HOUGHTON — The Huskies know it won’t be easy; being an underdog never is. But it’s a role they’ve become comfortable with down the stretch, and comfort was hard to come by earlier in the season. When expectations around the program were high, Tech (22-16-5) faltered, struggling to ...
HOUGHTON — The numbers are staggering: A 24-7 record, 1.92 goals against average, a 94.6 save percentage and 1,089 saves on the season. That is what Michigan Tech is up against with Notre Dame’s Cale Morris, who leads the nation in record, save percentage and total saves. Morris, a ...
This past winter sports season will go down as one of the most memorable in Copper Country history. In terms of large events, it would be hard to match this one. The Dollar Bay boys basketball team and the Chassell girls basketball teams were picked in the preseason polls to have super ...
SALINE, Mich. — Frank Krieber sees a lot of similarities between the 1981 Michigan Tech hockey team and the 2018 Huskies. “I think this year's (MTU) team is much like our team,”Krieber said. “We sort of came out of nowhere and made a real good run later in the season. They've done the ...
EAST LANSING — Nobody outside of Dollar Bay will pick the Blue Bolts. Not when Southfield Christian has rolled its Class D opponents and is led by two players, Bryce Washington and Harlond Beverly, who will both be on a Division I campus this fall. The Eagles play — and beat — some of the ...
DOLLAR BAY — On any given weekday evening, Mrs. Kentala’s classroom at Dollar Bay may be occupied. Her third graders aren’t in session, but the Blue Bolts are. That is where coach Jesse Kentala and the team watch film, squeezed into little maroon chairs meant for 9-year-olds, with a ...
HOUGHTON — The Huskies know it won’t be easy; being an underdog never is. But it’s a role they’ve become comfortable with down the stretch, and comfort was hard to come by earlier in the season. When expectations around the program were high, Tech (22-16-5) faltered, struggling to ...
EAST LANSING — No one in the U.P. knows what it’s like to face Southfield Christian better than Adam Mercier. He’s game planned against the Eagles’ athleticism and size, watched hours of film and is the last Class D coach to defeat the downstate power. This Friday will mark the ...
HOUGHTON — Maybe the Huskies need a sense of urgency. Maybe the casualty of regular season play is too monotonous, and they prefer the intense stress of playoff hockey. Maybe they just needed the right motivation to reach their full potential. “I think everyone understands that if we ...
ESCANABA — Two key things happened before Tuesday’s quarterfinal between Dollar Bay and Cedarville. First, Dollar Bay coach Jesse Kentala saw the swagger, bounce and confidence in the body language of Devin Schmitz as he went through pregame warmups. The school’s all-time leading ...
ESCANABA — After Dollar Bay’s win over Rapid River in the regional semifinals, I wrote that despite appearances, Devin Schmitz was a mere mortal. I was wrong. Us mortals are warm-blooded, and whatever is running through Devin Schmitz’s veins is ice cold. How else do you explain his ...
MARQUETTE — It is rare in sports that a team wins a national title before ever winning a state championship, but that has been the experience of Team Copper Country 18U Tier 2. Team CC has played for the Tier 2 state championship each of the past three seasons and had all manners of issues ...
PETOSKEY — Iron Mountain fell to Maple City Glen Lake in the Class C state quarterfinal in a 66-49 loss on Tuesday. The Mountaineers (23-2) fell to a 21-5 deficit just after midway through the first quarter. They avenged themselves when Foster Wonders knocked down a jumper from the right ...
DOLLAR BAY — The Dollar Bay Blue Bolts make no reservations about it; they want Southfield Christian. The No. 1 ranked team who downstate pundits claim as “the surest thing to win a state title” and features two players — Bryce Washington and Harlond Beverly — with Division I ...
DOLLAR BAY — There are no secrets when it comes to Dollar Bay basketball. Each opponent knows what the Blue Bolts do, and how they do it. They don’t change their offense or defense in nearly any situation. Their shooters shoot, their scorers score and their facilitators facilitate. It’s ...
It was a short moment when Bucky Johnson leaned back in his chair in the relaxed pose of an overworked man on vacation. Hands clasped behind his head, legs stretched and feet crossed. He eyed the trophies: a Mid-Peninsula Conference championship, district championship and regional ...
GRAND RAPIDS — When the reality of defeat settled in, the tears flowed as expected — that’s what happens when careers and seasons end for high school athletes. But with their runner-up medals around their necks, each of the Chassell Panthers managed to force a smile as they posed for ...
MARQUETTE — The best writers in the world couldn’t have composed a better storyline. It had all the pieces of a classic. There was a gripping plot: Two rival schools, located just 98 miles apart playing for a conference title and a bid into the NCAA tournament. There were the necessary ...
HOUGHTON — Like a pot with a lid, the Michigan Tech Huskies have had something brewing below the surface all season. There all along, just not visible to outsiders. Sometimes, if you got close enough, one might hear a little something, or get a peek inside. But now, the lid is off, and the ...
GRAND RAPIDS — The Chassell Panthers are playing for a state title. Read it again. Say it out loud. If it seems unfathomable, don’t feel bad, even Brandi Hainault is still processing her school’s history-making season. “It’s crazy cause I feel like it hasn’t set in yet,” she ...