Iron Mountain's Charlie Gerhard, left, puts up a shot as Kingsford's Andrew Mann defends on Tuesday, Jan. 15, 2019, in Kingsford, Mich. (Adam Niemi/Iron Mountain Daily News)

KINGSFORD — Iron Mountain used a big third quarter to cinch its lead and thwart any upset hopes in a 70-52 win over rival Kingsford on Tuesday.

The UP’s Division 1-3 No. 1 Mountaineers (10-0) were challenged early on by the Flivvers, who hung around within a few points of Iron Mountain, but the transition game and penetration to the basket propelled the Mountaineers to cushion its lead in the second and third quarters.

Kingsford, with only eight players on the roster, held within four points of Iron Mountain after the first quarter and shaved to two points about midway through the second.

Iron Mountain’s Jaden Vicenzi hit a 3-pointer to stake a seven-point lead and force a Flivvers timeout.

Foster Wonders hit a trey, got a steal and a layup shortly after to boost Iron Mountain’s lead to 10.

The Mountaineers added 24 points in the third quarter for a 55-33 lead, prompting some in the packed gym to beat the traffic.

“Once we got our transition running game going, it kind of opened things up for us a little bit,” Iron Mountain head coach Bucky Johnson said. “Defensively we held them to 19 points in the first half, got a little lackadaisical in the fourth quarter. Kind of let up a little bit, which is not good. Overall a good victory. Everybody got to play and we had some balanced scoring with four guys in double figures. That’s always a bonus.”

Wonders led the Mountaineers with 27 points and 11 rebounds. Charlie Gerhard had 15 points, Vicenzi had 11 and Marcus Johnson had 10.

Tyler Beauchamp led Kingsford with 17 points. Luke Terrian and Andrew Mann had 14 and 13 points, respectively.

The Flivvers (3-6) succumbed to the Mountaineers’ transition game as well as their length.

“It’s just having a team as talented and athletic as they are is just tough to match up,” Kingsford head coach Dan Olkkonen said. “Charlie and Tony and Jaden play the best roles in their positions as you can ask for. They can knock down points with Jaden’s shooting. Charlie’s rebounding and he had 15 and Jaden had 11. “Then they get a million rebounds. The one thing is they’re so athletic and they can play above everybody else. Obviously Foster is very talented individually and he’s tough to guard. We didn’t do a good enough job at times. I don’t know if we could’ve contained him a little bit. He’s so savvy around the rim and he’s always in position and uses his body so well. It’s fun to watch and see players like that — just not when you’re playing against them.”

Iron Mountain outrebounded Kingsford 38-28.

“You just want to make sure you secure the rebounds before you try to take off and run,” Coach Johnson said. “Once we got that going, especially there in the third quarter, that was a key to the game for sure.”

Cole Galeazzi led the Flivvers with eight rebounds.

Beauchamp clutched the back of his leg after landing under the rim a minute into the second half but stayed in the game and scored seven points in the second half.

“I didn’t really see it,” Olkkonen said of the injury. “I don’t know what it was — snakebite.”

Many of Kingsford’s shots from in the paint were contested by at least two Mountaineers. Mann battled for all of his 13 points and seven rebounds.

“(Mann) went in there and I thought he took some great shots, great opportunities. The problem for Andrew is he’s about as wide as he is tall,” Olkkonen said. “Being our biggest post player at 6-foot or whatever he is. They play so much above him, it was hard. He drew some fouls in there, but was never able to compete with them at the rim. I really liked his effort and what he did. Free throws will come and go whatever you do.”

Olkkonen said the gameplan was to limit Johnson and Wonders as much as possible, forcing the Mountaineers’ lineup to generate points.

“We always had a guy doubling off of Tony or Jaden. It’s hard to do that, but you’ve gotta take your chances,” Olkkonen said. “I thought Beauchamp did a great job on Marcus. I think his length really bothered him a little bit. He had a couple steals in there, but just to bother him and throw up the shots he’s not so comfortable with.”

Johnson said his Mountaineers have work to do to stay unbeaten.

“I still think we have some things to work on defensively — had a couple breakdowns,” he said. “You’re always trying to get better as a defensive unit. I doubt any coach has ever said ‘we’re there.’ You’re always striving to get better. A couple out of bounds plays we got beat on, things like that in a critical situation can hurt you.”

Iron Mountain JV won 51-40 and Kingsford freshmen won 74-30.

Iron Mountain visits Manistique on Thursday, while Kingsford visits North Dickinson.

Iron Mountain 13 18 24 15 — 70

Kingsford 9 10 14 19 — 52

IRON MOUNTAIN (70): Wonders 27, Gerhard 15, Vicenzi 11, Johnson 10, Feira 5, Visintainer 1, Dumais 1. FT: 7-15. F: 18. FG: 29-60. 3PT: 7-21 (Wonders 4, Vicenzi 2, Johnson 1). Rebounds: 38 (Wonders 11). Assists: 13 (Johnson 7). Turnovers: 6.

KINGSFORD (52): Beauchamp 17, Terrian 14, Mann 13, Kopp 4, Rutter 2, Normand 2. FT: 8-18. F: 14 (Kopp fouled out). FG: 13-28. 3PT: 3-9 (Beauchamp 3). Rebounds: 28 (Galeazzi 8). Assists: 8 (Galeazzi 3). Turnovers: 7.