MARQUETTE, MI – 2/2/2015 – Another week gone. For most teams, the halfway point has been past and “early season struggles” should be over with. Some teams are still grasping offensive concepts, such as the Miner boys, who laid an offensive stinker of historic proportions in Iron Mountain last Tuesday; scoring just 17 points. Meanwhile, Gwinn & Ishpeming combined for just 64 points in their game last week, showing that this is truly a year of defense in the conference. Another example of the defensive mentality is the undefeated Mountaineers, who averaged just 37 points per game, but only allowed 25.5 ppg in their two wins last week. The Mountaineers now are in complete control of their destiny to finish as the sole MPC champion, where the Miners control theirs to be co-champions, and the ModelTowners & Hematites will need a bit of help to claim the crown.
For the girls, the Hematites knocked off what many would consider their two biggest rivals in Negaunee & Westwood. Ishpeming truly is the MPC’s version of the Kentucky Wildcats, who can trot out ten players who are all capable of taking over a game. The Patriot girls are still struggling to find that offensive spark they had in 2013-2014, and have fallen to 1-10 on the season, and are only ahead of the Emeralds due to their one win coming in conference. Escanaba took care of business against the MPC last week as Negaunee dropped a 61-51 decision on the road and the Mountaineers fared even worse, falling 64-44. Michelle LaFave of the Eskymos showed off why she’ll be at MTU this coming fall, as she used good footwork, ambidexterity, and excellent ball-handling to dispose of the Miners & Mountaineers. Enough of looking backwards, though. Let’s take a look at what’s coming up this week!
MONDAY 2/2
Girl’s Basketball
- Iron Mountain Mountaineers @ Ishpeming Hematites IM: 34 ISH: 32
- Manistique Emeralds @ Gwinn ModelTowners GWN: 53 MAN 26
- Stephenson Eagles @ Norway Knights NOR def. STE
Boy’s Basketball
- No Games
TUESDAY 2/3
Girl’s Basketball
- Norway Knights @ Westwood Patriots WW: 51 NOR: 45
- Negaunee Miners @ Gladstone Braves GLAD: 43 NEG: 35
Boy’s Basketball
- Gwinn ModelTowners @ Manistique Emeralds GWN: 52 MAN: 49
- Ishpeming Hematites @ Houghton Gremlins ISH: 51 HOU: 45
- West Iron County Wykons @ Iron Mountain Mountaineers IM: 59 WIC: 20
- Westwood Patriots @ Marquette Redmen MAR: 45 WW: 35
- Kingsford Flivvers @ Norway Knights KING: 45 NOR: 32
WEDNESDAY 2/4
Girl’s Basketball
Boy’s Basketball
No Games
THURSDAY 2/5
Girl’s Basketball
- Manistique Emeralds @ Iron Mountain Mountaineer IM: 69 MAN: 39
- Marquette Redettes @ Westwood Patriots MAR: 62 WW: 36
Boy’s Basketball
FRIDAY 2/6
Girl’s Basketball
- Negaunee Miners @ Norway Knights NOR: 62 NEG: 44
Boy’s Basketball
- Westwood Patriots @ Manistique Emeralds WW: 60 MAN: 45
- Iron Mountain Mountaineers @ Ishpeming Hematites ISH: 48 IM: 45
MPC STANDINGS (Through 2/6)
Girl’s Basketball
- Ishpeming Hematites (12-2; 8-1)
- Iron Mountain Mountaineers (7-7; 6-2)
- Negaunee Miners (7-7; 5-3)
- Gwinn ModelTowners (9-6; 3-4)
- Norway Knights (10-6; 4-5)
- Westwood Patriots (2-11; 2-5)
- Manistique Emeralds (1-14; 0-8)
Boy’s Basketball
- Iron Mountain Mountaineers (13-1; 8-1)
- Negaunee Miners (9-3; 5-1)
- Gwinn ModelTowners (8-5; 5-4)
- Ishpeming Hematites (8-4; 8-3)
- Westwood Patriots (5-6; 3-3)
- Norway Knights (4-9; 1-6)
- Manistique Emeralds (2-10; 1-7)
Be sure to keep up throughout the week on all of your MPC updates and reports. If you’d like to see what’s happened since December 15th, be sure to click on the links below!
-Carl Leander Johnson
