UPSSA Basketball Polls

(1st-place votes listed in parentheses)

BOYS

Class ABC W-L Pts Pvs

1. Norway (6) 10-0 30 2

2. Marquette 9-1 24 3

3. Negaunee 7-2 15 1

(tie) Iron Mountain 9-1 15 5

5. Sault Ste. Marie 7-0 3 —

(tie) Gladstone 6-2 3 4

Class D W-L Pts Pvs

1. North Central (6) 9-0 30 1

2. Bark River-Harris 9-1 24 2

3. Brimley 7-3 11 3

4. Carney-Nadeau 6-3 10 T4

5. Ewen-Trout Creek 6-4 6 T4

Others receiving votes: Pickford (6-3) 4, Dollar Bay (5-2) 2, Jeffers (7-3) 1, Cedarville (6-2) 1

GIRLS

Class ABC W-L Pts Pvs

1. Houghton (3) 11-0 26 1

2. Munising (1) 10-0 21 T2

3. Norway (2) 10-0 20 T2

4. Marquette 10-1 16 4

5. St. Ignace 9-1 4 5

Others receiving votes: Ishpeming (9-1) 2, Sault Ste. Marie (7-3) 1

Class D W-L Pts Pvs

1. Forest Park (5) 8-2 29 T1

2. Cedarville (1) 9-1 22 3

3. Baraga 8-2 13 T1

4. Jeffers 6-4 11 T5

5. Engadine 7-2 8 4

Others receiving votes: Chassell (7-2) 5, Pickford (8-3) 2

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MARQUETTE — Even when the opposition is among the best in the Upper Peninsula, losing can’t help your position in the polls.

That’s what the Negaunee boys and Baraga girls found out today after the U.P. Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association came out with its weekly basketball polls.

Former No. 1 Negaunee (7-2) lost twice last week to tumble into a tie for third place in the Class ABC boys poll. That was even though the opposition was new No. 1 Norway (10-0) and No. 2 Marquette (9-1).

The Knights were unanimously voted to the top spot, while Marquette received every second-place vote. Iron Mountain (9-1) moved up from fifth to tie the Miners for third.

Former Class D girls co-No. 1 Baraga (8-2) split a pair of games last week, beating Republic-Michigamme and losing to former No. 5 Jeffers.

That was enough to knock the Vikings down to third behind near-unanimous No. 1 Forest Park (8-2), which had been tied with Baraga last week, and No. 2 Cedarville (9-1).

The North Central (9-0) boys in Class D and Houghton (11-0) girls in Class ABC remained at the top of their standings.

The Jets, two-time defending Class D boys state champions, are gunning for their 65th consecutive victory tonight when they host Mid Peninsula.

A win in that game ties the state’s all-time record held by the Chassell teams of 1956-58. A win also gets them a shot at setting the record at 66 in a row when NC entertains Class D No. 2 Bark River Harris (9-1) on Friday night.

Three area teams earned mention in the Class ABC girls poll — Munising (10-0) pulled out of a tie for second with Norway and moved into second alone, Marquette (10-1) remained fourth and Ishpeming (9-1) is still the first team out of the top five.

In state Associated Press rankings also released today, the Negaunee boys slipped from third to 10th in Class C.

On the girls side, Baraga moved into the top 10 in 10th in Class D, while Munising missed the top 10 by eight votes in Class C and Marquette missed the top 10 by 11 votes in Class A.

Information compiled by Journal Sports Editor Steve Brownlee. His email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.