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Boys Basketball: Iron Mountain beats Ishpeming, 63-48

Iron Mountain's Josh Tucker (20) and Charlie Gerhard (32) battle Ishpeming's Hart Holmgren (44) for a rebound Monday in Iron Mountain. (Adam Niemi/The Daily News)

IRON MOUNTAIN — Steady free-throw and field goal shooting keyed Iron Mountain’s 63-48 Mid-Peninsula Conference win against Ishpeming on Monday.

The Mountaineers (16-2, 8-2 MPC) were anchored by Carson Wonders’ 32 points and 17 of 17 free-throw shooting. Iron Mountain made 23 of 28 free throws for the game.

“We got off to a poor start up there so tonight I knew we had to get off to a better start, we did,” Iron Mountain coach Bucky Johnson said comparing Monday’s game to a Feb. 3 loss at Ishpeming. “That was a big part of the game. In the third quarter, we out-scored them by five points. The first part of the game and the first part of the third quarte were big for us.”

Hart Holmgren scored a team-high 25 points for Ishpeming (8-9, 5-5 MPC).

Hematites coach Anthony Katona said their defense wasn’t as strong as the Feb. 3 win against Iron Mountain.

“Defensively, I don’t think we were a hundred percent there,” Katona said. “We had a couple guys in foul trouble right from the get-go. I had to keep a couple kids in there longer than I normally would. They were a little more tired at the end of the game and that never helps.”

The Hematites failed to stake a lead in the game, but came close midway in the second quarter after Iron Mountain flubbed a eight-point lead. The Mountaineers missed a fastbreak layup and Ishpeming scored on back-to-back possessions and added a bucket to come within two. Ishpeming had the ball in the final seconds of the first half but a tipped outlet pass fell into Iron Mountain’s hands.

“The key was trying to attack the basket and get them in foul trouble since we were short on guys,” Katona said. “I also told them if they’re going to give us open looks, let’s try to take the opportunities and try to capitalize on that.”

The Mountaineers held a 26-24 halftime lead before a third-quarter run extended a 43-36 advantage after three quarters.

It wa a big turnaround for Iron Mountain after falling to the Hematites by an eerily similar score to Monday’s game, 65-47, earlier this month.

“Holmgren is a really good player and he showed that tonight,” Johnson said. “We did a good job on he rest of their players — up there we didn’t do that.”

Johnson complimented his top three scorers for their play. Marcus Johnson’s leadership of the offense helped keep the momentum and rhythm strong. Charlie Gerhard scored 15 points and grabbed nine of Iron Mountain’s 26 rebounds.

“Carson was outstanding, he was in attack mode all night. I thought Charlie Gerhard had his best night of the year as far as points production,” Johnson said. “And Marcus, you know as a freshman, really controlled the tempo of the game and ran the offense, did some really nice things out there for us. We only had four guys score, but Riley (Caudell) came off the bench and did his thing. It was a hard-fought win.”

Ishpeming JV won.

Iron Mountain plays Friday at Menominee.

Ishpeming 10 14 12 12 — 48

Iron Mountain 13 13 17 20 — 63

ISHPEMING: Holmgren 25, Yohe 9, Tucker 5, Trawick 5, Gravedoni 4. FT: 4-6. F: 20.

IRON MOUNTAIN: Wonders 32, Gerhard 15, Johnson 12, Vicenzi 4. FT: 23-28. F: 12. FG: 19-40. 3PT: 2-15 (Wonders 1, Johnson 1). Rebounds: 26 (Gerhard 9).

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