IRONWOOD – It was a closely-contested MHSAA Class C District 94 Tournament game for three quarters, but Ironwood could only score one point in the final quarter and fell to West Iron County 48-36 at the John Krznarich Gym on Wednesday night.

The Wykons will now advance to the district finals to play Iron Mountain in Iron Mountain with a 6 p.m. CST tipoff.

“We were ahead 35-34 going into the fourth quarter, but we only made one free throw in the fourth quarter,” Red Devil coach Pete Lewinski said. “It was our own fault-we laid an egg in the fourth quarter. It was a good game until the fourth quarter and then we were 0-9 on field goal shooting.

“West Iron County is a tough team, a physical team that plays a tough, non-conference schedule. Grif (Revoyr) had a good night for us with 15 points and Dave Benson had a good game. He gives us size inside and is an excellent passer out to the post.”

The Wykons out-scored Ironwood 14-1 in the fourth quarter.

“In a nutshell, our physical conditioning was better,” WIC coach Dan Schive said., “No one is in better shape than us. I really run them a lot and they complain about it, but we’re in really good shape.

“Pete (Lewinski) did a great job of adjusting his defense and No. 44 (Revoyr) hit some shots. It came down to we went to a man defense and we didn’t give them any easy cuts through the lane, but I wouldn’t want to play them again. It was a little more physical than I thought it would be, but that’s tournament basketball.”

Ironwood came out playing intensely on defense and held WIC to one shot in the first 53 seconds of play and that mis-fired. Revoyr, Ian Averitt, Josh Joki and David Benson ganged up on the 6-8 Steven Nelson and would do a decent job battling him on the boards. Revoyr rebounded WIC’s first shot and came down the court and knocked down a triple. Moments later, Revoyr made a hard cut to the basket and banked in a shot off the glass as Ironwood jumped out to a 4-0 lead.

But the Wykons got right back in it with good shooting from their guards and won the first quarter 15-10.

The Red Devils started the second quarter strong when Benson made a sharp pass underneath to Parker Wilson for a score and Josh Joki made a drive to the basket and his shot hung on the rim and then fell in.

Wilson buried a 3 from the left corner, Benson sank a pair of free throws and when Tommy Lundin drained a 3-ball, Ironwood regained the lead at 22-19 with 3:14 left in the half. Revoyr extended the lead to 25-21 scoring off an in-bound play and Ironwood went into halftime feeling good with a 26-23 advantage.

It was a very good quarter for the Red Devils as they out-scored West Iron 16-8 in quarter number two.

The Wykons got scoring from multiple players in the third quarter such as Nelson, Pellizzer and Neil Tomasoski.

Josh Joki had a hard drive to the basket and was fouled and then Revoyr took over. The lead see-sawed back and forth until Revoyr bulled his way to the basket twice and then made a steal and came downcourt and took about a 35-40 foot shot that went in as the buzzer went off. The crowd went wild and the Red Devils went into the final quarter with momentum and a one point lead at 35-34.

Then came the fourth quarter when the wheels fell off for Ironwood. When they needed a big quarter with with points to spare, they nearly came up empty.

“Our defense has been pretty solid all year,” Schive said. “We’re good when we bump the cutters. And it’s nice to have a 6-8 guy behind everybody.”

Nelson topped all Wykon scorers with 12 points, while Pellizzer and Tomasoski notched 11.

Revoyr was the only Red Devil to reach double figures with 15 points.

Lewinski said the five seniors on his team had done a good job this season, while finishing with a 12-9 record.

“I want to thank all the seniors for all their hard work and effort,” Lewinski said.

West Iron County – Neil Tomasoski 11, Caden Pellizzer 11, Steven Nelson 6, James Swanson 8, Braydon Nelson 6. FT’s:13-15, Fouls: 17, Fouled out: none, 3-pointers: Tomasoski 2, Pellizzer 2.

Ironwood – Jacob Joki 2, Ian Averitt 5, Parker Wilson 5, Tommy Lundin 4, David Benson 3, Josh Joki 2, Griffen Revoyr 15. FT’s:7-16, Fouls: 14, Fouled out: none, 3-pointers: Revor 2, Averitt 1, Wilson 1, Lundin 1.

West Iron 15 23 34 48

Ironwood 10 26 35 36