Wisconsin boys outlast bigger Northern Michigan team

RONWOOD - Yes, there were 13 lead changes and 10 ties and the game wasn't decided until the final minutes.

But Northern Wisconsin seemed to have the upper hand for the most part and ultimately closed the game on a 9-0 run to beat Northern Michigan 101-91 in Tuesday's Kiwanis Classic Border Bash boys basketball all-star game.

Ironwood's Jake DiGiorgio led Northern Michigan with 18 points and 10 rebounds.

Northern Michigan actually led 56-53 at the half and scored the first six points of the second half. But Wisconsin went on a 16-2 run to take a 69-64 lead with 16:56 left. The game remained close from there, but Wisconsin maintained a slight advantage for the most part as it held its own on the boards against a bigger Michigan team.

"Everyone gets tired in the second half of an all-star game," said Wisconsin coach Duane Gasperini, who led Washburn to the Division 5 state semifinal in March. "I thought they did good job of going to the basket, going to the free throw line. The biggest difference, I thought in the second half, was we stayed even with them on the glass. They hurt us on the glass in the first half. I thought the boys really battled in the second half on the glass and that made the difference, I thought.

"We didn't need to beat them, but we had to stay even."

Bessemer's Lance Berwald pulled Northern Michigan within 92-91 with 3:04 left, but that was the last time any Yooper scored.

Northern Wisconsin's Daniel Baratka of Phillips, the Marawood Conference's MVP, attacked the basket to put Wisconsin up 94-91.

Trailing 95-91, Michigan's Rob Granquist, an All-U.P. Dream Teamer from Class D state champion North Central, stole the ball in a scramble, but he threw it right to Wisconsin's Kent Mathews of Rhinelander. Cody Tomlinson of Washburn got to the line and made two with 51.2 seconds left for a 97-91.

Michigan missed twice on its end and Levi Herrick of Lakeland iced it with a basket.

"They were just hitting shots when they needed to," DiGiorgio said. "Sometimes it just doesn't go your way, but it was an all-star game, it was fun."

Tomlinson, who signed to play at Division II University of Minnesota Duluth, stood out in a field of all-stars. He led all scorers with 26 points and was named MVP.

Tomlinson, who won the slam dunk contest with a 360-degree throwdown, helped his coach, Gasperini, to one more victory.

"I'm sorry to see him leave, but I'm not surprised that he was the MVP," Gasperini said. "He's just a good player. He makes shots. He makes everybody else on the court better because they have to play so much attention to where he's at. He boarded in the first half for us when we needed it. He made some nice passes."

It was a great battle from the start with the competitiveness at a high level.

"It was a great experience," DiGiorgio said. "It's unbelievable all the talent, all across Northern Michigan and Northern Wisconsin. It's a blessing and it was fun to play in."

Colton Lange of Crivitz scored 23 points and Baratka finished with 18.

Wakefield-Marenisco's Kevin Lane made two triples and scored 13 points for Northern Michigan. Tyler Roose of Lake Linden-Hubbell scored all 13 of his points in the first half. All-U.P. Dream Teamer Ben Stasewich of Munising scored 10.

Ryan Bain of Watersmeet scored eight points and Lance Berwald of Bessemer scored four.

Northern Wisconsin - Jeff Lund 8, Levi Herrick 6, Colton Lange 23, Kent Mathews 8, John Sechen 6, Cody Tomlinson 26, Blake Reijo 6, Daniel Baratka 18. FTs: 15-28. Fouls: 14. Fouled out: None. 3-pointers: Lange 3, Tomlinson 3, Reijo 1, Mathews 1, Lund 1, Sechen 1.

Northern Michigan - Jake Thomann 3, Kevin Lane 13, Sam Molnar 7, Rob Granquist 7, Ryan Bain 8, Jake DiGiorgio 18, Lance Berwald 4, Tyler Roose 13, Justin Beauchamp 8, Ben Stasewich 10. FTs: 11-19. Fouls: 23. Fouled out: None. 3-pointers: Roose 3, Lane 2, DiGiorgio 1, Molnar 1, Granquist 1.

Half: Michigan 56-53.