The Ontonagon Fighting Miners 18U BB hockey team won the state championship on Sunday, March 16. The Fighting Miners are (back row, from left): Coach Deric Morris, Madden Sommer, Coach Drew Morris, Forrest Movrich, Maysen Bergerson, Johnny Olszewski, Colton White, Trius Namowicz, Parker Pisco, Sawyer Plonsky, Kayan Goodbird, Timmy Kin, Cooper Anderson, Aidan Somero, Darius Manos, Coach Dallas Aho, Coach Brian Anderson and (front row, from left): Delwyn Westeen, J.J. Grasso, Mathias Anderson, Blake Harden, Keyden Goodbird, and Kaira Anderson. (Provided photo)

ONTONAGON — It was, by no means easy.

The Ontonagon Fighting Miners 18U BB hockey team dropped their state tournament opening game to the Iron River Ice Hawks, then they rolled the next four games in order to claim the state title the weekend of March 14-16, in Burton, Michigan, near Flint.

According to coach Drew Morris, things just came together at the right moment.

“It just ended up to be a perfect weekend,” he said. “We started the round robin play, we played Iron River. We lost to Iron River right off the bat, but I think that was kind of huge for us.

“It gave us a step in the right direction, I think. We ended up playing Calumet the next game. We beat them 3-0, then Marquette in the third game, and we beat them 2-1. We faced Marquette in the semifinal game, then we beat them, 6-1. Then (we played) Belle Tire in the championship game. We beat them 4-2.”

The 18U BB level of hockey is an option for players whose schools do not offer high school hockey like Houghton, Hancock, Calumet or Jeffers.

“I think it’s huge, especially for this group of kids coming from, like, probably five or six different schools from around the Western U.P.,” Morris said. “I think it’s huge for the community of Ontonagan, and their respective communities as well.”

Once a thriving hockey experience, the relatively recent change of the addition of junior varsity hockey at the high school level has reduced the number of players and teams at the 18U BB level.

“I think with the growth of high school JV around in the area, I think the midget 18U age level hockey is kind of dying out,” said Morris. “I think it’s huge that teams around the U.P. are coming up and winning state championships.”

In order to have enough players to compete, the Fighting Miners needed to bring in kids from across a large chunk of the western U.P.

“We have kids from all the way from Hurley, Wisconsin, Ironwood, Wakefield, Baraga, L’Anse, Mass City, Greenland, and Ontonagon,” Morris said.

The Fighting Miners had a 20-man roster that included Madden Sommer, Forrest Movrich, Maysen Bergerson, Johnny Olszewski, Colton White, Trius Namowicz, Parker Pisco, Sawyer Plonsky, Kayan Goodbird, Timmy Kin, Cooper Anderson, Aidan Somero, Darius Manos, Delwyn Westeen, J.J. Grasso, Mathias Anderson, Blake Harden, Keyden Goodbird, and Kaira Anderson. Helping Morris on the staff were Deric Morris, Dallas Aho, and Brian Anderson.

With players from such a large area, it would be easy for there to be difficulties with players not getting along with each other, since they don’t spend time away from the rink with each other. However, Morris feels that his group found a way to get along very quickly.

“I think they meshed together very well,” he said. “We’ve had a majority of the group skating together for the past four years now, and I think they really meshed well. They kind of made a lot more friends throughout the course of the past four years, that’s for sure.”

One of the unique things about a team like Ontonagon, is that when hockey season ends, the players go back to competing for their respective schools in other sports.

“A lot of these kids, they go straight from hockey into baseball season, and then they play against each other,” said Morris. “I think it’s great having kids from different sports, and athletes, competing in other sports, too. (It) helps them out a lot too.”

While they compete the rest of the year, Morris is always impressed with how quickly his player gel during the season.

“They might joke around a little bit, but I think it’s all fun and games,” he said. “They know that, come winter hockey season, they’re going to buckle down and be teammates.”

The Fighting Miners played 35 games during the regular season before taking part in the state tournament. Those games included three games against Sault Ste. Marie’s JV squad, whom Ontonagon beat two out of three times, and the Hancock JV team, whom they beat in late February.

Ontonagon was able to draw upon those experiences as they took on the state tournament, especially after opening with a loss to Iron River.

“We knew Iron river, they have a really good team, every skater on their team is fast, and they control the puck well,” said Morris. “We knew that, just because it was a 3-1 loss, it wasn’t going to affect us the rest of the tournament. I think the kids knew that, too, and we just had to come out faster and stronger the next few games.”

After defeating Calumet and Marquette in the next two games, the Fighting Miners drew Marquette again in the semifinals. Beating a team twice in the same tournament is not easy.

“Marquette, they come out super fast on us,” Morris said. “We kind of expected every team to come out really fast, especially at the state playoff level. Our game plan was just to try to shut them down right away and stay on top of them.

“I think our team knew that this was it. This is our last couple games of the year. If we come out and play our game, they knew that good things will happen. I think that’s what they did.”

In the championship game, Ontonagon faced a team in Belle Tire that they had not seen all season. Still, they knew that if they stuck to their game plan, they would be competitive.

“We were able to watch them a couple games during their round robin,” said Morris. “We knew that they were fast, and really talented. We’d have to play our best to keep up with them.”

Belle Tire had scored goals in each of the first two periods to hold a 2-0 lead going into the third, but the Fighting Miners managed to strike four times in the final frame to earn the win.

With the season over, Morris is extremely proud of his team.

“Every one of those kids is a great kid on and off the ice,” he said. “I think they’re all friends, and they’re all friends of mine now. It’s just something I never forget for the rest of my life. That’s for sure.”