POWERS — In 2020, the North Central Jets were hours away from competing for a district championship against rival Carney-Nadeau.

That game, though, never happened as it was canceled due to COVID-19.

On Wednesday, two years since that canceled game, the Jets return to the district final after they defeated the Norway Knights 53-40 in Powers.

“It was definitely a touch-and-go battle, that’s for sure,” said Jets coach Mike Malone. “It was back and forth, definitely a game of runs.”

North Central took a 14-6 lead after one quarter. However, Norway bounced back and turned the tables on the Jets as the Knights scored 15 to North Central’s six to lead by one point at the half.

“They got off to a great start and we didn’t,” Norway coach Jeff Gallino said. “We clawed our way back to finish the half. Our team did not quit and battled the whole game.”

The Jets, though, were able to regroup in the locker room and come out in the second half, take control, and win by 13.

Malone noted that solid defense in the third, notably from sophomore Jacob Gorzinski, helped his team take over the ballgame.

“We had a couple guys in foul trouble, and I had to have Jacob Gorzinski sub in to guard (Norway guard Nolan) Amundson,” he said. “He did a really, really, good job on him tonight. He held him to a couple and really changed how they do things. He was big. He was really, really, big today.

“He only scored four points, but he had such a huge impact in that third and fourth quarter.”

Jesse Sampson (14) and Luke Gorzinski (13) worked well together to lead the Jets offensively.

“Luke and Jesse were playing like one and two …” Malone said. “They were shredding the bottom of that zone really, really well. They locked it in.”

“Sampson had a heck of a third quarter for them, rotating to the correct spot and finish against our 3-2 zone,” Gallino said.

Connor Florenski and Bradey Anderson also hit double figures for North Central (17-4) with 11 points each.

Amundson led the Knights (15-7), while Michael Peterson added 11.

Norway seniors who played their final game included Amundson, Drew Anderson, Chase Carlson, Gabe Ochs, Tyler Spring and Aiden Allison.

The Jets will now host the Stephenson Eagles on Friday for the MHSAA Division 4 District 99 Championship.

The Jets and Eagles played twice during the regular season with North Central winning each game, by 29 points in the first and 30 in the second.