Top-ranked Maroons wear down Kingsford
Kingsford varsity hoopster Ben Trevillian (20) pulls up for a jumper during first-half action against visiting Menominee, the UPSSA Division 1-3 top-ranked basketball team, on Monday night. Trevillian scored two points, as the Maroons topped the host Flivvers 47-34. (Dennis Mansfield/Daily News photo)
Flivver starting point guard Nic Nora (0) goes up and under the basket to avoid a Menominee defender and get a shot off during Kingsford’s home loss to the Maroons on Monday. Nora led Kingsford with 14 points. (Dennis Mansfield/Daily News photo)
Kingsford varsity hoopster Ben Trevillian (20) pulls up for a jumper during first-half action against visiting Menominee, the UPSSA Division 1-3 top-ranked basketball team, on Monday night. Trevillian scored two points, as the Maroons topped the host Flivvers 47-34. (Dennis Mansfield/Daily News photo)
Flivver starting point guard Nic Nora (0) goes up and under the basket to avoid a Menominee defender and get a shot off during Kingsford’s home loss to the Maroons on Monday. Nora led Kingsford with 14 points. (Dennis Mansfield/Daily News photo)
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KINGSFORD -- The UPSSA Division 1-3 top-ranked Menominee Maroons are not an offensive juggernaut. While they are capable of scoring 60 or more, the Maroons are built on their defense -- a relentless, suffocating defense that just chokes opposing offenses into exhaustion.
That's what Menominee did to fourth-ranked Kingsford on Monday night at Kingsford High School, defeating the Flivvers 47-34 in a Great Northern Conference boys varsity basketball game. Kingsford played well, played hard and played with heart, but the Maroons are just that good this year.
"This is a special team that Menominee has," Kingsford coach Dan Olkkonen said. "Defensively, they're beyond any other team, just with their active hands. And you can't fault a lot of things we did. We did a lot of good stuff.
"They're talented, they're big, they can shoot and they can run."
Despite all that, Kingsford (11-5) took a 10-6 lead early and carried the advantage until late in the second quarter before Menominee senior guard Aidan Bellisle scored five straight points to give the visitors a 24-22 lead at the half.
Guard Nic Nora scored 10 of his team-high 14 points in the first half, but was under constant harassment from Menominee defenders who were all taller than he is. The Maroons sport a rotation of several 6-foot-1-ish guards and then add a 6-5 wing and a 6-4 power forward.
Menominee (16-2) scored the first eight points of the second half to go up 32-24 before Flivver freshman Gavin Grondin hit a driving layup with 4:15 to play in the quarter. The teams went back-and-forth for the remainder of the third, with Kingsford getting hoops from Nora, Brody Kopp and Ben Trevillian and two free throws from Cole Myllyla.
And when Kopp scored off his offensive rebound to start the fourth quarter, the Flivvers were within 38-34 with 7:34 to play. But Menominee's constant defensive pressure and fast-paced offense, even in the halfcourt, simply wore the Flivvers down and they did not score again.
Meanwhile, the Maroons, whose only losses this year have been to Milwaukee Tech and Escanaba, ran off the final nine points of the game.
"I thought we had a very good game plan coming in," Olkkonen said. "We tried to control tempo and play methodically and try to stop their fast-break layups. They scored 26 points down there in transition.
"The biggest thing is their defense because they help so hard and they're so athletic. And we knew that. They're smothering with what they do and we got very tired, obviously."
Jerry DeRoche can be reached at 906-774-2772, ext. 244, or at jderoche@ironmountaindailynews.com.