Ishpeming’s Dondre Yohe, right, brings the ball into the offensive zone pursued by Gwinn’s Noah Wixtrom Wednesday night at Gwinn High School. (Journal photo by Rachel Oakley)

GWINN — The Ishpeming High School boys basketball team held on in a back-and-forth battle to eliminate Gwinn on their homecourt 70-67 in a Class C district tournament semifinal game played Wednesday evening.

Ishpeming head coach Anthony Katona said his team knew heading in that the game would come down to battles in the paint.

“We wanted to outwork them and keep them off the rebounds,” Katona said. “We couldn’t win in that department fully, but we did enough to come out with the victory.

“It’s always tough against their kids who crash the boards hard, but our guys worked hard and got to the loose balls enough times to win.”

Gwinn senior Reed Wiedenhoefer helped the Modeltowners outrebound Ishpeming 45-22, and Wiedenhoefer’s presence was known throughout the game.

But it was the Hematites (9-12) who got off to the hot start, grabbing a seven-point lead twice in the first half. The Modeltowners (7-14) kept up with the visitors to make it a four-point game in the closing seconds of the half.

With time winding down, Gwinn’s Austin Forbes threw up a half-court shot, which sank through the basket as the buzzer sounded to make it a one-point game at the half, 31-30 in favor of Ishpeming.

“We’ve had teams hit us like that, and I told our guys we were owed one,” Gwinn head coach Jim Finkbeiner said. “It gave our guys a lift and everyone started playing with momentum.”

The Modeltowners opened the second half with a 5-0 run to go up 35-31.

But the Hematites continued trading baskets in the frame, and with 2:20 left in the quarter Gavin Sundberg hit a jumper to put his team ahead, 36-35.

From that point on, Gwinn only scored one basket the rest of the quarter as the 9-2 Ishpeming run put the Hematites in front 45-37 after three.

“We started missing easy shots and making mistakes on inbounds plays,” Finkbeiner said. “Shots were going in and out when we could get them to the basket.

“When it’s a two-point game, those breaks can be the difference.”

Ishpeming’s offense continued its surge in the fourth quarter, capitalizing on a number of Gwinn’s turnovers to stretch the lead to as many as 10 points.

“We started getting back into our rhythm,” Katona said. “Gwinn made a few turnovers to get us back…. We kept our composure, ran a few plays and got some open looks which we knocked down to get back into the game.”

The Modeltowners had one more rally left in them, pulling to within one possession in the closing moments. But Gwinn couldn’t get enough defensive stops to complete the comeback.

Hart Holmgren led the Hematites with 22 points, Sundberg racked up 13 and Jaden Tucker scored 11.

The Modeltowners had three players score in double digits — including Reed Wiedenhoefer had 26, Tucker Taylor 19 and Jordan Stein 11.

The Hematites face their coach’s alma mater, Negaunee, in the 7 p.m. Friday district title game in Gwinn.

“It’s going to be a tough game,” Katona said. “We know that from playing them twice this year.

“We gave them a tough match last time, and I told our guys the pressure is on us to get the victory. Everyone’s expecting Negaunee to win, so we’ll come here and play our game looking to have fun and get the win.”

Ray Bressette can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 251. His email address is rbressette@miningjournal.net.