Stars lift Ishpeming to Division 4 state title over Portland St. Patrick

East Lansing — Ishpeming seniors Jenessa Eagle and Mya Hemmer showed why they are two of the best girls basketball players to ever play in the Upper Peninsula.

After being sophomore starters on Ishpeming’s Division 4 state championship team two years ago, Eagle and Hemmer carried Ishpeming to another crown on Saturday, dominating Portland St. Patrick in a 48-28 win at Michigan State’s Breslin Center.

Signed with Michigan Tech, Eagle finished with 19 points and 11 rebounds.

Headed to play volleyball in college for Baylor, Hemmer made everyone around the state wonder if she should keep pursuing basketball, registering 18 points, 17 rebounds, nine blocks and six steals in a monster all-around game.

She also eclipsed 1,000 career points.

“This is my last organized basketball game, which is sad for me,” Hemmer said. “This is my first sport and my first love. I changed to volleyball my freshman year, so it’s kind of a shock I’m already done. I’m going to be honest. I don’t like running. So I’ll stick with volleyball.”

Ispheming head coach Ryan Reichel, who said after the game it was his last as head coach after 14 seasons with the program, said having a day of rest did wonders for his team.

Following a brutal snow storm earlier in the week in the Upper Peninsula, Ishpeming’s quarterfinal game was postponed to Wednesday, and it had to turn around and play its semifinal game against Morenci on Thursday in East Lansing.

Ishpeming gutted out a 37-34 semifinal win over Morenci despite shooting 0 of 22 from 3-point range, and had Friday to recover and prepare for the final.

“Starting two games within a 24-hour span at this high level is not easy,” Reichel said. “They showed that UP grit in the last game on Thursday that we won. (Saturday), you got to see them do it with fresh legs and energy. The defensive pressure was remarkable.”

As for why he’s calling it quits,, Reichel said it’s to spend more time watching his daughter, who plays at Negaunee.

“I’ve got to watch my kid play,” Reichel said while fighting back tears. “It was a hard season because I missed seven games of hers. Her being unselfish, she told me to go get a title. I appreciate her.”

The difference in the game was the second quarter, which saw Ishpeming (25-3) outscore St. Patrick 15-0, turning a 14-13 lead after the first quarter into a 29-13 lead at halftime.

Ishpeming ended up going on a 19-0 run to take a 32-13 lead, with St. Patrick going scoreless for over a 10-minute stretch that spanned the last 18.1 seconds of the first quarter through the first 1:53 of the third quarter.

St. Patrick (23-6) did finally find some footing, going on an 8-0 run to cut Ishpeming’s lead to 36-24 with 6:39 remaining in the game.

But that was as close as St. Patrick would get as Ishpeming finished the game off and celebrated another title on the court while fans serenaded them with chants of “UP Power.”

Many of Ishpeming’s students couldn’t make Thursday’s semifinal because the Mackinac Bridge was closed due to falling ice.

A fan base did manage to make it for Saturday’s final, leaving Ishpeming after midnight and arriving in East Lansing an hour before the game started.

After winning the Division 4 title two years ago, Ishpeming won 18 games in the regular season last year, but was classified in Division 3 and didn’t advance to the Final Four.

Back in Division 4 this year, Ishpeming finished back on top again.

Keith Dunlap is a freelance writer.

This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Ishpeming rolls past Portland St. Patrick for Division 4 girls basketball state championship