Midgets upset No. 3 Devils

HURLEY - Part of Hurley's 0-5 start to the season was a 27-point loss at rival Ironwood.

Part of the Midgets' turnaround - and what now is a six-game winning streak - is a 53-37 victory over Ironwood Tuesday night.

The Midgets upset Ironwood, tied for third in the U.P. Class ABC poll, with a monster third quarter, holding the Red Devils to just three points and scoring 19 themselves.

"What a great win for us," Hurley coach Mike Swartz said. "We got down seven (at the half), we didn't hang our heads. We tightened up, rose up and played a great second half. ... I'm proud of the guys, we had so much effort tonight. I thought the guys were hungry tonight and they were terrific."

The Red Devils were once again shorthanded without Matt Dary inside, but they still led 22-15 at the half before struggling to find the basket the rest of the game.

"I think it comes down to they outhustled us," Ironwood coach Pete Lewinski said. "Very disappointed in our performance, but give Hurley credit, they outworked us, they deserved to win."

The Midgets played with a lot of energy on defense in the third quarter and scored the first 15 points of the period and ended up outscoring Ironwood 19-3 for a 34-25 advantage.

Ironwood's guards rushed against the pressure and never really looked for leading scorer Jacob DiGiorgio inside.

"Our half-court trap worked very well. We got some easy baskets and kind of got them rattled a little bit and swung momentum in our favor," Swartz said. "That was a huge turning point for us. I told the guys at halftime the first three minutes are so critical. If we get down 10, 12, we're going to be in trouble. But we came out guns blazing and kept chipping away, chipping away and next thing you know we're up and playing with a lot of confidence now."

Swartz didn't even decide to go with the half-court trap until a couple of minutes before halftime was over. And then, he planned on having a short leash with it if it didn't work.

"I thought, let's just try it for one possession and see what happens," Swartz said. "Then we got a turnover and OK, let's keep going with it. We got them off their game a little bit and we stuck with it.

"That kind of defense, it's taxing. If you're doing it right, it's going to be hard to stay on the floor for three, four minutes. I thought Luke (Marczak) came in and gave us good minutes, Colton Dowd, Kohl Manzanares. They all stepped up."

Keying the third quarter on the offensive side was Jake Tenlen, who scored 11 points.

His 3-pointer tied it at 22 with 4:08 left. James Sukanen, who led Hurley with 21 points, scored underneath to give the Midgets their first lead since midway through the first quarter.

Jacob Saari's only bucket of the game gave Hurley a 26-22 advantage.

Tenlen then got back-to-back layups to put the Midgets ahead 30-22.

Tenlen hasn't had much luck making shots this year. He sure picked a good game to start for the Midgets.

"Nothing was falling before this, and they started to fall tonight," Tenlen said. "I don't know. Something clicked and I was feeling it."

He didn't play in the first meeting with Ironwood as the Midgets battled injuries to him and Maki that coincided with that 0-5 start.

"It was tough, a lot of adversity," Tenlen said. "Very frustrating, very frustrating start. Now this is our sixth one in a row and we're finally getting going. We're picking it up at the right time."

Denver Sharrow finally broke Ironwood's scoring drought with a triple in the corner with 1:33 left. But Tenlen scored the final four points of the quarter to give Hurley the nine-point advantage, 34-25, going into the fourth.

"Wow, he had a great third quarter," Swartz said of Tenlen. "Good for him to step up in a game like this, a senior. He really led the charge for us tonight, with his defense."

Luke Hewitt gave Ironwood some life early in the fourth, scoring the first five points of the quarter. Hurley called timeout and the ball bounced Hurley's way, literally, after that.

Mitchell Maki's 3 bounced three times before falling to stop the Ironwood run and make it 37-30 Hurley.

"We were all holding our breath, and as soon as it went in, we looked at the crowd and they were all pumped up," Maki said.

"He hit some big 3s at some really critical points in the game," Swartz said. "When we were starting to teeter again, he came down and stuck another one."

Right after that, Sharrow's 3 rimmed out.

After Ironwood had pulled within four to start the fourth, the Midgets went on a 10-0 run.

"James was solid underneath; I thought he played well, taking it to the basket, getting to the free throw line, 12 times, again," Swartz said.

"I thought James Sukanen played one of his best games that I've seen him play," Lewinski said. "He just worked and hustled. He was active, around the ball, posting up. They had Maki and Tenlen complementing him, but Sukanen set the tone."

Jake DiGiorgio led Ironwood with 16 points.

Tuesday's game tighened the race in the East Division. Ironwood now leads Bessemer by just a game in the loss column and the Midgets by two games.

Hurley (11-9, 10-4) goes to Bessemer Monday. Ironwood (14-2, 11-2) hosts Bessemer, another big rival, Friday.

"We've got to turn it around for Friday. Bessemer's a tough team, too," Lewinski said. "We have some soul searching to do."

Hurley - Jake Tenlen 14, Kohl Manzanares 2, L.J. Kutz 2, James Sukanen 21, Mitchell Maki 12, Jake Saari 2. FTs: 14-19. Fouls: 10. Fouled out: None. 3-pointers: Maki 4, Tenlen 1.

Ironwood - Denver Sharrow 6, Luke Hewitt 8, Colin Clausen 5, Jake DiGiorgio 16, Jared Sobolewski 2. FTs: 6-9. Fouls: 16. Fouled out: None. 3-pointers: Hewitt 2, Sharrow 1, Clausen 1, DiGiorgio 1.

Ironwood 12 22 25 37

Hurley 8 15 34 53