Red Devils survive defensive battle with Midgets

By JASON JUNO

sports@yourdailyglobe.com

Ironwood - Up by three points in the final seconds, Ironwood coach Pete Lewinski didn't even think about fouling to prevent a 3-point shot attempt by Hurley.

The way his defense was playing, he didn't have to.

The only shot Hurley could get off was a 2 at the buzzer, as Ironwood played excellent defense on their 3-point shooters. It gave the Red Devils a 36-35 Indianhead Conference victory over their archrivals Thursday night in front of a packed house.

"Rivalry game, tough game, intense, tournament atmosphere," Lewinski said. "Hurley played their hearts out and I thought our boys played their hearts out."

Ironwood made 3 of 4 at the free throw line in the final minute to break a tie and take a 36-33 lead with 19.4 seconds left.

The Devils smothered the Midgets' 3-point shooters, forcing Hurley coach Mike Swartz to call timeout with 3.5 seconds left. But Ironwood had them blanketed again and Hurley was forced into a 2-point basket and the clock ran out after it fell with the Devils winning by one, 36-35.

"Coming out of the timeout, we said no three-point play, meaning no three-point shot or a foul the old-fashioned way," Lewinski said. "We said, 'Let them throw it into the block and shoot a 2 and we'll just stand out of bounds and let the clock run out,' because they were out of timeouts.

"To win it, preserve it, I thought we did an excellent job."

Fouling to prevent a 3-point shot never came to mind as an option for Lewinski.

"I know that's a strategy, but we're going to gamble because if they hit the 3, it's tied," he said. "Knowing us, they'd hit one (free throw), miss the second and back tap it to win it, something like that. That was a strategy, but no, we elected to play D on them."

Hurley obviously didn't get the look it wanted on the final shot.

"We wanted to get something with Carson (Thewis) and Isaac (DeCarlo) in a ball screen," Swartz said. "But they covered it up well. We just didn't get to the right spots. ... Gavin caught the ball, he got it to the rim, made the shot, he just needed to be a few feet back."

It was a strong defensive effort from both teams as the Midgets' second-half comeback attempt came up a point short.

"The offense wasn't a sight to behold, but I think both teams' defense had a key role in holding the score down like that," Lewinski said. "It was a grinder of a game, it was an intense game, physical game. We were fortunate to come out on top."

Ironwood led 23-18 at the half with strong shooting - 4 of 6 from 2, 4 of 12 from 3 - and just five turnovers.

"First half was one of our most sloppy halves of the year," Swartz said. "We were fortunate to only be down five. I just thought we couldn't get going offensively. Ironwood's defense, credit to that."

Ironwood's Griffen Revoyr extended the lead to seven to start the second half, but back-to-back 3s by Thewis and Justin Sukanen made it a one-point game, 25-24.

Ironwood held a narrow lead until Hurley's Arthur Johnson got a tough bucket inside to drop and tie the game at 33-33 with about 3 minutes left. After getting a stop, the Midgets had a chance to take their first lead. Isaac DeCarlo came out of nowhere with a clean path to the basket - a rarity for both teams Thursday night - but the layup didn't fall.

Hurley fouled Revoyr, who made the second of two free throws to put Ironwood back on top, 34-33 with 48.3 seconds left.

The Midgets missed a tough 2 and Revoyr grabbed the rebound. Hurley had to foul and Jacob Joki made both free throws to put Ironwood up by three, 36-33.

That's when Hurley needed a 3 and Ironwood's defense was up to the task.

"We were grinding it out, we came back in the second half," Swartz said. "We had a shot to take the lead, a great shot with under two minutes left to go, tie game, we missed a point-blank shot. We didn't play well enough to win.

"We just needed to execute a little bit better. We had chances to win, we just didn't make them."

Revoyr and Thewis both had 12 points to lead their teams.

"I thought Tony Wiemeri played a heck of a game on Thewis," Lewinski said. "He's probably their top scorer, shooter, and I thought Griff Revoyr on Ransanici played well, but so did their players. Hurley's greatly improved. Mike's doing a good job with them."

Ironwood improved to 4-2 overall and is 4-1 in the Indianhead. They go to Bayfield on Jan. 4.

"I think the Indianhead is wide open," Lewinski said. "South Shore and Solon probably have the edge, but don't count out Hurley, Washburn, hopefully us. We're in the mix. I think anybody has a shot to win it. It should be interesting from here on out."

Hurley's (4-3, 2-3) four-game winning streak ended; they go to Northland Pines Thursday.

Hurley - Isaac DeCarlo 8, Carson Thewis 12, Justin Sukanen 4, Arthur Johnson 7, Gavin Ransanici 4. FTs: 5-8. Fouls: 11. Fouled out: Johnson. 3-pointers: Thewis 3, DeCarlo 2, Sukanen 1.

Ironwood - Jacob Joki 6, Ian Averitt 8, Kevin Hudacek 1, Tony Wiemeri 4, Tommy Lundin 3, Josh Joki 2, Griffen Revoyr 12. FTs: 6-8. Fouls: 13. Fouled out: None. 3-pointers: Averitt 2, Lundin 1, Revoyr 1.

Hurley 18 35

Ironwood 23 36