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Newberry Indians slow Iron Mountain Mountaineers for a half before falling in Class C boys basketball regional semifinal

Iron Mountain’s Carson Wonders shoots over Newberry’s Ryan Archer during the Class C regional semifinal game played in Escanaba on Monday. (Iron Mountain Daily News photo by Adam Niemi)

ESCANABA — The Iron Mountain boys found their shooting touch in the second half Monday night, posting a 66-37 basketball triumph over Newberry in a Class C regional semifinal game.

Iron Mountain scored 44 points following intermission after struggling from the floor for much of the first half.

“In the first half, we were kind of feeling each other out,” Mountaineers’ coach Harvey Johnson said. “We had good shots, but they weren’t going down.”

The victory enables Iron Mountain (20-3) to return to Escanaba High School for the 7 p.m. Wednesday championship game against Negaunee (19-4). Newberry finished 14-9 in its first regional appearance since 1998.

IM senior forward Carson Wonders achieved a major milestone on Monday, scoring 24 points to set the school career scoring record with 1,448.

“I don’t think any of us shot that good in the first half,” he said. “I guess we were a little anxious. This is a quick turnaround from Friday (a 53-36 victory over Westwood). You win your district, then you have two practices and a game. We (both teams) didn’t know each other that well, which makes it more fun and easier to play your game.”

The Mountaineers led 22-16 at halftime, then scored the first five points of the third quarter.

After sophomore forward Jaden Vincenzi gave the Mountaineers a 27-16 cushion on a 23-foot jump shot from the right wing, senior forward John Paramski drew the Indians within 27-19 on a jumper from top of the key 90 seconds into the period.

Senior forward Ryan Archer sank an 18-foot jumper a minute later, trimming Newberry’s deficit to 27-21.

The Indians were still within 32-25 midway through the third, but the Mountaineers outscored Newberry 15-4 through the remainder of that stanza for a 47-30 advantage going into the fourth.

“They started pressing in the second quarter,” Newberry coach Jim Depew said. “We didn’t play our game and they started hitting some shots. We gave them too many open looks and second-chance points.”

Iron Mountain opened the fourth by adding six points to its cushion, taking an insurmountable 53-30 advantage on a layup by freshman guard Marcus Johnson.

Newberry led 11-9 after the first quarter, but neither team scored in the first 2 1/2 minutes of the second.

IM then began an 11-0 run on a jumper from the right corner by senior guard Riley Caudell. Wonders finished the run with a 21-foot jumper from the left wing with 2:14 left in the half, forcing Newberry to call timeout.

The Indians pulled within 22-16 on a jumper from top of the key by junior forward George Sevarns 30 seconds before halftime, but the Mountaineers then broke it open in the third.

“We had an excellent third quarter,” Johnson said. “All five of our starters scored and finally the lid came off the basket. They (Newberry) were pretty deliberate on offense. But anytime you hold a team to 16 points for a half, you must be doing something right.

“Carson went to the basket, hit some layups and some 3s. Once the lid came off, we were fine.”

Johnson added 17 points for the Mountaineers, who committed eight turnovers.

Paramski finished with 12 points for Newberry, which had 14 miscues.

“We got our big guys in foul trouble in the second quarter, which hurt us,” Depew said. “They took control at that point and it carried into the second half.

“We did what we were supposed to do this year. We played our best basketball at the end of the season.”

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