Emma, Bree Besonen named to All-UP team

By JASON JUNO

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MARQUETTE --- Ewen-Trout Creek's Bree Besonen joined a pretty exclusive club last week.

The eighth grader was named to the All-U.P. Second Team at the 49th annual Upper Peninsula Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association girls basketball meeting last week.

She's believed to be one of just three girls to ever be named to the All-U.P. team as an eighth grader. She knows the other two pretty well - they're her sisters. Elise Besonen made it in 2017 and Emma Besonen two years ago.

Emma, a 5-1 sophomore, is already up to three All-U.P. team appearances, the last two as a First Team selection after making the Second Team as an eighth grader.

Bree (5-4) was selected to this year's Second Team with sophomore big Irelynd McGeshick (5-10) getting special mention for the 20-win Panthers.

They all helped the Panthers to a second consecutive district championship last month and a trip to the regional final despite losing Dream Teamer Kate Borseth to graduation.

Emma averaged 13.2 points, 3.2 assists and 1.7 steals per game. She shot just under 40% from 3 and she increased that to around 50% for the tournament.

That outside shooting was the difference in the Panthers' exciting win at Ironwood in the district final. She was 5 of 7 from outside the arc in a 23-point performance. Many of them were deep 3s that night.

"Which makes it hard to guard her then, you've got to come that far out," coach Jacky Besonen said. "It opens things up, not just for her, but you have to come out and play defense that far out, it spreads the defense out more."

She's done it all while facing the opponent's best guard defender, something Borseth took on in years past.

"But she's done a good job with that, I think," coach Besonen said.

Emma and Bree impressed her own coach and Ishpeming's coach with the way they handled the ball against the Hematites' relentless pressure defense in the regional final. It's physical and aggressive - they're so deep they don't have to worry about foul trouble. It brought Ishpeming all the way to their first state title the following week. Emma and Bree handled it well all year as they averaged less than 10 turnovers a game.

"I thought they did a pretty darn good job against a really good defense team," coach Besonen said. "They're physical and they're long and athletic. We had an ugly stretch there that really killed us in the third quarter. But we had some good moments against it, too."

Bree averaged 12.7 points, 4.7 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 2.5 steals per game. She averaged 89.8% at the free throw line and 38.5% from 3.

"I think most people could agree she did not play like an eighth grader," Besonen said. "She was able to step in that spot that Kate had as far as another scorer on the floor, another defender on the floor, another rebounder on the floor."

She guarded the other team's best guard throughout the season and excelled at that, too. Coach Besonen used the example of how she contained Ironwood standout Hanna Vaughn in the district final.

"I think she honestly likes it," she said. "She likes that matchup and that challenge of staying in front of somebody and shutting them down. There's not a lot of people that are excited about that kind of thing, but I think she is. She wants to stop that person defensively. She's pretty quick side to side."

McGeshick averaged 15 points, 11 rebounds and 2 blocks per game.

"She's an excellent rebounder," Besonen said. "She's big and strong and has a good nose for the boards. She had a great year this year."

She was a tough matchup for teams inside, not many opponents had a player like her. It was tough to focus on her and their two guards.

Negaunee, which made it to a Division 2 state semifinal, and Ishpeming, the Division 4 state champion, won nearly all of the major awards.

The Miners' Ella Mason earned the U.P.'s Ms. Basketball honors. The Michigan Tech signee averaged 20.1 points, 4.5 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 2.6 steals per game. She was also named to the Associated Press All-State First Team.

Ishpeming's Jenna Maki was the U.P. Player of the Year in Division 4. She averaged 16 points, 4.7 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 3.7 steals per game.

Negaunee (26-2) was the Team of the Year in Division 1-2, Bark River-Harris (21-3) in D-3 and Ishpeming (28-1) in D-4.

The Miners' Mike O'Donnell was Coach of the Year in D 1-3 for the second year in a row. Ishpeming's Ryan Reichel earned the honor in D-4.

Joining Mason and Maki on the All-U.P. Dream Team were Gladstone's Lillie Johnson, Escanaba's Keira Maki, West Iron County's Danica Shamion and Ishpeming's Jenessa Eagle.

Johnson already has an offer from Division I UW-Milwaukee. She averaged 25 points, 14.3 rebound and 4.5 steals per game as a sophomore this year.

Keira Maki is going to UW-Stevens Point (D-III). She averaged 22.1 points and 8.1 rebounds.

Shamion is signed at Central Michigan University (D-I) for track-and-field. She averaged 18.8 points, 5.2 rebounds, 6.3 assists and 3 steals per game for West Iron, which made it to the regional final in Division 3.

Eagle had a big sophomore season for the Hematites, averaging 16.7 points, 4.6 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 steals. She scored 27 points in the state championship game.

Several other local players were also honored.

Vaughn, Ironwood's 5-1 guard, made special mention after an excellent junior season. She averaged 13.5 points, 3.6 steals, 3.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game. She scored 37 points in the Red Devils' win over Hurley and she hit the game-winning shot against Bessemer.

"She was the main focal point of every defense due to her shooting ability," Ironwood coach Jesse Mackey said. "She did a great job controlling our offense this year as point guard."

Bessemer senior standout Brooke Stanislawski was also special mention. The 5-5 point guard averaged 20.7 points, 6.2 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 3 steals per game. She led the Speedgirls to their first postseason win in 12 years.

"She did just about everything for us this year, establishing herself as one of the elite scorers and playmakers on this end of the peninsula," Bessemer coach Jordy Chiapuzio said. "Brooke faced a lot of double teams, even triple teams, and still remained effective. She was almost always face guarded for the entirety of each game. She was a huge threat to score whenever she had the ball and she had to work extremely hard for everything she accomplished this year."

Ironwood's Jaelyn Novascone, a sophomore, was named honorable mention. She averaged 17.2 points and 7 rebounds.

"She's a scoring threat from all areas of the floor, but especially impressive in the post," Mackey said. "Very physical under the basket, great footwork and finishing abilities around the rim. She led us in scoring and rebounding the entire season."

Two Wakefield-Marenisco sophomores are also honorable mention - Carine Cole and Emily Delfavero.

Cole averaged 10.5 points, 5.2 rebounds, 5 steals and 2 assists per game. She was runner-up in voting for the Copper Mountain Conference's Defensive Player of the Year award.

Delfavero averaged 12.3 points, 5.5 rebounds, 4.2 steals and 2.4 assists per game.

They led the Cardinals to 14 wins, their most since 2015, and a second place finish in the Porcupine Mountain Division.

The Copper Mountain Conference MVP, Emily Jokela, was selected to the Division 4 First Team. Her teammate, Cleo Milkey, made the Second Team. Baraga senior Makenna Hendrickson also made the Second Team.

Ishpeming's third All-U.P. player was sophomore Mya Hemmer, who was a Second Team selection.

2023-24 All-UP Girls Basketball Team

Major Awards

Ms. UP Basketball: Ella Mason, Negaunee

Division 1-3 Player of the Year: Ella Mason, Negaunee

Division 4 Player of the Year: Jenna Maki, Ishpeming

Division 1-3 Coach of the Year: Mike O’Donnell, Negaunee

Division 4 Coach of the Year: Ryan Reichel, Ishpeming

Division 1-2 Team of the Year: Negaunee

Division 3 Team of the Year: Bark River-Harris

Division 4 Team of the Year: Ishpeming

Dream Team

Lillie Johnson, Gladstone, 6-0, Soph.

Ella Mason, Negaunee, 5-8, Sr.

Jenna Maki, Ishpeming, 6-0, Sr.

Keira Maki, Escanaba, 5-10, Sr.

Danica Shamion, West Iron County, 5-8, Sr.

Jenessa Eagle, Ishpeming, 5-7, Soph.

Division 1-3 First Team

Anna Axtell, Menominee, 5-8, Sr.

Lauren Zawada, Bark River-Harris, 5-10, Sr.

Megan Marta, Westwood, 5-8, Sr.

Caitlyn Storm, Calumet, 5-7, Sr.

Aubrey Johnson, Negaunee, 5-7, Jr.

Division 1-3 Second Team

Piper Bell, Sault Ste. Marie

Eva Gerard, Houghton, 5-10, Jr.

Kyley Elmblad, Marquette, 6-0, Sr.

McKenzie Hoffmeyer, Bark River-Harris, 5-5, Sr.

Danielle Lund, Manistique, 5-9, Sr.

Alaina Kowalski, Kingsford, 5-9, Sr.

Callie Rajala, Negaunee, 5-8, Sr.

Lexi Olson, Westwood, 5-5, Jr.

Christina Bower, Bark River-Harris, 5-9, Sr.

Anna Bortolini, Kingsford, 5-7, Jr.

Special Mention

Brianna Anderson, Marquette, 6-0, Jr .; Gianna Coduti, Menominee, 5-11, Soph .; Grayson Lamarche, Escanaba, 6-0, Jr .; Tia Schone, Gladstone, 5-5, Jr .; Leah Goodreau, Manistique, Jr.

Honorable Mention

Aubree Blackburn, Marquette, 5-8, Jr .; Makayla Delmont, Gwinn, 5-10, Fresh .; Izzie Marta, Westwood, Jr;

Division 4 First Team

Emily Jokela, Lake Linden-Hubbell, 5-5, Jr.

Lauren Adams, Norway, 5-7, Soph.

Emma Besonen, Ewen-Trout Creek, 5-1, Soph.

Jillian Fraser, St. Ignace, 5-8, Jr.

Emersyn Crisp, Munising, 5-7, Sr.

Division 4 Second Team

Makenna Hendrickson, Baraga, 5-7, Sr.

Autumn Tremblay, Brimley, 5-6, Sr.

Chloe May, Maplewood Baptist, 5-9, Sr.

Cleo Milkey, Lake Linden-Hubbell, Soph.

Grace Maule, Carney-Nadeau, 5-5, Jr.

Bree Besonen, Ewen-Trout Creek, 5-4, 8th

Addison Cullen, St. Ignace, 6-0, Jr.

Mya Hemmer, Ishpeming, 6-2, Soph.

Lucie Rabachova, Newberry, 6-1, Sr.

Bailey Corcoran, Munising, 5-10, Jr.

Special Mention

Rachel Johnson, Mid Peninsula, 5-6, Sr .; Sammy Johnson, Superior Central, 5-4, Sr .; Kadie Kaukola, Ishpeming, Sr .; Grace Kliekamp, North Central, 5-5, Sr .; Ceara LeBlanc, Brimley, 5-5, Sr .; Mylee Londo, L’Anse, 5-7, Jr .; Irelynd McGeshick, Ewen-Trout Creek, 5-10, Soph .; Camryn Pederson, Big Bay de Noc, 5-3, Sr .; Brooke Stanislawski, Bessemer, 5-5, Sr .; Hanna Vaughn, Ironwood, 5-1, Jr.

Honorable Mention

Mary Cavagnetto, Norway, 5-6, Jr .; Carine Cole, Wakefield-Marenisco, 5-5, Soph .; Lyric Collins, Pickford; Emily Delfavero, Wakefield-Marenisco, 5-4, Soph .; Brooklyn Dompier, L’Anse, 5-7, Jr .; Melissa Johnson, Stephenson, 5-6, Jr .; Jaycee Larson, Baraga, 5-6, Sr .; Mariska Laurilla, Carney-Nadeau, 5-8, Jr .; Jaelyn Novascone, Ironwood, 5-9, Soph .; Brooke Portice, Pickford, Jr .; Kara Roberts, Baraga, 5-5, Soph .; Adriana Ruleau, Stephenson, 5-7, Jr .; Kelsie Smith, Carney-Nadeau, 5-5, Sr .; Adelyn Swain, Dollar Bay, 5-8, Sr .; Elsie Williams, Forest Park, 5-6, Soph .; Allie Whalen, Newberry, 5-6, Jr..