JV HOLIDAY TOURNAMENT

BOYS

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Ironwood - Momentum swung four times in the boys championship game of the Ironwood JV Holiday Tournament on Saturday, but the final swing proved to be decisive as it lifted Wakefield-Marenisco to a 37-30 victory over Ironwood.

The Cardinals started like gangbusters when Jacob Suzik made a 3 the hard way with a put-back and a free throw and Eric Hakamaki sank a 3-footer off the glass. W-M rolled to a 12-5 lead with 5:01 left in the first quarter.

But Ironwood rallied back when Nathan Dray scored with 1:43 remaining in the second quarter as the Red Devils went on top 13-12.

Eric Rantanen made a sweeping hook from the lane and Ironwood was feeling good and playing good as they went into halftime with a 16-15 advantage.

The Red Devils out-scored the Cardinals 14-9 in the quarter and proved momentum can be fickle as it moved over to Ironwood's side.

It looked like the Devils might be pulling away from W-M in the third quarter as Ironwood got scores from Ian Averitt and and Tory Brady and increased their lead to 24-19.

But W-M coach Pat Libertoski didn't sound like a worried man.

"I talked to them at halftime and I knew we would come around," Libertoski said. "We had struggled breaking their press and we stepped it up and the turnovers started going our way."

The result was a steal by Bailey Ribich who scored his only two points of the game on a lay-up.

W-M was down by a point when Suzik drove the baseline for a bucket as the Cardinals regained the lead 25-24 early in the fourth quarter.

Points from Scott LaRock, Jacob Franklin and Suzik gave the Cardinals a 30-24 cushion with 2:12 left in the game.

But Ironwood wasn't done yet as Josh Joki made a rare play in basketball. He drained a 3 from the right corner and was fouled in the process. His free throw turned it into a 4-point play that made it a 30-28 game. Then Joki made a drive and scored and the contest was knotted at 30-30 with 1:19 left.

But there was still one momentum change left to be played out.

Franklin made two big free throws and then broke away for a lay-in to give the Cardinals a 35-30 lead with 34.4 seconds left. Suzik finished the scoring by taking a long pass for a lay-up and W-M was the JV champs.

W-M out-scored Ironwood 16-6 in the final quarter.

"It feels nice for us," Libertoski said. "We wanted to try and win this, so the boys are happy. This tournament should be a go next year and they could rotate schools."

In the boys consolation bracket, Hurley defeated Bessemer 27-22 in the consolation final as Nathan Harrington led the Midgets with nine points.

Jason Turula notched eight points for the Speedboys.

GIRLS

Ironwood - The Hurley Midgettes led from start to finish as they downed Ironwood 45-29 in the girls championship game of the Ironwood JV Holiday Tournament on Saturday.

"We played well in the tournament, a lot better than our last two games against Ashland and Northland Pines," Hurley coach Hope Bretting said. "We struggled a lot with the basics, but this tournament we focused on the basic things we needed to focus on such as boxing out and getting second attempts on shots. The girls executed very well."

Bretting said the Midgettes were hoping to use the "two very positive wins" as a springboard in the new year.

Hurley started the game like it was more of a 100 meter dash than a 28 minute basketball game.

Brooke Olson opened the game with a steal and the first score early in the contest. Mackenzie McCorkle quickly followed up with a basket at the 5:27 mark.

Ironwood started in a full-court press that bothered Hurley somewhat, but the Red Devils could not turn that pressure into points.

Ironwood's only score in the first quarter was a free throw by Makenzie Marshall with 3:41 remaining.

Hurley led 9-1 after one quarter, but then Ironwood's Kathleen Mieloszyk tried to get the Red Devils back in the game. Early in the second quarter, she splashed a 3 and two minutes later, she drilled an 18-footer to whittle Hurley's lead to 10-6.

Mieloszyk proved to be a lefty sharpshooter on the night as she scored 18-points, including four triples.

But the Midgettes answered back with balanced scoring from Allie Olson, McCorkle and Meagan Leinon and took a 19-9 advantage into halftime.

The lead would have been larger, but the Midgettes missed a lot of shorter shots around the basket. In the second half, those shots started going in.

With 4:43 left in the third quarter, Aiyana Nickel made a 3-pointer the old-fashioned way with a short shot and a free throw as the lead increased to 26-10.

During the third quarter, Hurley sealed the deal by out-scoring the Red Devils 17-6 and led 36-15.

Mieloszyk topped all scorers with her 18-point performance, while Marshall garnered eight.

Alli Olson led Hurley's balanced scoring attack with 13-points and Leinon added 10.

Ironwood coach Lisa Graham said that despite the loss, the Ironwood JV team has been improving and playing better.

Bretting was happy with the return of the JV Holiday Tournament.

"I loved it," she said. "It was so much fun for the girls-a chance for the JV who normally don't get the spotlight to get their chance. It was a chance for the four area teams who don't have a full schedule of JV games to get two more games."

Wakefield-Marenisco upended Bessemer 34-14 in the consolation championship with W-M's Ebanie Delich being the game's high scorer with 15-points, while Kirsten Heil had eight.

Kelsey Kitto led Bessemer with six-points and Maddie Jacobson scored five.