BROOKLYN - As the clock wound down during the first semifinal of a Class B regional doubleheadher at Brooklyn Columbia Central, Milan boys basketball coach Josh Tropea stood feet from the court.

The floors and walls shook in the old barn as Fowlerville survived a late 3-point attempt for a 72-70 win over Coldwater. The top rows of students were barely visible in the dimly-lit gym.

With a ventilation system as nostalgic as the steep wooden bleachers and deafening acoustics, the Milan players waited for the game to end with sweat already dripping down their faces. Tropea smiled and asked, “Could you ask for anything better?”

Maybe a different opponent?

More coverage: This Story on MLive.com | Boxscore | Class B Bracket

Standing outside the opposite locker room was Lansing Sexton, and it didn’t take long to figure out which Big Red program is in the first year of turnaround, and which is the No. 10-ranked team in the state.

The superior team from start to finish, the older, bigger, stronger, faster and flat out better Sexton players had their way with Milan in a 76-38 blowout.

Tropea had no illusions coming in. He knew everything had to go right for Milan (11-12), and wrong for Sexton (18-5), for his team to have a chance. Starting in a 16-2 hole wasn’t part of that equation.

“They were really able to get us out of everything we wanted to run, and we just couldn’t get the ball to (Andre) Duffin with any success,” Tropea said.

Duffin, Milan’s leading scorer, was held to four points, which he scored on one play after getting fouled a on a 3-point shot at the end of the first quarter.

Sexton 6-foot-8 center James Suttles and wide-bodied 6-foot-4 forward Tyrin Wade controlled the paint, helping Sexton to a 53-23 advantage on the boards.

Milan’s best opportunity to make a game of it came at the end of the first quarter, when Sexton turned the ball over five straight times. But Milan converted just one of those turnovers into points and trailed 34-18 at half.

“Down (16) at half where we could have easily been down eight or nine, a three possession game instead of a seven possession game, we needed that to make it a game,” Tropea said.

Sexton started the third with an 8-0 run, and after Denzel Valentine sent the Sexton supporters into hysterics with a pair of no look assists to Wade and Suttles near the end of the third, the starters took a seat.

Wade finished with a game-high 16 points, while Suttles had a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds.

“Normally we play an eight-man rotation, so it’s good to get those guys some rest,” said Sexton coach Carlton Valentine. “They didn’t play the whole fourth quarter, and (getting the bench players in) helps with camaraderie.”

“I’m just trying to get my teammates involved, in those types of games I try to work on my passing more because that’s what I need to work on,” said Denzel Valentine, who finished with five points and six assists.

“It hurts right now, but bottom line, they won a district for the first time in 14 years they won 11 games when they’d won three the previous two combined,” Tropea said. “For us to go 11-12 and to win a district title, it far exceeds my expectations.”

Just one of Milan’s points on the night was scored by a senior.

“Our kids needed to experience this. This environment, this intensity, this atmosphere, and we needed to play a team like this,” Tropea said. “We’re pretty good around our area, but this is Lansing basketball. This is the real deal and we needed to get a taste of this.”

“We have 10 underclassmen in that room, seven of which are freshman or sophomores, and my question to them was is this as good as it gets? Or do we now realize what it takes to compete at this level? Is this what we work harder for in the weight room in the offseason?” Tropea said. “Do we work harder on our man-to-man defense? Do we go out and try to compete against competition like this? I guess we’ll find out that answer in the next six months.”

Pete Cunningham covers sports for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached by e-mail at petercunningham@ annarbor.com or by phone at 734-623-2561. Follow him on Twitter @petcunningham.