Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
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MARQUETTE --- Ewen-Trout Creek’s super scorer, the leader of Wakefield-Marenisco’s district championship team and Ironwood’s floor leader were named to the All-U.P. Division 4 Second Team at Monday’s meeting of the Upper Peninsula Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association. Ewen-Trout Creek’s Austin Gordon, Ironwood’s Axton Ruotsala and Wakefield-Marenisco’s Carter Cole joined nine other top players on the Second Team. Gordon, a 5-11 junior, made the list for the second straight year. His 24.1 point per game scoring average ranked second in th...
By JASON JUNO [email protected] The MHSAA is unlikely to add a fifth basketball division soon. "There were conversations at the AD in-service and sport committee meetings over the fall and winter just to gauge interest, but there aren't any proposals or movement on this," Geoff Kimmerly of the MHSAA told The Globe Tuesday. The smallest schools in the state, like Ewen-Trout Creek and Watersmeet, have longed for a fifth division like neighboring Wisconsin has. It came to a head this...
By JASON JUNO [email protected] ST. IGNACE --- Ball is life at the Ingalls house. Dorene and Doug coach. Jackson refs. Jonny plays. All do what they do at a high level. Dorene’s St. Ignace girls basketball teams have won five state titles. Doug helps her and he has coached the boys team here for 25 years over multiple stints. Jackson’s referring assignments include GLIAC games. Jonny just cleared 2,000 career points as a point guard for his Dad. This season might have been the one of the toughest and one of the best all at the same tim...
By JASON JUNO [email protected] BARAGA --- One of the first things people noticed when Ewen-Trout Creek came to town was their youth — after all, their starting lineup consists of three sophomores and two eighth graders. Coach Jacky Besonen never accepted that easy excuse as they navigated the Copper Country Conference and its gauntlet of teams ranked in the top five in the Upper Peninsula. They added bigger schools, Houghton and Menominee, when openings popped up on their schedule. “I knew they could be successful this year even tho...
By JASON JUNO [email protected] IRONWOOD --- There are more complaints than compliments now that the MHSAA has dipped its toes into seeding the district basketball tournaments. Higher seeds don't automatically get home games - they should. Only the top two teams are seeded - why aren't the rest of the district teams? Those are the most common complaints and maybe they'll be addressed someday. But for all its faults, Michigan's limited seeding method often does the one thing it's...
By JASON JUNO [email protected] HOUGHTON --- Lake Linden-Hubbell has two of the best scorers in the Upper Peninsula in Emily Jokela and Cleo Milkey. The Lakes' 1-2 punch led them to a top-five ranking in the U.P. all season and to a 23-win campaign. Ewen-Trout Creek, though, counters with more scoring options, three players who've been scoring consistently all season. All three, plus a fourth, MaKayla Basel, hit double figures in Monday's MHSAA Division 4 regional semifinal against the L...
By JASON JUNO [email protected] IRONWOOD --- Ironwood came out ready to defend its home court in last week's MHSAA Division 4 District 97 semifinal. They dominated from the start and beat Bessemer 68-37. "They were tournament ready tonight," Ironwood coach Jesse Mackey said. "Every girl was locked in and ready to go." The Red Devils played well on both ends of the court. They attacked offensively from the start, getting to the foul line six times and taking a 24-8 lead after the first qu...
By JASON JUNO [email protected] Aubrey Schoeneman made it to the NCAA Division III indoor and outdoor track-and-field national championships last year for Carthage College and she finished the shot put in ninth place both times. Top-10 finishes are excellent, obviously, but the Mercer graduate still had some unfinished business heading into this year. That’s because All-American status is only given to the top eight places. She made sure it wasn’t so close this year. Schoeneman finished fourth at the NCAA Division III indoor track-and-f...
By JASON JUNO [email protected] ASHLAND, Wis. --- Solon Springs is going to state for the first time in school history after a 59-41 win over Owen-Withee in Saturday night’s sectional final at Ashland. The Eagles very nearly made it last year also. They led by 13 points with seven minutes left in the sectional final against Chippewa Falls McDonell Catholic Central and lost. This year, they led O-W by 15 with the same amount of time left. Isaiah Kastern, Solon’s 6-5 Bemidji State commit, dominated in a second-half stretch with mul...
By JASON JUNO [email protected] EWEN --- The last time Wakefield won a district championship in boys basketball, the president was George Bush. The first one. The Cardinals ended a drought dating back to 1992, when consolidation with Marenisco was still more than a decade away, with a 41-37 MHSAA Division 4 District 97 championship win over Ironwood Friday night. "That's 32 years we've been waiting for this," W-M coach Pat Libertoski said. "Thirty-two years, man - finally, finally. I'm...
By JASON JUNO [email protected] EWEN --- Ironwood went into last year's district tournament as the favorite. They had just three losses in the regular season and they were the home team. This year was different. Ewen-Trout Creek was the home team and the Panthers defeated the Red Devils not too long ago as a part of their 10-game winning streak that moved them into the favorite status. "There's not as much pressure," Ironwood coach Adam Mackey said. "Obviously at home, you feel that...
By JASON JUNO [email protected] IRONWOOD --- Gogebic fell to United Tribes, which is seeking a second straight trip to the NJCAA Division II national tournament, 90-71 in Sunday afternoon's Region 13 championship game. United Tribes took the early lead, 32-14 after the first quarter, and played from ahead all afternoon. GCC cut it to nine twice - 41-32, late in the first half, and 60-51 midway through the third quarter. But UT had an answer both times and was able to repeat as Region 13...
By JASON JUNO [email protected] IRONWOOD --- Bessemer took advantage of the defensive attention given to standout Brooke Stanislawski. They went inside and pulled the upset of rival Wakefield-Marenisco. After losing to the Cardinals by double digits twice since Feb. 15, the Speedgirls won the most important game, Monday's MHSAA Division 4 District 97 opener, 61-50. "Our schedule did not help us," W-M coach Alex Metas said. "It's hard to beat a good team three times in a season, let alone in 2.5 weeks." Things were certainly different in...
By JASON JUNO [email protected] HOUGHTON --- Wakefield-Marenisco experienced all of the emotions of March in a span of five days. On Friday, they won their first district championship in 32 years with an exciting win over Ironwood. On Tuesday, they led much bigger Lake Linden-Hubbell, ranked third in the Upper Peninsula, for much of the fourth quarter in the Division 4 regional semifinal. But the senior-dominated Lakes rallied late in a heartbreaking finish to end W-M's season with a...
By JASON JUNO [email protected] IRONWOOD --- Ewen-Trout Creek is a unanimous favorite among coaches to win next week’s MHSAA Division 4 District 97 championship. They’re the No. 1 seed in the bracket, they’re 8-1 against district opponents, they’re the defending champions and they’re ranked fourth in the U.P. poll with a 16-5 record. “Ewen has to be the favorite,” Ironwood coach Jesse Mackey said, “with that earned No. 1 seed. Very talented team. Those young girls have only gotten stronger and more experienced against the varsity lev...
By JASON JUNO [email protected] HURLEY --- Hurley hoped to ride the momentum from Friday night’s big semifinal win over Butternut, but Gilman proved to be much better than the average 9 seed as the Pirates beat No. 5 Hurley 60-44 for a WIAA Division 5 regional championship Saturday night. The Northstars’ season was like those two days, full of ups and downs. But in the end, they made the regional final and simply lost to a team on a Cinderella run. “We probably covered every emotion imaginable this season,” Hurley coach Jay Aijala...
By JASON JUNO [email protected] EWEN --- Ironwood beat Bessemer by double figures in both of its regular-season matchups. The tournament matchup, of course, turned out to be more difficult. But the Red Devils survived for a 47-44 win in Monday night’s MHSAA Division 4 District 97 opener. “Anytime you’re playing in the playoffs, anytime you’re playing against a rival, anything can happen and tonight it was a close game throughout,” Ironwood coach Adam Mackey said. “I’m proud of the guys the way they played, Bessemer, coach (Richard) Mat...
By JASON JUNO [email protected] IRONWOOD — The Ewen-Trout Creek girls are fourth in the penultimate U.P. Division 4 poll. The Panthers lost to big-school No. 4 Houghton after the poll was conducted. Ishpeming remains in first place. Negaunee is on top of the Division 1-3 poll. Iron Mountain and Marquette are tied for first in the boys Division 1-3 poll. The Mountaineers had the 1 spot to themselves all year until the final poll. The Sentinels ended the year on a 16-game winning streak and dominated No. 3 Kingsford 64-37 last week. I...
By JASON JUNO [email protected] IRONWOOD --- The Gogebic women’s basketball team needs one win to win a NJCAA Division II Region 13 championship and the game’s at home. The Samsons will host the Region 13 title game on Sunday at 1 p.m. Their opponent was to be determined on Feb. 28 when Dakota College at Bottineau goes to United Tribes for the only Region 13 semifinal. United Tribes went into the semifinal 11-16 while Dakota College at Bottineau was 14-16. United Tribes won the most recent matchup 76-75 on Feb. 21 while Bottineau too...
By JASON JUNO [email protected] IRONWOOD --- Gogebic has a tough draw as they head to North Dakota this weekend for the NJCAA Division II Region 13 tournament. The Samsons start with tournament host United Tribes Saturday at 2 p.m. If they win that, they advance to Sunday’s Region championship game where they’d play the winner of the tournament-favorite DCTC vs. Dakota College at Bottineau semifinal. United Tribes enters the postseason with a 15-12 record. They got to host the tournament by earning the West’s No. 1 seed with three wins...
By JASON JUNO [email protected] BUTTERNUT, Wis. --- None of Hurley’s games with Butternut have been easy this year. The Northstars’ season hasn’t always been a walk in the park. But they found a way to beat Butternut for the third time and they were able to advance to the regional final once again with a 58-55 victory in Friday night’s WIAA Division 5 regional semifinal. No. 5 seed Hurley beat No. 4 Butternut three times by a combined nine points this season to make the regional final for the third straight year. It’s been an up-and-do...
By JASON JUNO [email protected] HURLEY - Top-seed Hurley will look for the program's first win in the sectional tournament in 40 years tonight when they take on No. 2 Northwood in a semifinal at Hayward at 7 p.m. Hurley reached the sectional four straight seasons from 2009 through 2012, but they lost to Boyceville, Ladysmith and twice to Fall Creek in the semifinal. Hurley has since moved down to Division 5 as its enrollment has dropped. Northwood has eliminated Hurley the past two...
By JASON JUNO [email protected] IRONWOOD - Halftime came at a good time for Hurley Thursday night. As much as the Hurley coaches preached that playing rival Ironwood was just another game, the players weren't sold. The Northstars 10-point lead was down to one as Ironwood turned some careless Hurley possessions into easy layups and that advantage was down to one at the half. "It was good for us to get in the locker room and let some of those young guys a chance to catch their breath,"...
IRONWOOD - Ironwood sure has taken to heart the old mantra that regular-season records don't matter come tournament time. The 9-15 Red Devils have now won more district tournament games (two) than conference games (one) as they prepare to host a district final against Calumet tonight. Ironwood beat Iron Mountain 25-14, 18-25, 25-15, 25-16 in Wednesday night's MHSAA Division 3 District 65 semifinal. "It just goes to show a record doesn't tell you what kind of team you're coming up against," Iron...
By JASON JUNO [email protected] LA CROSSE, Wis. --- It took Mercer junior Aubrey Schoeneman three days to smile again after the WIAA Division 3 sectional meet ended in such disappointment. While she made it to state in the shot put, she missed out in the discus, an event she probably would have won, and won by a lot, in La Crosse. The shot put, on the other hand, was ultra competitive. She was tied for the high seed coming into the state meet where four people would ultimately clear 40...
