No. 11 North Dickinson stormed out to a 10-0 lead and outmuscled No. 2 Forest Park for a 65-59 upset in a MHSAA Division 4 regional semifinal before a packed house at Kingsford High School.

The Nordics (21-3) advance to face No. 13 Dollar Bay (22-2) in tonight’s regional championship game in Negaunee.

“We struggled making our possessions count the second time we played them this year,” Nordics head coach Chris Mattson said of the last regular season meeting between the teams. “We had some empty possessions. They’re very good at getting their hands on the ball. I thought we played efficiently offensively. The game plan going in was to try to eliminate those silly mistakes, because they’re so good at turning them over and it’s on the other end, and you saw that again in this game. We were able to get a lead and in a heartbeat they cut it back down. They’re a great team, and we just feel real happy to come out on top.”

Senior Spencer Kramer scored a team-high 16 points with junior Trenton Kramer adding a double-double of 15 points and 13 boards for the Nordics. Seniors Brady Jungwirth and Ty King also scored in double figures with 11 points each.

The North Dickinson bench and crowd reacts to a first half 3-pointer during Tuesday’s regional semifinal.

Employing a tough physical man-to-man defense, the Nordics didn’t allow a bucket until about two minutes to play in the first quarter when junior Dax Huuki drained a three. Momentum stayed with the Trojans in the second quarter as they cut the lead to one at 21-20, but ND responded with a 10-0 spurt to end the half, getting a couple of treys from Spencer Kramer as well as a buzzer beater from senior Brady Jungwirth, who finished with 11 points.

The strong finish to the first half proved pivotal, as Forest Park outscored the Nordics 38-35 in the second half, getting a big fourth quarter from freshman Lyle Price with three triples and 11 of his game-high 18 points in the final quarter.

“I’m not saying we were comfortable because you never are against a good team, but I’m sure they knew us, we knew them, and being a conference opponent, we thought we had maybe an advantage defensively tonight, tried to do things differently in a couple of instances,” Mattson said. “The big thing was our rebounding. They limited us to 14 rebounds in the second game and honestly they took it to us. We played our hearts out, especially inside, played physical, played aggressive and in the end it wasn’t just one person we could rely on. There was big plays being made by everybody that played tonight.”

The Nordics collected 38 rebounds, 14 of those on the offensive glass and 26 total in the second half – which was crucial to keeping the margin at a couple of possessions down the stretch. The Nordics also hit at a 12-for-17 clip at the foul line, draining 8-of-11 in the final quarter.

“It feels good to get by them in the playoffs and keep playing basketball,” Kramer said. “We talked about playing a lot of man just because they can shoot the lights out in zone and I think that worked pretty well for us. Rebounding off their misses and we got some offensive boards which was big. We’ve been like that the past couple weeks. Everyone’s been making shots, contributing.”

Forest Park freshman Lyle Price drives to the basket during Tuesday’s regional semifinal.

“It was a hard fought game,” Mattson said. “Crystal Falls fought back two or three times. It was back and forth all game. I thought our fourth quarter, our kids just played outstanding, fought right to the end. I’m very happy for my kids. We’ve got tough kids. We wanted to win our way. We found ourselves on the free throw line at the end of the game, going downhill, putting pressure on them.”

Along with Price, the Trojans finished with four players in double figures. Junior Izaiah Tarter scored all 14 of his points in the second half. Junior Vic Guliani added 13 points, and Huuki finished with 10 points – limited to just one bucket after halftime.

“Credit to North Dickinson,” Forest Park coach Jason Price said. “They came out and played very well. They started out hot and continued it the whole game. Good ball movement. They had us kind of on skates. Credit to them. I have a lot of respect for ND, Chris and his program. Hats off to them.

“We had to weather the storm. We had to use a lot of energy to get back in the game and then they made some more shots. We were just chasing all night. Little things, you know. Not grabbing those loose balls. Running into each other on rebounds. Give them credit, they’re a big physical team.”

Obviously wanting more from this season, the silver lining for the Trojans (19-5) is that they have no seniors.

“It’s hard to be done,” Price said. “It’s been a great season for us. We didn’t want it to end tonight, but again, it’s hats off to ND. Hopefully they can go far in this tournament. We’ll be cheering for them.”

North Dickinson and Dollar Bay did not meet during the regular season. The Blue Bolts claimed a 49-45 OT victory against Forest Park on Dec. 30. Other Dollar Bay losses were to Marquette (92-54) and Baraga (60-49). They took down Wakefield-Marenisco 72-39 in their regional semifinal. Tonight’s winner advances to a state quarterfinal to be played at Gladstone on Tuesday.