District 96: Harbor Beach 52, Cass City 34
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Pirates Capture Second-Straight District Title, Advance to Regionals
February 27, 2026 — MHSAA District 96 Championship — Sebewaing, Michigan
All eyes and pressure were on Harbor Beach in District 96, yet that didn’t stop the Pirates from cruising to their second-straight district title with a 52-34 victory over Cass City. Harbor Beach now roll into the regional rounds hosted by Cass City next week with a head of steam.
The Pirates never trailed to the Red Hawks, jumping out to a 6-0 lead in the first minute with back-to-back three pointers from Benson Harper and Luke Bischer. That differential held true for most of the game, with Harbor Beach leading at the end of the first quarter, 17-11 and 26-18 at halftime. The third quarter featured more of the same for the Pirates; Harper’s six points in the quarter all came from the free-throw line, en route to his game-high 19 points. As a team, Harbor Beach made 19 of its 25 free throws, connecting on 76% of attempts. Harbor Beach shot another 12 free throws in the fourth quarter, succeeding on nine. Of the Pirates’ 25 second-half points, 15 came from the charity stripe.
After Harper’s 19 points, Andrew Kabban scored 15 points for Harbor Beach. Skiler Kruse, Luke Bischer and Matt Geiger each finished with six points. Cass City’s ZyAire Osterling led the way for the Red Hawks with 12 points, while Kenton Nicholas was held to nine and Griffin Weiler at seven. Blake Mackowiak and Will Perry combined for six points.
With the victory, Harbor Beach improves to 21-3 on the season, winning its last four games by an average of 31 points. The Pirates now face the Sandusky Wolves on Tuesday, March 03 in the Regional Semi-Final. Tip-off from Cass City will be at approximately 7:00pm, following the completion of Flint International vs Reese game at 5:30pm. Coverage will begin at 6:20pm on Sports Radio 102.1FM and wlewsports.com, as well as on the NFHS Network (subscription required for video coverage).
