Cardinals end district drought

By JASON JUNO

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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 just ecstatic. I'm happy for the guys, I'm happy for the school, happy for the town. We've been waiting a long time."

Wakefield-Marenisco blew an 18-point fourth-quarter lead to the Red Devils in last year's district final, but they made the plays down the stretch this year. Chase Lane, a freshman who got experience when the older guards missed time with injuries late this season, made the go-ahead 3 with a minute and a half to go, and the free throw that made it a two-possession game.

W-M started strong and forced Ironwood to play from behind all night. The Cardinals scored the game's first seven points and led 10-2. The Red Devils scored the last four points of a low-scoring first half to pull within four, 19-15 at halftime.

"It was a struggle," Ironwood coach Adam Mackey said. "Wakefield did a great job, they got out to a nice lead. They were able to make a few layups, they made some 3s, kudos to them."

They tied it with the first four of the second half, but W-M answered with the next eight points for a 27-19 lead with the Devils going through another scoring drought.

"All of a sudden, the wheels fell off on offense again," Mackey said. "We just weren't able to finish whether it was free throws, layups, open attempts. You've got to give a lot of credit to Wakefield, they played a great zone. They were very active, and in the end, they were able to make a few more shots than we were."

Landon Buerger and Nick Miskovich hit back-to-back 3s to pull Ironwood within three, 30-27, early in the fourth quarter. After a bucket by Patrick Perron, Ironwood scored the next five points, capped by a Kurt Bissell and-1, to tie the game at 32 midway through the final quarter.

W-M always had an answer. Perron drove for a layup after a Cardinal free throw and Carter Cole stole it and laid it in. Buerger hit another Ironwood 3 and Miskovich made a layup for the third tie of the half, at 37, this time with 1:55 left.

On the next possession, Lane was open for a 3 and W-M found him on a kickout. He drilled it with 1:28 to go.

"Ice in his veins or something because he's a freshman," Libertoski said. "He went out there and didn't even think about it and just shot it. But you know what, he works at it and he's prepared for it."

It was the biggest one of three 3s Lane made Friday night.

"That was one point we made in practice yesterday, we have to know where he is," Mackey said. "Unfortunately, they were stalling a bit, they were moving the ball, we helped a little bit on Carter Cole and he was able to find Chase Lane for an open 3. Just like most shooters do, you can tell how much he works on his shot. It was smooth coming out of his hand, there was no hesitation. I almost knew it was going in as soon as he shot it."

Ironwood missed two free throws and a shot attempt on a drive to the basket. Lane got to the line with 21.3 seconds left and he made the second free throw to make it a two-possession lead, 41-37.

"It was scary, I'm not going to lie I was shaking," Lane said. "But I had to come up big for my team."

The Cardinals held onto the lead and celebrated their long-awaited district title.

"It's awesome, 32 years it's been," Lane said. "It feels really good, all the work we put in, it feels good."

The Cardinals lost big to Hurley in their first game without two of their starters, Jordan Libertoski and Braylon Lane. But they recovered nicely after that, beating Ontonagon by 19, losing a tight matchup with Ewen-Trout Creek and beating Watersmeet. The winning has mostly continued since they returned.

"I was down when it happened," coach Libertoski said. "But then I started realizing - look what Chase Lane did today, Brock Pengrazzi came out and did it. It was a blessing in disguise."

Chase Lane said it gave him some needed experience.

"It helped me out - freaking out my first game and now coming in, no worries at all," he said.

Cole and Lane both finished with 10 points for W-M. Bissell had 11 for the Devils. The Cardinals' defense was up to the challenge after giving up 53 points in a 22-point loss at Ironwood a month earlier.

"Last time we played them in Ironwood, we gave up easy shots," Libertoski said. "We flew around today, every basket they got today they earned."

Their overall activity hurt Ironwood, Mackey said.

"They made it a point to really stop Axton (Ruotsala) tonight," Mackey said of the junior guard who had six points. "They had at least one guy, if not two guys on him all night, might have frustrated him a little bit. He wasn't able to get looks. The other guys stepped up at times. Landon Buerger had a good game, he was able to make some shots. Kurt Bissell worked again inside."

Ironwood's offense sputtered again late in the season. They went 8-1 in a nine-game stretch where they scored in the 50s with one game in the 60s, spanning from late January to Feb. 20. They've been in the 40s and in their last two games, the 30s, since. They went 2-2 in that stretch, and a 37-point effort in the district final ended their season.

"We just didn't score enough," Mackey said. "That was my one worry going in tonight. We have struggled scoring this week and tonight again it was a struggle being able to put the ball in the hoop."

W-M improved to 14-10 while Ironwood finished the year at 16-9.

"Still a good season overall," Mackey said. "We're losing three quality seniors. Kurt Bissell was a leader for us inside, rebounding, scoring. Landon Boyd, Elijah Sprague both great guys, were able to provide some scoring, outside shooting throughout the year. We're going to miss those guys, but again, we have a whole lot of guys coming back and I'm looking forward again next year."

W-M --- Braylon Lane 8, Chase Lane 10, Patrick Perron 8, Carter Cole 10, Nathan Londo 2, Brock Pangrazzi 3. FTs: 3-6. Fouls: 13. Fouled out: Londo. 3-pointers: C. Lane 3, B. Lane 2, Perron 1, Cole 1, Pangrazzi 1.

Ironwood --- Kurt Bissell 11, Axton Ruotsala 6, Brendan McCullough 2, Nick Miskovich 9, Landon Buerger 9. FTs: 6-11. Fouls: 9. Fouled out: None. 3-pointers: Buerger 2, Miskovich 1.

W-M 13 19 29 41

Ironwood 6 15 21 37