With the win, the Miners (18-2) earned a share of the West PAC/Mid Peninsula Conference title with the Mountaineers (19-1) in what was the final game for both teams ahead of MHSAA tournament play beginning next week.

“It feels great,” Negaunee head coach Dan Waterman said. “Iron Mountain has kind of been our nemesis. We’ve played them tough a couple of times but have not been able to get over the hump. It’s nice to do that, nice to know we’re capable of beating them should we meet again in a regional setting.”

Munson’s clinching bucket came on the heels of a go-ahead triple by Iron Mountain’s Marcus Johnson with just six seconds to play that sent the Mountaineer faithful into a frenzy, as IM had not led in the half up until that point. Johnson led all scorers with 19 points.

Following Johnson’s dagger, Negaunee inbounded to Jackson Sager, the Miners’ leading scorer with 15 points and a perfect 7-for-7 showing at the foul line. He quickly tip-toed up the right sideline, nearly loosing control of his dribble over his head in the process, before becoming trapped by the Mountaineer defense.

Ron Deuter/The Daily News COLIN VISINTAINER WALKS off the court in disbelief as Negaunee celebrates under the basket in the moments after Alex Munson’s game-winning bucket Thursday evening at the Mountaineer Gymnasium.

Despite the pressure, Sager was able to deliver a pass toward the basket where Munson stood all alone for the put in just a fraction of a second before the final horn.

“We had Sager pinned against the sideline,” Mountaineer head coach Harvey “Bucky” Johnson said. “Munson got open under the basket. If we’re in that position again, we can’t leave a guy wide open under the basket.”

In the timeout ahead of the game’s final sequence, Waterman reminded his team of the situation.

“We knew six seconds was plenty of time to get the ball down the court, and they had nine fouls, so it limits how aggressive they can be,” he said. “So we wanted to get the ball to Jackson and send Jason (Waterman) and (Drew) Lindberg down the court because we figured they would leave those two guys. We told Jackson to take the ball to the basket because they weren’t going to foul him. He had tremendous poise, felt the double team and slid a pass over to Munson.”

“It feels awesome,” Munson said, admitting he didn’t know at first if he had beat the clock. “I was kind of nervous for a second. I didn’t know if it was over, and then I saw the guys running toward me, and I knew it was over.”

Ron Deuter/The Daily News IRON MOUNTAIN’S FOSTER Wonders slips past Negaunee’s Drew Lindberg (23) for a layup during the fourth quarter Thursday evening.

It was a sluggish offensive start for both squads early on, but the Mountaineers used an 11-1 run that included a pair of triples by Johnson to close out the first quarter ahead by eight.

But the Miners erased that deficit in the second, exploding for 25 in the period to take a five-point edge into halftime. Sager, Waterman and Lindberg all sunk treys in the quarter. Waterman finished with 14 points and three triples. Lindberg had eight points.

The Miners maintained a slim advantage for most of the second half and pushed the margin to six at 50-44 with about four minutes to go in the game.

A drive by Foster Wonders cut the lead to 50-46. Negaunee then attempted to run the clock down by running a weave, but a traveling call with 2:21 to play gave the ball back to Iron Mountain. Wonders promptly popped a short jumper to make it 50-48. The Miners then again tried to run out the clock, but another turnover gave the Mountaineers another shot. IM used a timeout, and Johnson wound up with the ball just left of the top of the circle where he lined up and drained his go-ahead three.

Wonders finished with 18 for the Mountaineers, but was limited to six in the first half and only saw the free throw line twice the entire game, despite very physical play inside. Tony Feira added eight points and nine rebounds.

Coach Johnson pointed to the second quarter when looking for improvement.

“We had a 14-6 lead,” he said. “Twenty-five in the second is way too many. We got loose with our defense. They got loose for threes. We’ve got to correct that. But give Negaunee credit. They came in, played their style. We need to execute a little better and not give up a 25-point second quarter. It’s a tough loss, but I told the kids the true test of character is when things don’t go right. It’s all about how you bounce back. We have to forget about this. We have a game Monday. We’ll put this one to the side. We need to take care of business Monday. If we don’t do that, not much else matters.”

“A 19-1 season is great. I don’t really know if people truly understand how unbelievably focussed this team has been. People may just think it comes easy for them, but it really doesn’t,” said Johnson. “They work their butts off. Give Negaunee credit for coming here tonight and winning the game. We are conference co-champions. A lot of teams would be dying to be in our position.”

Iron Mountain hosts Norway Monday night in its district opener. Tip off is set for 6 p.m.

Negaunee begins district play against Manistique.

“I’m super proud of our kids for never giving up,” Waterman said. “We could have hung our heads when we gave up a bucket with six seconds to go. But we found a way to make one more play, and that was the difference. As long as we continued to play hard, we knew we’d have a chance coming down the stretch.”

“I think the kids thought they could beat them, but they weren’t quite sure. Now they know they can. And now that they know it can be done, it just helps you get more buy in to what you’re preaching,” said Waterman. “That’s a tremendous team. We played the game of our lives to beat them.”