It’s Iron Mountain’s second straight regional championship. The Mountaineers (25-0) face Sanford Meridian Early College (23-1) in the Division 3 state quarterfinal at 6 p.m. EST Tuesday in Petoskey.

Thursday was Traverse City St. Francis’ only loss to a Division 3 school all season.

“Really proud of my team. It was a tough opponent, Traverse City St. Francis,” Iron Mountain head coach Bucky Johnson said. “They came out, they have athletic kids, they’re well coached. Coach Finnegan does a great job with them. They were well prepared for us. I thought we got off to a pretty good start. We were able to get them into foul trouble, some of their players into foul trouble early on and I think that hurt them a little bit.”

The Mountaineers were led by Marcus Johnson’s 31 points. He shot 9 for 15 from the field including 7 of 8 inside the 3-point line. TC chipped it to seven points before the Mountaineers made it a 10-point game again and increased it to close out the game.

Iron Mountain’s Charlie Gerhard puts up a shot against Traverse City St. Francis during the Division 3 Region 17 final on Thursday in Sault Ste. Marie.

Foster Wonders added 12 points for the Mountaineers. Charlie Gerhard grabbed nine of the team’s 32 rebounds.

Iron Mountain outrebounded TC 32-19. The Mountaineers also made more free throws (15) than TC attempted 10.

Artie Dutmers and Keaton Peck both fouled out for Traverse City.

The third quarter was when Iron Mountain wrangled momentum for good. Leading by five early on, TC made it a four-point game.

Jaden Vicenzi knocked down a 3-pointer on the next possession with four minutes remaining. The Mountaineers got a stop on defense and Johnson hit a stepback 3-pointer for Iron Mountain’s first 10-point lead of the game at 2:42. TC took a timeout to regroup as the Iron Mountain crowd noise made the Sault High School gym sound like a home game.

“I knew right there when we go on little runs like that it’s tough for teams to come back,” Marcus Johnson said. “I knew right there we had to step on their throat and we kind of did that. We kind of let them back in the game. I think it got down to seven points. It was just kind of attack and step on their throat and try to knock them out.”

The Mountaineers never let Traverse City within nine points throughout the fourth quarter.

Iron Mountain led at the end of each quarter. Traverse City never regained the lead after a brief 17-16 advantage early in the second quarter.

“Marcus hit some shots that you just scratch your head,” Traverse City St. Francis head coach Sean Finnegan said. “We saw plenty of film. We knew what him and Foster were capable of. We knew they would take some bad shots and they would make some bad shots. We told our guys we’re OK with that and figured the defensive intensity we play with would make it tougher for them to hit some of those shots versus the other teams they’ve seen. But I mean you gotta hand it to them, they hit some really tough shots.”

Now the Mountaineers have a chance to avenge last year’s semifinal loss against Maple City Glen Lake, who fell to Traverse City St. Francis by 15 points in the district final on March 1.

Another key to Iron Mountain stifling Traverse City’s momentum was stopping the 3-ball in the second half. TC knocked down four 3-pointers in the first half. Iron Mountain’s adjustments helped defenders close out quicker on shooters in the second half, holding TC to zero 3-pointers the rest of the game.

“They didn’t have any in the second half and we were able to contain their dribble-drive a little bit better,” Coach Johnson said. “Then we had some kids make some nice individual plays, when they got in there.”

Coach Johnson and father-in-law Rick Olds accepted the regional trophy together before passing it off to the team. Olds, who has coached and taught at Iron Mountain since 1966-67, has been a significant help, Johnson said.

“He’s an unbelievable coach,” he said. “He’s really good at the X’s and O’s, but his forte is the psychological part of the game and all the little things and keeping me in check. Just helping out with all the individual things that he’s just got a knack for. He’s a master educator and master teacher. There’s not many people around with his ability.”

Iron Mountain shot 24 of 45 on the night. Traverse City was 21 of 53.

Brendan Chouinard led Traverse City with 11 points, while Peck had 10 points.

It didn’t appear Finnegan would let the taste of the regional loss linger for long. When a TC fan congratulated him on the season, he shrugged and said “work starts again tomorrow.”

TC St. Francis 15 12 10 15 – 52

Iron Mountain 16 14 14 22 – 66

TRAVERSE CITY ST. FRANCIS (52): Chouinard 11, Peck 10, Mackey 8, Gerberding 8, Passinault 6, Dutmers 5, Bramer 2, Corcoran 2. FT: 6-10. F: 17 (Dutmers and Peck fouled out). FG: 21-53. 3PT: 4-16 (Chouinard 2, Passinault 1, Peck 1). Rebounds: 19 (Passinault 6). Assists: 9 (Passinault 4). Steals: 6. Turnovers: 6.

IRON MOUNTAIN (66): Johnson 31, Wonders 12, Gerhard 10, Vicenzi 7, Feira 6. FT: 15-19. F: 9. FG: 24-45. 3PT: 3-14 (Johnson 2, Vicenzi 1). Rebounds: 32 (Gerhard 9). Assists: 10 (Johnson 5). Steals: 7 (Johnson 4). Turnovers: 7.