Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
By JASON JUNO
Ironwood --- The Ironwood boys basketball team will be staying home in the district tournament, while the girls basketball and volleyball teams ended up with as tough a draw as anybody in the Upper Peninsula.
The Michigan High School Athletic Association announced the district pairings and sites this month.
The Red Devils move up to Division 3 for all three sports in the 2024-25 school year thanks to a bump in enrollment.
The boys basketball team is the host of the D-3 District 65 tournament. It last hosted a district in 2023 when it won Division 4 District 97.
This time they’ll have bigger schools to contend with while competing in D-3 — Calumet, Ishpeming, Westwood, Jeffers and West Iron County.
Jeffers beat Westwood 62-56 for that title last year. Both of the Jets’ All-U.P. players, Levi Frahm and Matthew Schtuz, graduated. The Red Devils lose one of their big three scorers, inside man Kurt Bissell, after finishing 16-9. Axton Ruotsala, an All-U.P. Second Team selection, and Nick Miskovich, who was honorable mention, return.
Also returning are Westwood’s Ethan Marta (First Team), Ishpeming’s Caden Luoma (Second Team) and West Iron County’s Elijah Oberlin (special mention).
Ironwood and West Iron County are new to the bracket and Hancock moves down to Division 4.
It won’t be known if all of the district games will be held in Ironwood until closer to tournament time. All of the athletic directors must agree to that or it will be held at multiple sites based on random draw. Either way, Ironwood will host the games it plays in.
Ontonagon will host the Division 4 District 97 tournament, one of the only districts in the U.P. to be played at a single site the last few years.
Watersmeet rejoins the district that will also include traditional teams Bessemer, Wakefield-Marenisco, Ontonagon and Ewen-Trout Creek.
The Cardinals look to defend their district crown after winning their first one in 32 years in March. They lose All-U.P. Second Team selection Carter Cole, but bring a talented group back.
Ewen-Trout Creek’s Austin Gordon, a standout scorer and also a Second Team choice, also returns.
The Ironwood girls ended up in a very tough Division 3 District 65. Ishpeming, the defending state champion in Division 4, also moved up to D-3. The U.P.’s Division 4 Player of the Year, Jenna Maki, graduated, but Jenessa Eagle, also a Dream Team selection returns, and so does Mya Hemmer, a Second Teamer.
Ishpeming’s enrollment is 196 high school students. Division 3 ranges from 195-401 for girls basketball.
Ironwood returns a talented team as well with Hanna Vaughn (special mention) and Jaelyn Novascone (honorable mention) among those returning.
Other district teams suffered some notable losses, including Dream Team choice Danica Shamion of West Iron County and First Team selections Megan Marta of Westwood and Caitlyn Storm of Calumet.
Westwood’s Lexi Olson does return.
West Iron County won the district last year in a 59-53 win over Westwood. They then won their first regional semifinal game in 38 years.
Ironwood, Jeffers and Ishpeming replace Gwinn and Iron Mountain.
Westwood is the district host. Just like the boys, athletic directors will determine if all of the games are there or not.
Wakefield-Marenisco will host the District 97 tournament. That one has traditionally held all of its games in one spot.
The young and talented Cardinals hope to break through with a district title on their home court. But they’ll have to get through defending champion Ewen-Trout Creek, which returns everyone, including All-U.P. players Emma Besonen (Dream Team), Bree Besonen (Second Team) and Irelynd McGeshick (special mention).
Everyone returns for Wakefield-Marenisco as well. That includes Carine Cole and Emily Delfavero, both honorable mention last year.
The Ironwood girls volleyball team goes from one tough draw to another.
Last year, they faced state qualifier Crystal Falls Forest Park in the very first game and was one of just three D-4 teams in the U.P. to take a set from them.
Now that the Red Devils move up to D-3 and away from the Trojans, they are in the same district as another U.P. powerhouse, Calumet, which advanced to the state quarterfinal last year.
Calumet has won 12 straight districts. They won the regional also in 10 of those seasons, making it to state three times.
The Copper Kings’ Laina Kariniemi graduated, but Allie Bjorn returns. Both were selected to the Dream Team last year. A First Team choice, Jackie Kiilunen, returns as does Second Teamer Maddie Torola. Caitlyn Storm, a Second Team selection, graduated.
Ironwood will be good as well, it returns First Team choice Bree Delich and Second Team selection Audra Pawlak.
Also in the district, Second Teamers Mia Hemmer and Sonja Kiviniemi return for Ishpeming. Jeffers’ Kaeda Rajala (First Team) and Sara Johnson (Second Team) both graduated and so did West Iron County’s Danica Shamion (Dream Team).
And just Ironwood’s luck, Forest Park is also gone from the D-4 district they’ve been playing in, District 97. It includes the more traditional teams Ontonagon, Bessemer, Wakefield-Marenisco, Ewen-Trout Creek and Watersmeet.
The only returning All-U.P. selections from that group are Wakefield-Marenisco’s Noelle Grace, who made the D-4 First Team, and Ewen-Trout Creek’s Irelynd McGeshick, a Second Team choice.
Watersmeet is slated to host District 97 and Calumet 65. Like the basketball, the athletic directors will determine if all of the district games are in the same location.
Volleyball is supposed to start using the MPR rankings to seed the top two seeds in each district, something the MHSAA has done with basketball for the last couple of years.
The sole intention of seeding is to make sure the top two teams in each bracket have a chance to meet in the district final. If all of the district games aren’t held in a single location, home games are then determined by random draw, not seeding. The pre-determined district host always hosts any games it plays in.
The MHSAA talked about moving to five divisions last year, but that stalled out heading into the upcoming school year. No serious push has emerged to seed entire districts or determine home games based on seed.
Boys Basketball
Districts: Feb. 24, 26, 28
Regionals: March 4, 6
Quarterfinals: March 11
State: March 13-15
Division 3
District 65
Host: Ironwood
Calumet
Ironwood
Ishpeming
Westwood
Jeffers
West Iron County
District 66
Host: Bark River-Harris
Bark River-Harris
Gwinn
Iron Mountain
Manistique
Menominee
Munising
Regional semifinal (D65 vs. D66) at Marquette
Regional final at Sault Ste. Marie
Division 4
District 97
Host: Ontonagon
Bessemer
Ewen-Trout Creek
Ontonagon
Wakefield-Marenisco
Watersmeet
District 98
Host: Baraga
Baraga
Chassell
Dollar Bay
Hancock
Lake Linden-Hubbell
L’Anse
Regional semifinal (D97 vs. D98) at Houghton
Regional final at Negaunee
Girls Basketball
Districts: March 3, 5, 7
Regionals: March 10, 12
Quarterfinals: March 18
State: March 20-22
Division 3
District 65
Host: Westwood
Calumet
Ironwood
Ishpeming
Westwood
Jeffers
West Iron County
District 66
Host Menominee
Bark River-Harris
Gwinn
Iron Mountain
Manistique
Menominee
Regional semifinal (D65 vs. D66) at Escanaba
Regional final at St. Ignace
Division 4
District 97
Host: Wakefield-Marenisco
Bessemer
Ewen-Trout Creek
Ontonagon
Wakefield-Marenisco
Watersmeet
District 98
Host: Chassell
Baraga
Chassell
Dollar Bay
Hancock
Lake Linden-Hubbell
L’Anse
Regional semifinal (D-97 vs. D-98 at: Houghton
Regional final at Marquette
Volleyball
Districts: Nov. 4-9
Regionals: Nov. 12, 14
Quarterfinal: Nov. 19
State: Nov. 21-23
Division 3
District 65
Host: Calumet
Calumet
Ironwood
Ishpeming
Westwood
Jeffers
West Iron County
District 66
Host: Iron Mountain
Bark River-Harris
Gwinn
Iron Mountain
Manistique
Menominee
Regional semifinal (D65 vs. D66) at Gwinn
Regional final at St. Igance
Division 4
District 97
Host: Watersmeet
Bessemer
Ewen-Trout Creek
Ontonagon
Wakefield-Marenisco
Watersmeet
District 98
Host: Lake Linden-Hubbell
Baraga
Chassell
Dollar Bay
Hancock
Lake Linden-Hubbell
L’Anse
Regional semifinal (D-97 vs. D-98) at Houghton
Regional final at Negaunee
