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FLORENCE -- The Florence boys varsity basketball team left no doubt in which was the better team in the WIAA sectional tournament opener at Florence, with the Bobcats routing the visiting White Lake Lakers 88-34 on Tuesday night.
"Overall, just a nice first round win with everyone getting a lot of quality minutes," said Bobcat head coach Bryan Bomberg.
Florence (18-5) took care of business early, opening up an insurmountable 53-17 lead at intermission.
Not that the Bobcats weren't equally impressive in the second half, putting up another 35 points and more than doubling up White Lake (2-23).
In total, 10 Bobcats scored, including four hitting for double figures. Logan Schuls and Evan Johnson led the way for Florence with 13 points each, with William Kelley adding 11 points and Dominic DeMuri chipping in 10 points in the home tournament win.
Blake Lambert tallied a team-high 11 points to pace the Lakers.
With Tuesday's victory in hand, Florence advances to the sectional semifinals on Friday night when the Bobcats play host to Lena (14-10). Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.
"I really hope we have the same great fan support we had (Tuesday)," Bomberg said. "Our fans are awesome and our players feed off the crowds energy."
Elcho's surge stings Badgers
ELCHO -- The Niagara Badgers might have wanted to end their sectional quarterfinal matchup with host Elcho at halftime Tuesday night. That's because the Badgers (7-17) still held the lead.
But the host Hornets (10-12) not only erased the Badgers' 28-24 lead, they dominated the second half by outgunning Niagara 40-26 after intermission on their way to a 64-54 tournament win and ending Niagara's 2021-22 season.
"We played well, lead for most of the game but our youth showed down the stretch," said Niagara head coach Terry Youren. "(I'm) very proud of our team's effort tonight."
Edward Swanson and Tommy Martin each scored a team-high 16 points to lead the Badgers' attack, with Swanson knocking down four 3-pointers and Martin adding another two from long distance.
Other scorers for Niagara included Mason Richtig (7), Aiden Colenso (6), Logan Weber (6) and Nicholas Krueger (3).
Seth Schuett tallied a game-high 24 points for the victorious Hornets.
Knights' off night ends in road loss
MUNISING -- The UPSSA Division 4 fifth-ranked Norway varsity boys basketball team traveled to Munising on Tuesday night for a contest with the third-ranked Mustangs. On paper, the matchup looked like a tasty one, but a slow start spoiled the game for Norway in its 63-49 Skyline Central Conference defeat.
"We had a slow start and never recovered," Norway coach Jeff Gallino said after the game. "We seemed out of it tonight with our defensive rotations and our effort. We are going to go back to work tomorrow and prepare for Rapid River. I'm confident we can play better than what we showed tonight."
The Mustangs (16-2) took an 11-6 lead after one quarter, but they basically put the game away in the third by outscoring the Knights 22-9 to extend to a 53-30 lead entering the fourth quarter.
Alex Ortman paced Norway (13-6) with 12 points. He was the team's lone double-digit scorer.
The Knights close out their regular-season at home against Rapid River on Thursday.
Nordics done in by scramble play
FELCH TOWNSHIP -- With less than two minutes to play, the North Dickinson Nordics had worked their way back from an early 11-point deficit to two against visiting Bark River-Harris on Tuesday night. The Broncos and the Nordics got involved in a tussle for a loose ball, which eventually went to BRH.
North Dickinson coach Chris Mattson picked up the story from there.
"Both teams had opportunities to get possession," he began. "They picked it up and threw a miraculous pass to a kid who made a layup and got fouled. He missed the free throw, but they got the rebound and scored."
The sequence left North Dickinson down 41-35, and shortly after the Nordics lost the Skyline Central Conference game 47-35.
"It was one of those turn of events, almost like they had a six-point play," Mattson said. "The wind went out of our sails after that."
Antonio Inglese helped the Nordics (3-16) fight back from their 16-5 deficit after one quarter. The sophomore scored a season-high 21 points as North Dickinson pulled to within 26-20 at halftime and 34-29 after three.
"We had a slow start, but played an excellent second quarter and were down six at half," Mattson said. "We felt confident going into second half. We dug a little bit of a hole in the first quarter, but the kids fought hard all game."
Trojans shut down Cougars
CRYSTAL FALLS -- The Forest Park Trojans held visiting Superior Central to just six points in the second half en route to a 49-32 Skyline Central Conference boys varsity basketball victory on Tuesday night at Eddie Chambers Gymnasium.
The Trojans trailed 26-25 heading into the halftime break, but outscored the Cougars 13-3 in the third quarter and then 11-3 in the fourth to win going away.
Gaven Rintala hit five 3-pointers on his way to 17 points to lead the Trojans, who have won three of their last four. Kevin Giuliani added 12 and Sam McKissack recorded 10 for Forest Park (9-11).
Logan Frusti led Superior Central (4-12) with 12 points.
Hematites top Wykons 77-34
ISHPEMING -- Senior forward Jayce Kipling scored 20 points to lead four double-digit scorers as Ishpeming beat West Iron County 77-34 in a varsity boys basketball game Tuesday night in Ishpeming.
Junior Griffin Argall registered 16 points, AJ Prosser chipped in with 13 and Preston Gauthier added 12 for the Hematites (8-8), who outscored the Wykons 44-15 in the second half.
Matthew Dutcher topped West Iron (1-17) with 13 points and six rebounds. Peyton Hill recorded 10 points and added three steals, while Daniel James scored six points and grabbed six rebounds.