ISHPEMING – Junior Brayden Kassin exploded for 48 points to power the Iron Mountain Mountaineers to a 72-66 overtime victory over host Ishpeming in a Mid-Peninsula Conference tussle Monday evening.

Kassin scored all 11 of his team’s points in the overtime session to lead his team to its third win in six games this season.

“I’m happy for our team and the way we bounced back from a disappointing loss (48-45) in Norway last Friday,” IM coach Kyle Johnson said. “We started the game slow defensively but in the second half we started to play defense how we always need to. We need four quarters of defense all the time.”

The Hematites (2-2) came out blazing with 24 points in the first period. They added 16 more in the second quarter to go into halftime with a 40-27 advantage.

“Give credit to Ishpeming,” Johnson said. “They are well coached and can shoot the ball well.”

Behind 12 points from Kassin, Iron Mountain fired back with 21 points in the third stanza to pull within 51-48. Charles Anderson hit two hoops, Lane Wender sank a 3-pointer and Quinton Doty added a bucket during the surge.

Kassin kept his roll going in the fourth, recording nine points to go with four from Charles Baldridge to knot the game at 61 heading into overtime.

Iron Mountain is now off for the holiday break after playing its last five games on the road. The Mountaineers will head back out again Jan. 2 with a trip to Westwood, but will return home to host Escanaba on Jan.7

“We are looking forward to the rest of the season after a tough road stretch,” Johnson said.

IRON MOUNTAIN – Kassin 17 12-16 48, Doty 3 0-0 7, Wender 1 0-0 3, Anderson 3 0-0 6, Baldridge 4 0-0 8. Totals: 27 12-16 72. 3-pointers: 4 (Kassin 2, Doty, Wender).

ISHPEMING – G. Gauthier 6 3-3 19, Gleason 2 0-0 4, Ambuehl 3 0-0 8, K. Gauthier 4 1-2 12, Bancroft 1 0-0 3, Wheeler 7 4-5 18, Kakkuri 1 0-0 2. Totals: 24 8-10 66. 3-point field goals: 10 (G. Gauthier 4, K. Gauthier 3, Ambuehl 2, Bancroft 1).