Iron Mountain's Quinton Doty (20) brings the ball up court as he's pressured by Menominee's Talan Woods (4) in a Feb. 2 game at Mountaineer Gym. The Mountaineers host Negaunee for Senior Night tonight. (Terry Raiche photo)

IRON MOUNTAIN – At halftime of their game against Bark River-Harris on Friday night, the Iron Mountaineers had surrendered 24 points and led by five.

And then they locked in defensively, held the Broncos to just six points in both the third and fourth quarters and walked away with a 57-36 victory at Mountaineer Gym.

“We started the game off a little slow defensively,” IM coach Kyle Johnson said. “We let couple of their guards get loose and hit open shots.

“We came out in the second half and played well defensively. I am proud of the effort Max White, Collin Punzel and Kevin Sgrecci had off the bench. Their defense and effort was the turning point of the game.”

Both teams started hot offensively with the Mountaineers taking a 19-16 lead into the second quarter. The scoring slowed a bit in the second quarter, which ended with IM up 29-24.

The Mountaineers (10-9) began to pull away in the third quarter on the strength of nine points from Brayden Kassin, three from Punzel and a hoop from Charles Baldridge.

Holding a 43-30 advantage entering the fourth quarter, Iron Mountain stymied the Broncos (10-9) again and pulled away for the 21-point victory.

Kassin led all scorers with 25 points, while Baldridge finished with 12.

The Mountaineers will host Negaunee (11-8) tonight and then will travel to Three Lakes, Wis., on Thursday to conclude their regular season.

The Mountaineers begin tournament play on Wednesday, Feb. 25 when they will host the winner of the MHSAA Division 3 District 66 first round game between Gwinn and Bark River-Harris.

“We are looking forward to the district tournament,” Johnson said. “The guys are hungry.”

BARK RIVER-HARRIS – McDonough 2 2-3 6, Derouin 0 1-2 1, Spear 3 1-3 7, Knauf 4 0-0 10, Johnson 3 0-0 8, Gholston 2 0-0 4. Totals: 14 4-8 36. 3-point field goals: 4 (Knauf 2, Johnson 2).

IRON MOUNTAIN – Punzel 1 3-8 5, Kassin 10 4-7 25, White 1 0-0 2, Doty 0 1-2 1, Sgrecci 2 0-0 5, Wender 1 0-0 3, Anderson 2 0-0 4, Baldridge 6 0-1 12. Totals: 23 8-18 57. 3-point field goals: 3 (Kassin, Sgrecci, Wender).

Norway 68

North Central 52

POWERS – The Norway Knights jumped on host North Central quickly Friday and never looked back in their Skyline Central Conference triumph.

The Knights (12-9) poured in 22 points in the first quarter to establish a 14-point lead and then added 20 more in the second period to build a 42-24 lead at intermission.

Norway pushed its lead to 58-38 at the end of the third quarter before the Jets (6-12) sliced four points off the Knights’ edge in the fourth.

Anthony Pineda scored 15 of his game-high 20 points to lead the Knights. Kaleb LaPine fired in 17 and Owen Baij posted 11.

Norway had its perimeter game going, sinking eight 3-pointers. Baij hit three, LaPine and Pineda connected on two each and Kraemer added one.

Brody Mercier topped NC with 15 points, while Ben Stage scored 11.

Norway hosts Superior Central (10-9) tonight to close out their regular season. The Knights will begin Division 4 District 99 action on Wednesday, Feb. 25, when they host the winner of the Stephenson-Hannahville Nah Tah Wahsh first-round game.

NORWAY – Martin 0 2-2 2, Baij 4 0-1 11, LaPine 7 1-2 17, Pineda 8 2-4 20, Kraemer 3 2-4 9, Pearson 2 5-7 9. Totals: 24 12-20 68. 3-point field goals: 8 (Baij 3, Lapine 2, Pineda 2, Kraemer).

NORTH CENTRAL – Cretens 3 0-0 6, Stage 4 0-0 11, Pipkorn 3 0-0 6, Mercier 7 1-2 15, Janofski 1 0-0 3, Malone 2 0-0 5, Castle 2 0-0 4, Dombroski 1 0-2 2. Totals: 23 1-4 52. 3-point field goals: 5 (Stage 3, Janofski, Malone).

North Dickinson 70

Carney-Nadeau 32

Trent Kramer scored 19 points and collected 10 rebounds as North Dickinson cruised to a home win Friday over Carney-Nadeau.

The Nordics improved to 5-2 in the Skyline Central Conference-Small while the Wolves fell to 0-7.

Jason Graham contributed 15 points and Ty King chipped in nine for North Dickinson. Spencer Kramer and Tyler Fleming added six points each while Brady Jungwirth had five points and eight assists.

The Nordics recorded 13 steals.

North Dickinson hosted Rapid River on Monday and will be at home again tonight against L’Anse.

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Compiled by Daily News sports correspondent Jerry DeRoche. News Editor Jim Anderson contributed.