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Carson Wonders perfect at line in Iron Mountain boys’ basketball win vs. Ishpeming

Ishpeming’s Dondre Yohe (4) drives to the basket in a game at Iron Mountain on Monday. (Iron Mountain Daily News photo by Adam Niemi)

IRON MOUNTAIN — Carson Wonders was a perfect 17 of 17 at the free throw line as he scored 32 points to lead Iron Mountain past Ishpeming 63-48 in a Mid-Peninsula boys basketball game on Monday.

The Mountaineers (16-2, 8-2 M-PC) were anchored by Carson Wonders’ 32 points and 17 of 17 free-throw shooting. Iron Mountain made 23 of 28 free throws for the game.

“We got off to a poor start up there, so tonight I knew we had to get off to a better start; we did,” Iron Mountain coach Bucky Johnson said, comparing Monday’s game to a Feb. 3 loss at Ishpeming. “That was a big part of the game. In the third quarter, we outscored them by five points. The first part of the game and the first part of the third quarter were big for us.”

Hart Holmgren scored a team-high 25 points for Ishpeming (8-9, 5-5 M-PC).

Hematites coach Anthony Katona said his team’s defense wasn’t as strong as in the Feb. 3 win against Iron Mountain.

“Defensively, I don’t think we were 100 percent there,” Katona said. “We had a couple guys in foul trouble right from the get-go. I had to keep a couple kids in there longer than I normally would. They were a little more tired at the end of the game and that never helps.”

Iron Mountain (16-2, 8-2 M-PC) led from start to finish, though the Hematites made it a close game midway through the second quarter after Iron Mountain flubbed a eight-point lead.

The Mountaineers missed a fast-break layup and Ishpeming scored on back-to-back possessions and added a bucket to come within two points. Ishpeming had the ball in the final seconds of the first half but a tipped outlet pass fell into Iron Mountain’s hands.

“The key was trying to attack the basket and get them in foul trouble since we were short on guys,” Katona said. “I also told them if they’re going to give us open looks, let’s try to take the opportunities and try to capitalize on that.”

The Mountaineers held a 26-24 halftime lead before a third-quarter run extended it to 43-36 after three quarters.

It was a big turnaround for Iron Mountain after falling to the Hematites by a similar final score, 65-47, in Ishpeming.

“Holmgren is a really good player and he showed that tonight,” Johnson said. “We did a good job on the rest of their players — up there we didn’t do that.”

Marcus Johnson’s leadership of the offense helped keep the momentum and rhythm strong. Charlie Gerhard scored 15 points and grabbed nine of Iron Mountain’s 26 rebounds.

“Carson was outstanding, he was in attack mode all night. I thought Charlie Gerhard had his best night of the year as far as points production,” Johnson said. “And Marcus, you know as a freshman, really controlled the tempo of the game and ran the offense, did some really nice things out there for us.”

The Ishpeming JV team won, but no score was available.

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