ST. IGNACE — The Upper Peninsula All-Star Classic basketball game will be held Saturday at LaSalle High School in St. Ignace.

The game, conducted by the U.P. Sports Hall of Fame, had been called off earlier this year due to a variety of circumstances. Then Jackson Ingalls of St. Ignace jumped in and with the help of his parents (St. Ignace basketball coaches Dorene and Doug Ingalls) contacted numerous spring graduates to play in the game.

Helping the Ingalls put the game together at the last minute were new UPSHF council member Tony Haller of Sault Ste. Marie and Iron Mountain Daily News sportswriter Matt McCarthy.

“We needed to get back to it,” Jackson Ingalls said. “This is a special thing we have here in the U.P. and this is something they (the players) have worked hard for all the years.”

Jackson Ingalls, a recent LaSalle graduate, will attend Grand Valley State. He has officiated basketball for the past 9-10 years, working GLIAC college basketball and several UPSHF All-Star Classic games.

The U.P. girls will play at 11 a.m. Eastern and the U.P. boys will follow about 1 p.m. A variety of skills contests (3-point and free throw shooting and dunk) will begin at 10 a.m.

The All-Star Classic began in 1986 and proceeds go to the Hall of Fame’s scholarship fund, where four annual recipients receive $500 annually toward their college expenses. The 2021 scholarship recipients will be announced later.

The 35th edition marks the return of the Classic after the 2020 version was called off due to the COVID-19 pandemic. That issue also forced cancellation of the 2020 high school basketball tournament finals.

The girls and boys games will match players based on an East-West pairing. Normally M-28 is used as the dividing line for the North-South format, with the East-West division needed to offer a better matchup of players available for this year. The East teams will be considered the home team.

Nicole Kamin of Escanaba, named Miss U.P. Basketball this season by the U.P. Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association, will play for the East girls. The Grand Valley State recruit finished her career with a school-record 1,329 points. She will play for the East team, along with future GVSU teammate Megan Crow of Gladstone.

Emma Anderson of Menominee, the 2020 U.P. Miss Basketball, will play for the West girls. She has a basketball scholarship to Wayne State University.

Foster Wonders of Iron Mountain, who earned Mr. U.P. Basketball honors the past three years, will not be able to attend as he has already begun classes at Southern Illinois University. He received a full basketball scholarship with the Salukis.

Wonders, runner-up to Michigan’s Mr. Basketball, became the all-time U.P. boys scoring leader this season with 2,286 points, surpassing the record of 2,178 set by Gage Kreski of St. Ignace in 2016. Kreski had surpassed the record of 2,140 points established by Dom Jacobetti of Negaunee St. Paul in 1965.

Carlos Molina of Rudyard, Eric Shamion of West Iron County, Richard Matrella of Bessemer and Marc Zawacki of Bark River-Harris will be the all-star coaches. Zawacki, an Escanaba Public Safety officer, has stepped down as BR-H varsity boys coach.

East girls: Nicole Kamin, Escanaba; Megan Crow, Gladstone; Emmalee Hart and Hallie Marshall, St. Ignace; Lilly Alaspa and Jordyn Haller, Sault Ste. Marie; Chelsey Molina, Rudyard; Elysia Causley and Cassidy Barr, Cedarville. Coach Carlos Molina, Rudyard.

West girls: Emma Anderson, Josie Hofer, Jenna Nolde and Erin Barrette, Menominee; Maryellen Trewhella, Houghton; Andie Arsenault, North Central; Ella and Teddy Menigoz, Ontonagon; Allison Richer, Bark River-Harris; Jordan Shamion, West Iron; Coach Eric Shamion, West Iron.

East boys: Logan Depew, Newberry; Caleb Kohlmann, Cedarville; Brandon Frazer, Escanaba; Trenton Wood-Keshick, Nick Javurek, Carter Zawacki and Joey Stein, Bark River-Harris; Micah Bailey, Maplewood Baptist; Coach Marc Zawacki, Bark River-Harris.

West boys: Justin Nelson and Nathan Thompson, West Iron; Eli Luokkala, Negaunee, Lincoln Sager and Ty Lotterman, Marquette; Lane Kortemeier, Bessemer; Beau Koffman, Carney-Nadeau; Ian Gorzinski, North Central; Coach Richard Matrella, Bessemer.

Dennis Grall is the executive secretary of the U.P. Sports Hall of Fame and is the former sports editor of The Daily Press in Escanaba.