like (that play) iced the game for us. It was a big confidence booster for our team, and then we just had to get stops on defense and it was ours.”

Not everyone saw Macavage’s play as the finishing blow to Pershing, though.

McDaniels countered with a 3-pointer with 3:20 to go that got it back within single-digits. The Doughgirls had chances to get it closer, too, but had one pull-up jumper that popped out, then a drive that didn’t result in a basket or a whistle. And with 1:03 remaining, Charlotte Gramzow (12 points) knocked down the Crusaders’ sixth triple of the evening, making it a 12-point game and truly making a comeback nearly impossible for Pershing.

“It felt better (after the three-point play by Macavage), but I don’t know if it felt like the game,” Mehlburg said. “I do know Charlotte about gave me a heart attack shooting the three (laughs), but when that went in, that felt like the game. I said, ‘I’m too young for a heart attack, Charlotte.’ But she was in rhythm and shot it well. That was a big shot.”

It was less than 15 years ago that the Doughgirls won a Class A district title, so that and their nearly non-existent bench are a sign that times have changed. None of that changes the fact that Pershing still brought several high-level athletes to the table in Wednesday’s game, including 6-foot-2 senior Kyrieona Carter, who scored 14 in the loss, as did teammate Kendall Cooper-Cheeks.

“It was a lot different,” said Spiehs, a sophomore and the Crusaders’ best post presence. “We haven’t seen that much size throughout all the games we’ve played.”

Although they have size, with such a short bench, it’s no surprise that teams have tried to wear out Pershing.

“I knew we had to fight,” Pershing head coach James Primus said. “They had the numbers, so we had to play tight and play together. It was a good, hard-fought game. To make it this far with six, man, we did a helluva job.”

The idea of wearing Pershing out meshed well with Lutheran Northwest’s style, as Mehlburg confirmed. “That’s how we like to play,” he said. “We like to run. And yes, you want to run them up and down, but in a regional final, it’s got to be more controlled, you know? We didn’t think they played anybody that liked to run like us, but we never played anybody with the height they had, so we came in knowing it was going to be a battle.”

Luckily, the Crusaders (19-6) are more battle-tested than they were this same time last year when they surprised by getting this far in the playoffs.

Now, they’re just one game away from a return to the Breslin Center.

“There’s a maturity to our team,” Macavage said. “We’ve bene playing together a long time. It’s a lot of commitment and I’m so proud of all these girls … We know what to expect (now). I think that last year we were a little shell-shocked, but I know this year we’re gonna have the confidence part of it (down). I think we’re gonna hopefully make it back (to East Lansing) and even farther.”

To do that, the Crusaders will again have to go through Sandusky (24-2), who they beat 38-16 in last year’s quarterfinal, next Tuesday in Port Huron.

“(Sandusky is) having another great year,” said Mehlburg, unaware at the time that the Wolves had beaten Genesee in their own regional final. “I’m not worried about it right now, but I think we very well could be (rematching them). Our freshmen and sophomores are now sophomores and juniors, and we’ve learned a lot from last year. It might be a familiar look in the next game, but we’ve just got to take it one game at a time and see what we can do.”