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ISHPEMING — Iron Mountain capped off its season as an Upper Peninsula girls tennis champion after claiming the Division 2 title at Westwood High School on Thursday afternoon.

The Mountaineers won three flights — at No. 2 singles and Nos. 2 and 3 doubles — earning them 17 points.

Defending champion West Iron County finished as runner-up with 14 points, Ironwood and Ishpeming tied for third with 7 points apiece, while Munising had 5, Gwinn 4 and Norway didn’t score.

Gwinn's Lily Kerry returns a volley in the No. 1 singles finals against West Iron County's Kali Applin at the MHSAA Upper Peninsula Finals in Division 2 girls tennis played at Westwood High School in Ishpeming on Thursday. (Journal photo by Travis Nelson)

“First and foremost, I’m just extremely proud of these girls,” IM coach Marcus Celello said. “Last year we got second place and we were one match away from winning it, so we knew what it took to be close.

“But (the) first day of practice, we said that was the ceiling, that was our potential that nothing was going to be given to us.”

Amongst area teams, Ishpeming captured a championship at No. 4 singles when Emily DeMarois defeated IM’s Elle Lofholm 6-1, 6-2 in the title match.

DeMarois started the year playing doubles, and it took a significant adjustment to make the move to singles and eventually get the Hematites’ only championship on Thursday.

“It actually took a lot because I didn’t play singles until about halfway through the season,” DeMarois said. “So to come out here, especially in this heat, it’s crazy. It took a lot of mental power and just not beating myself the whole time.”

Iron Mountain's Aziza Burgoon takes in the activity around her during the No. 2 singles championship match at the MHSAA Upper Peninsula Finals in Division 2 girls tennis played at Westwood High School in Ishpeming on Thursday. (Journal photo by Travis Nelson)

Both Gwinn and Munising had a finalist.

The Modeltowners’ Lily Kerry fell in the No. 1 singles final after winning the first set as West Iron County’s Kali Applin prevailed, 4-6, 6-1, 6-1.

The Mustangs’ Jenna Matson had a 4-2 lead in her first set of the finals against WIC’s Brynlee Nodurft in No. 3 singles, but the Wykons’ player prevailed, 6-4, 6-2.

The meet came down to a trio of matches between Iron Mountain and West Iron County in the finals. In each match, Iron Mountain won, which was the key to clinching the team title.

“We knew it could very well come down to a situation like this, us and West Iron in a couple of finals, and whoever pulls away in those will come out on top,” Celello said. “Lo and behold, that’s essentially what happened. We were prepared for the possibility and we just didn’t let it affect us mentally, and we just played our game and took care of business.”

West Iron County's Brynlee Nodurft serves to Munising's Jenna Matson in the No. 3 singles championship match at the MHSAA Upper Peninsula Finals in Division 2 girls tennis played at Westwood High School in Ishpeming on Thursday. (Journal photo by Travis Nelson)

For the Mountaineers, Aziza Burgoon had to come back against WIC’s Aurora Dahl after losing the first set to win No. 2 singles, 5-7, 6-2, 6-2 in a long match. She was joined by her waiting teammates on the court for a celebration afterward.

“The first set I was pretty nervous,” Burgoon said. “Normally, I’m not a very nervous person, but I guess emotions got to me and I dropped the first set.

“Then I went over and talked to my coaches and they said, ‘Leave it all out there and just have fun’, and that’s when I really started playing well. Just having fun, and I won the second set, and the third set I was nervous coming back a little bit.”

Danika Juul and Rediet Husing won No. 2 doubles for IM, knocking off the Wykons’ Lillie Schmutzler and Callista Bortolameolli in their final, 6-2, 6-3.

“It feels really, really good,” Juul said. “When we play them, it’s always a really good match, and it feels good that we were able to pull through at the end.”

West Iron County's Kali Applin follows through on a shot during the No. 1 singles finals at the MHSAA Upper Peninsula Finals in Division 2 girls tennis played at Westwood High School in Ishpeming on Thursday. (Journal photo by Travis Nelson)

The tandem’s motto for the season was “smarter not harder” on their shots, and it led to a run at the title on the year’s biggest stage.

“Point by point, too, that was key for us,” Husing said.

Anika Cameron and Kensie St. John captured No. 3 doubles for IM with a 6-3, 6-3 win over WIC’s Autumn Smith and Seanna Stine in the championship match.

Elsewhere, Applin had to bounce back after dropping the first set to win No. 1 singles over Kerry. After taking home the No. 2 singles title last year, it was an emotional end to Applin’s career with a victory.

“I feel really good, it was a long match but I feel good,” Applin said. “Just knowing that I had another chance to get it back, there’s always a second set, and if I win that, there’s always a third set that I can win. It feels good to win for the school.”

The Wykons also took home the No. 3 singles crown with Nodurft’s win over Matson.

“It was really my mental game,” Nodurft said. “I was down 4-1 in the first set and that was really hard for me, and I’m just glad I came back. It was really difficult and I’ve never played her, so it was really hard because I didn’t know how she played. So I guess I was just learning her game and how to mix with that.”

Ironwood won the remaining flights, getting victories in Nos. 1 and 4 doubles. Leilah Anderson and Ella Darrow defeated IM’s Bella Brown and Anja Kleiman 6-1, 6-2 in the No. 1 finale. The Red Devils’ No. 4 pair of Sarah Lauzon and Yoyo Sin knocked off another Mountaineers team, Hailey Greenleaf and Mia Vedin, 2-6, 7-6 (7-3), 6-2 to get Ironwood a share of third place.

Iron Mountain didn’t have to face nearly as much adversity as it did prior to the championships, but the days that didn’t go right for them helped make this moment.

“It took lots of ups and downs,” Celello said. “There were days where we lost 0-8, 1-7 sometimes against some high-quality opponents. You just can’t let that affect you mentally.

“What I’ve been preaching to the girls is that tennis is already 60% mental, 40% physical. If we let it get to more of a mental game than it already is, we’re not going to be successful.

“Our message before we all went out to start (Thursday) was that we just had to take it point by point.”

Travis Nelson can be reached by email at tnelson@miningjournal.net.