Iron Mountain’s Charlie Gerhard, right, and Tony Feira defend against Detroit Edison PSA during a MHSAA Division 3 state semifinal on Thursday, March 14, 2019, in East Lansing, Mich. (Adam Niemi/Iron Mountain Daily News)

EAST LANSING – With “Ric Flair Drip” blasting on a stereo in the corner of the gym, the Iron Mountain basketball team warms up with a shootaround and a five-minute dunk contest.

There’s smiles, laughs, and assistant coach Richard Olds is holding a hockey stick during the team’s Friday morning practice at East Lansing High School.

To say Iron Mountain is relaxed on the eve of its first-ever state finals appearance is a gross understatement.

But they’re focused.

The music stops. Head coach Bucky Johnson rounds the team up at the top of the key and the music stops. With his booming voice, he organizes the team into lines and says “let’s go.”

The smiles dissolve into expressions of focus and concentration. The whistle blows and the drills start.

As the Mountaineers (27-0) prepare to play Pewamo-Westphalia (27-0) in the state finals, the mood turns competitive. Junior point guard Marcus Johnson grows frustrated with missed shots. Coach Johnson demands every pass to outside shooters be in the “shooter’s pocket” – chest high, between the shoulders. He demands hard cuts and signals on the keys they picked up from scouting P-W’s offense in the Pirates’ 60-45 win over Erie-Mason in the semifinals.

The Division 3 state final tips off at 3:30 p.m. (Central time).

Iron Mountain native and Michigan State basketball coach Tom Izzo invited the Mountaineers to attend the Spartans’ practice Thursday morning before the team left for the Big Ten tournament in Chicago.

With both teams on the floor, Izzo singled out Mountaineers’ assistant Richard Olds, who coached Izzo and fellow Iron Mountain alum and former NFL coach Steve Mariucci.

“Yesterday right in front of our team and his team, Izzo turned to Rick right in front of everybody and said ‘I owe it all to that guy right there. He started me in 5th and 6th grade basketball and coached me in track and football,'” Coach Johnson recalled. “It was awesome.”

Olds said the moment spoke of Izzo’s character.

“He’s never forgotten where he’s come from,” he said. “He’s treated us above and beyond. He’s taken time out and he’s treated us like we’re royalty. I can’t say enough about him. He’s got a lot of things on his mind but he’s taking the time to be accommodating to us and we really appreciate it.”

And for the Mountaineers having to live out of hotels since arriving to Petoskey for a quarterfinal on Tuesday, Johnson said the team has adjusted well.

“All the kids have been really good. Behavior has been awesome,” Johnson said. “We’ve been well fed. Our director of basketball operations Dan Talerico has been taking care of us real well. Our whole community has supported with fan buses and food functions and things like that. The support from Iron Mountain and the UP has been phenomenal.”

Izzo wore black and gold in honor of Iron Mountain during the Spartans’ 77-70 win over Ohio State in the Big Ten tournament on Friday, his 600th career win.

Izzo called the Mountaineers coaching staff immediately after their semifinal win to congratulate them. Then, at about 10 minutes before midnight, he and Mariucci, who attended the win over Ohio State, called the coaching staff to offer more congratulations. At the time, Coach Johnson was trying to find a place for the Mountaineers to practice Friday. Izzo helped arrange for the team to practice at East Lansing High School.

“They talked a little bit about the game,” Coach Johnson said. “Wished them luck and that they were proud of us and keeping tabs on what’s going on and helping us out with our arrangements today for practice. Steve said ‘Proud of you guys. Keep it going. Get another victory on Saturday.’ It was a great conversation.”

And Izzo knows how the UP comes together with a lone UP team in the state finals.

“The nice thing about the U.P. that you guys don’t appreciate,” Izzo told reporters after the MSU win Friday, “is that there are no towns.

“There are towns up there, but once a team makes it to the state (finals), they all claim they’re just Yoopers. The whole Upper Peninsula claims you.”