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ScuttleBu(r)t: History says Mountaineers will be back below the bridge

ScuttleBu(r)t …

Iron Mountain’s first boys basketball regional champion in 24 years bowed out in the quarterfinals Tuesday.

The young Mountaineers, with not one senior starter, fell to Maple City Glen Lake 66-49. They recovered from a 16-point first-quarter deficit to lead by two midway through the third quarter.

That last IM regional champion in 1994 was making a repeat appearance from 1993.

Coach Rick Olds’ Mountaineers, a young bunch in 1993 with just one senior starter in Brian Pinks, won the regional behind junior Bryan Schorman and sophomore Gabe Leonard. Eric Schupp came off the bench with double-digit points in the regional semifinal win over Manistique.

“My kids know they have to play hard or they’re coming out,” Brick said during the postseason.

Iron Mountain, back in the quarterfinals for the first time since 1984, clipped Coleman 65-53 behind Leonard’s 27 points and Pinks’ 17. Jeff Angeli grabbed 10 rebounds.

In the quarterfinals at Ann Arbor, Southgate Aquinas and Mr. Basketball Jon Garavaglia (17 points, 18 rebounds) stopped the Mountaineers 62-38. Schorman led the Mountaineers with 16.

Those young Mountaineers in 1993, a year older and wiser in 1994, held off Ishpeming and St. Ignace in the regional.

In the district, Stephenson Coach John Ostermann cited the Mountaineers’ quickness physically and mentally.

Ishpeming Coach Jerry Racine, who lost all three games to Iron Mountain by five points, compared the Mountaineers to cats.

“They land on their feet all the time,” Racine said.

Don Bunnin, who nailed five second-quarter triples to lead the Mountaineers in the 1993 regional finals, paced the team in 1994 with 43 points in the two games at CB Hedgcock Fieldhouse.

Schorman added 14 points and Leonard, playing on a bum ankle, had 13 in a 65-57 regional finals win over St. Ignace.

“When Schorman is on the floor they go from pretty good to great,” said Saints coach Doug Ingalls.

Folks, Bryan Schorman was a Division 1 college football player who could have easily found his way to a college basketball program. He was that good.

Bunnin’s 28 points sent the Mountaineers past McBain 70-53 in the quarterfinals at Gaylord. Leonard had 19 points and Schorman chipped in 12 points, 12 assists, five rebounds and three steals.

“This is one of the best teams that Iron Mountain has ever had,” Olds said at the time.

That 1994 crew, which averaged 71 points per game and gave up 52, also had 6-foot-3 Dave Copley plus Jeff Angeli and a sixth man in Steve Olivanti that could have started for any other team in the UP.

The semifinal game was heartbreaker at Michigan State. The previously unbeaten Mountaineers held a 15-point lead in the second quarter and 17 in the third before falling to Orchard Lake St. Mary 56-53.

Rick could understand what Tommy Izzo went through Sunday with Syracuse on Sunday. The Mountaineers (25-1) missed 14 straight shots and scored four points in the fourth period.

Bunnin scored 22 points and Schorman had 15.

So what this all means is that I like Iron Mountain’s chances of making another strong tournament run in 2019. The 1994 Mountaineers did it after a springboard season in 1993 …

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