(Terry Raiche photo) Iron Mountain's Brayden Kassin (12) looks for an opening as Escanaba's Taylor Asgaard (22) defends Wednesday at Mountaineer Gym.

IRON MOUNTAIN – Brayden Kassin and Charles Baldridge scored 18 points each to power the Iron Mountain Mountaineers to a 44-36 victory over Escanaba in a non-conference battle Wednesday at Mountaineer Gymnasium.

“I’m happy with the way we played,” IM coach Kyle Johnson said. “We had a nice start and jumped on them right away. We had a slow start to the third quarter, but we made enough winning plays to get a win.”

The Mountaineers (4-4) held Escanaba (3-5) to the second fewest points they’ve allowed this season. IM gave up 25 to West Iron County in an earlier win this year.

“We played good enough defensively but gave up too many offensive rebounds,” Johnson said. “Quinton Doty did an excellent job defensively on Escanaba’s point guard and made things tough for them.”

Additionally, Johnson credited Baldridge and reserve guard Collin Punzel for their contributions to the win.

“Charles Baldridge stepped up and had a nice game for us,” he said. “Collin Punzel gave us a nice spark off the bench and that was great to see.”

The Mountaineers are scheduled to host Gwinn (0-8) tonight.

Norway 54

Munising 32

MUNISING – The Norway Knights held Munising to single digits in three quarters as they pulled away from the Mustangs to post a Skyline Central Conference-Large victory Wednesday night in Munising.

With the win, the Knights (7-2) have now won seven consecutive games.

Norway took a 12-7 lead after one quarter and pushed it forward for a 23-15 edge at the halftime break.

The Knights then pulled away in the third, outscoring the Mustangs 14-6 to build a 37-21 advantage heading into the fourth.

Four Norway players scored in double figures. Anthony Pineda topped the group with 12, Owen Baij and Noah Pearson added 11 each and Kaleb Lapine chipped in with 10.

The Knights shoot for eight straight tonight when they travel to Bark River-Harris (2-3).

NORWAY – Baij 4 0-0 11, LaPine 5 0-1 10, Pineda 5 0-0 12, Ross 0 1-2 1, Kraemer 1 0-0 3, Pearson 3 5-8 11, Langin 2 2-2 6. Totals: 20 8-13 54. 3-point field goals: 6 (Baij 3, Pineda 2, Kraemer)

MUNISING – Connaughton 1 1-2 3, Adkinson 2 4-6 8, Curtis 1 1-1 3, Boyak 3 0-0 9, Rantanen 1 0-0 2, Goings 2 0-0 4, Coppick 1 0-0 3. Totals: 11 6-9 32. 3-point field goals: 4 (Boyak 3, Coppick).

PREP BASKETBALL SCORES

Wednesday, Jan. 7

GIRLS

Newberry 38, Munising 34

St Ignace 59, Cedarville 40

BOYS

Norway 54, Munising 32

Iron Mountain 44, Escanaba 36

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Compiled by Daily News sports correspondent Jerry DeRoche.