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No. 3 Dollar Bay starting to find rhythm on offense, defeats W-M 75-57 to start season 7-0

Dollar Bay’s Jaden Janke goes up for a layup against Wakefield-Marenisco Monday in Wakefield. Dollar Bay won 75-57. (Jason Juno/Daily Globe (Ironwood))

WAKEFIELD — Barring a 6-foot-7 center down in Ewen-Trout Creek, it might be next to impossible for a U.P. team to defeat the Dollar Bay Blue Bolts when they play with the efficiency they showed Monday against the Wakefield-Marenisco Cardinals. It was the kind of performance that reminds you this group has played together since the fourth grade, allowing them to execute with an amount of chemistry that’s a nightmare for opposing defenses. 

The No. 3 Blue Bolts converted 26 of 51 shots (51 percent) and knocked down 13 of 30 3s (43 percent) on their way to a 75-57 Copper Mountain Conference win in Wakefield-Marenisco. 

Senior Jaden Janke led the way with 24 points, while senior Devin Schmitz scored 21 and senior Brandon Thompson finished with 16.

“I think we’re finally starting to find our groove offensively,” Janke said. “We’re not 100 percent, yet, but we’re starting to knock down shots and work together as a team.”

The numbers back up Janke’s statement. In Dollar Bay’s last four games, the team is averaging 80.5 points after scoring 71, 93, 83 and 75 in those contests. 

W-M coach Terry Fetters attempted to limit the Blue Bolts (7-0, 4-0) with multiple defenses, including a 2-3 and 1-2-2 zone, box-and-1 on Schmitz and a man-to-man defense. None of those were enough to slow them down. 

Against a zone, Janke, Schmitz and Thompson found openings as each made four 3s, or the team was able to consistently attack the interior of the defense to break it down. Versus man, the Blue Bolts utilized their dribble drive to get to the rim or create drive-and-kick opportunities. 

“I kept telling my guys that they were going to attack the basket and kick it out,” Fetters said. “It’s hard to defend a team when all five guys can shoot as well as they can. You can’t cheat on somebody or help, or you’re going to get burnt. That’s what happened.”

The game-changing run has become a trademark in the Blue Bolts’ 7-0 start to the season. 

• Trailing Ontonagon 37-27 on Dec. 14, Dollar Bay closed the game on an 18-3 run for the victory.

• Against Chassell on Jan. 2, it was a 22-3 spurt after the game was tied at 36 that propelled Dollar Bay to a 71-52 win. 

Monday, W-M senior Jacob Suzik converted a putback at the halftime buzzer to trim Dollar Bay’s lead to 35-34. How’d Dollar Bay respond? The Blue Bolts went on an 18-0 run to start the third quarter. 

Thompson swished three 3s and Janke scored the other nine points during the Blue Bolts’ rally. 

“To get a group of guys like this who have a different skill set and know their role, that’s the biggest thing about our guys,” Dollar Bay coach Jesse Kentala said. “They have good skill, but they understand their job. We have five really solid guys — with a few great guys off the bench — who understand the team concept and how important that is.”

W-M (6-2, 3-2) didn’t score its first basket of the second half until Suzik knocked down a jumper with 1:39 left in the third quarter. After shooting 10 of 14 in the team’s 25-point second quarter, the Cardinals were just 3 of 10 in the third. 

“I don’t think it was anything they did defensively,” Fetters said. “They really didn’t put any pressure on us in the third quarter. We just couldn’t get anything to fall for us in that third quarter.”

Junior Mason Saubert led W-M with 27 points on nine 3s (9 of 16) and showcased his deep range, making some from as far as 26 feet out. Suzik added 25 points as the two scored 52 of the team’s 57 points. Despite how well W-M’s inside-outside threat played, the Cardinals didn’t get enough production elsewhere to keep up with Dollar Bay’s balanced attack.

Suzik scored 16 of his 25 in the first half, so Kentala was forced to make a halftime adjustment. He switched Janke off of him and had Thompson defend Suzik. 

Suzik was still efficient with nine second-half points on 4 of 8 shots, but overall, having Janke in a help position improved the Blue Bolts’ defense and limited W-M to just 8 of 25 shooting in the second half.

“Brandon Thompson has a little more muscle on him,” Kentala said of why he made the adjustment. “We switched Jaden to a help-side position, so Jaden was providing rim-line support, and I thought that was really effective in limiting Suzik.”

The win was one of the few remaining tests Dollar Bay has before facing Jake Witt and E-TC on Feb. 6. The Blue Bolts will be heavily favored in matchups against Watersmeet and Lake Linden-Hubbell — both teams Dollar Bay has defeated by 50 — and when they face Hancock on Jan. 24. The major remaining hurdle is a Jan. 29 game with the Bessemer Speedboys in Dollar Bay. 

Dollar Bay is ranked No. 10 in the first Associated Press Class D poll, while E-TC is sixth.

– – –

Dollar Bay 16 19 21 19 — 75

W-M 9 25 8 15 — 57

Dollar Bay — LeClaire 4, Ashtin Janke 3, Thompson 16, Devin Schmitz 21, Jaden Janke 24, Iacono 7. F: 12; Fouled out: None; Free throws: 10-15; 3-point field goals: Jaden Janke 4, Schmitz 4, Thompson 4, Ashtin Janke.

W-M — Saubert 27, Ribich 2, Suzik 25, Heil 3. F: 11; Fouled out: None; Technical foul: Suzik; Free throws: 4-6; 3-point field goals: Saubert 9.

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