GAYLORD — The Kingsford Flivvers remarkable 2023-24 boys basketball season continued in a remarkable way Thursday evening.

With less than a minute to play in the Division 2 Regional 9 final at Gaylord High School, the Flivvers stood deadlocked with Ludington. The Orioles were running their formidable delay game, hoping to run the clock down for a last shot.

But out of nowhere, Kingsford junior Gavin Trevillian snuck up behind Ludington ball handler Gage Jones and picked him clean before driving for what turned out to be the game-winning bucket as the Flivvers won their first regional boys basketball title since the 1991-92 season with a 37-34 victory.

Trevillian’s decision to gamble by leaving his man and going for the steal was an inner stroke of inspiration.

“I take no credit for that steal,” Kingsford coach Dan Olkkonen said the day after his team’s historic win. “(Gavin) just saw something. He’s a very smart player and a very good athlete and he just makes plays.”

Trevillian’s steal and bucket put his team up 36-34 with 44 seconds remaining. The Orioles misfired on a shot to tie with under five seconds left and Flivver center Jacob Markworth grabbed the rebound.

The senior split a pair of free throws to increase his team’s lead to three.

After a timeout, Ludington threw a long pass to the deep left corner but Spencer Holmes’ shot to tie the game was blocked.

By whom? Trevillian, of course. The Kingsford hero finished the game with two points and one blocked shot, a stat line that will go down in the history of Kingsford High School athletics.

The victory sends the Flivvers into the state quarterfinals where they will meet Flint Powers Catholic (21-5), which defeated Saginaw Arthur Hill 59-51 in the Regional 10 final. The matchup is set for Tuesday at Gaylord High School at 6 p.m. CST.

“We’ve been trying to win the regional final for a very long time,” said the 24-year Flivver head coach Olkkonen, whose six-regional qualifying teams have advanced to the regional title game three times, including last season. “The resilience of our guys carried us through.

“We were ecstatic last night. The vibe on the bus ride home was fantastic. We’re very happy and feel very fortunate for the support we’ve had.”

As they did in their regional semifinal win over Sault Ste. Marie on Tuesday, the Flivvers took a while to heat up. Ludington star senior guard David Shillinger, who finished his career as the school’s all-time leading scorer with 1,776 points, forced a turnover and drove for a lay-in on the opening possession of the game.

The Orioles followed with five more points to go up seven less than three minutes into the contest.

Morgan Sleik broke the ice for Kingsford with a layup off an offensive rebound before Jack Kriegl split a pair of free throws.

Shillinger followed with a pull-up jumper to put his team up 9-3 with 2:06 to play in the opening quarter.

Ten seconds later, Gavin Grondin connected on a 3-pointer to slice his team’s deficit in half. The bucket got Kingsford’s leading scorer going as he went on to score the Flivvers’ next 13 points.

Though Grondin had 16 points at halftime, his team trailed 22-19 and Olkkonen knew that one player’s scoring was not going to win a regional final game.

“We had to correct that,” Olkkonen said. “That was the focus at halftime, that we had to get into the lane through that zone and get our posts involved.”

The adjustment worked as Sleik recorded six points in the third quarter and Markworth added four. Grondin also buried a triple during the quarter, which ended with Kingsford up 32-28.

But trouble was brewing for the Flivvers.

Sophomore point guard Jack Kriegl picked up his fourth foul just 11 seconds into the fourth quarter and was forced to head to the bench.

When he returned to the game 3 1/2 minutes later, the Flivvers were still stuck at 32 points.

Fortunately for the Flivvers, their defense held the fort and kept Ludington to just four points from Shillinger during Kriegl’s absence, leaving the score at 32-all heading down the stretch.

Kingsford regained the lead with 4:08 to play when Sleik scored off an inbounds play.

Neither team scored in nearly two minutes before Holmes forced a Kingsford turnover and scored in transition to knot the game at 34-34 with 1:35 left.

The Flivvers committed an unforced turnover 10 seconds later, setting the stage for Trevillian’s heroics.

Grondin led the Flivvers with 19 points, while Sleik added 10. Markworth finished with five, Trevilian had two and Kriegl scored one.

Shillinger topped Ludington with 12 points.

Next up for Kingsford is a matchup with Flint Powers Catholic, a fast team that wants to play in transition, Olkkonen said.

He added that the Chargers have a talented big and that two of their players will play collegiate baseball.

No matter, the Flivvers are enjoying the ride of a lifetime.

“We’re very excited for the opportunity,” Olkkonen said.