Boys hoops wrap: Westwood pulls away from Mountaineers 67-49
Iron Mountain freshman Gerald Sampoll-Torres (10) leads teammates Ian Marttila (14) and James Chartier (40) in transition Thursday night against Westwood. Sampoll-Torres, who was recently promoted to the varsity squad, finished with four points and four assists. (Dennis Mansfield/Daily News photo)
Iron Mountain junior Joey Colavecchi (12) leaps to throw a pass to a teammate against the defense of Westwood junior Nickolas Salzwedel (24) in a Mid Pen Conference game on Thursday in Iron Mountain. The Mountaineers held a lead at halftime before the fifth-ranked Patriots pulled away for a 67-49 victory. (Dennis Mansfield/Daily News photo)
Iron Mountain freshman Gerald Sampoll-Torres (10) leads teammates Ian Marttila (14) and James Chartier (40) in transition Thursday night against Westwood. Sampoll-Torres, who was recently promoted to the varsity squad, finished with four points and four assists. (Dennis Mansfield/Daily News photo)
Iron Mountain junior Joey Colavecchi (12) leaps to throw a pass to a teammate against the defense of Westwood junior Nickolas Salzwedel (24) in a Mid Pen Conference game on Thursday in Iron Mountain. The Mountaineers held a lead at halftime before the fifth-ranked Patriots pulled away for a 67-49 victory. (Dennis Mansfield/Daily News photo)
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IRON MOUNTAIN -- The Westwood boys varsity basketball team is one of the premier outfits in the U.P. this season. The Patriots were ranked fifth in the latest Upper Peninsula Sports Writers and Sportscasters Association poll and came into Thursday's game against Iron Mountain with seven wins in nine games.
Plus, Westwood defeated the Mountaineers by 21 points early in January.
In the rematch, Iron Mountain took an 18-11 lead after the first quarter and brought a 33-29 advantage into the second half. Unfortunately for the Mountaineers, the Patriots got rolling in the third quarter and pulled away for a 67-49 victory at Mountaineer Gymnasium.
Mountaineers coach Harvey "Bucky" Johnson was not displeased with his squad afterward.
"Kids played great," he said. "We were up four at half. Their pressure defense got us."
Westwood outscored Iron Mountain 21-6 in the third quarter to take control at 50-39 on its way to the win.
Westwood guard Zach Carlson led all scorers with 27 points. He knocked down three of his team's nine 3-pointers as well.
"Carlson is a heck of a player," Johnson said.
Oskar Kangas totaled 18 points and grabbed 14 rebounds for the Mountaineers (6-3). Ian Marttila added 11 points and four assists.
Iron Mountain hosts West Iron County (1-10) on Tuesday.
Top-ranked Panthers pound Trojans 68-39
EWEN -- Jaden Borseth scored 17 points and Eric Abramson added 16, including five 3-pointers, to lift Division 4 top-ranked Ewen-Trout Creek to a 68-39 triumph over Forest Park in a non-conference game on Thursday in Ewen.
The Panthers (9-0) started strong, grabbing a 24-8 lead after the first quarter. They extended that to 52-13 at halftime on the way to their seventh win of 25 points or more this season.
Freshman Kevin Giuliani paced the Trojans (4-7) with 10 points. Gaven Rintala sank three triples for nine and Michael Saario chipped in with eight.
Forest Park was scheduled to host Carney-Nadeau on Friday but the game was postponed.
Wykons no match for host Knights 66-23
NORWAY -- Alex Ortman recorded 16 points to lead a balanced Norway attack as the Knight rolled over West Iron County 66-23 in a non-conference contest Thursday at Norway High School.
The Knights (8-3) stormed out to a 21-6 advantage after the opening eight minutes and stretched that to a 37-8 griplock at halftime.
Twelve Knights scored in the game. Aside from Ortman's output, Michael Peterson registered eight points, while Drew Anderson, Chase Carlson, Nolan Amundson and Wyatt Spade contributed six points each.
West Iron (1-10) was led by Peyton Hill and Elijah Oberlin, who both scored six points.
The Knights travel to Kingsford on Tuesday.
Jerry DeRoche can be reached at 906-774-2772, ext. 244, or at jderoche@ironmountaindailynews.com.