Breaking News
Prep Sports

Area seniors nab nearly half of the All-Upper Peninsula boys basketball Division 1-3 honors

By Steve Brownlee 4 min read

MARQUETTE -- Seven Marquette County players took nearly half of the 15 spots on the All-Upper Peninsula Divisions 1-3 First and Second teams after voting took place at the Holiday Inn of Marquette on Tuesday.

Balloting was conducted by members of the U.P. Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association at their annual basketball meeting.

All seven area players are seniors, showing the importance of experience in playing the game well. In fact, only three of the 15 spots on these two honor squads weren't occupied by seniors.

The D 1-3 First Team includes Westwood's Zach Beckman and Marquette's Jonas Bicik.

Making the Second Team are the Redmen's Jordan DeMay and David Eberhard, Westwood's Marcus Boase, Negaunee's Gerald Johnson and Ishpeming's Jayce Kipling.

Bicik, an exchange student from Prague in the Czech Republic, used his 6-foot-5 height to become a great defensive player while still scoring at a 16.8-point-per-game pace and pulling down five rebounds and two steals per game.

"He's an outstanding ball handler, he was a guard over in Europe," MSHS head coach Brad Nelson told an online forum in February. "I mean, he has that skill set which makes it really hard for teams, teaching him the post work and the footwork down on the blocks is something that's an ongoing process because he didn't really have to over in Europe."

He scored 22 points in a game against Negaunee and 21 in MSHS' triple-overtime heartbreaking loss to Menominee.

Beckman scored at a 14.2 ppg mean, adding in 6 rebounds, 3 assists and 1.9 steals per game while making 50 percent on all field goal attempts.

He made the West PAC Dream Team and Mid-Peninsula Conference First Team this year.

As a junior, he was All-U.P. Second Team in D 1-3 along with West PAC First Team and M-PC Second Team.

This season, he pumped in 31 points, eight rebounds, four assists and four steals in a win over Hancock, then had four more games scoring in the 20s that included contests against Marquette, Negaunee and Jeffers in the district championship.

DeMay was a 6-2 senior who carried a big scoring load for Marquette for most of the season and finished at 11 ppg, 6.5 rebounds and three steals. He was on the GNC's Second Team.

Eberhard, a 6-foot senior, made the GNC First Team and with a late rush bumped his scoring average to 11.7 ppg to go with 5 rebounds. He scored 23 points vs. Gladstone and 20 against Sault Ste. Marie down the stretch in the regular season.

Johnson, who sustained injuries to both his shoulders on the Miners' football team in the fall, was still dealing with that during basketball that limited his scoring to 11.5 ppg as he also pulled down 5 rebounds a game.

"He's still a great leader and he's like having a coach on the floor," NHS head man Dan Waterman said.

He made the M-PC First Team and Defensive Team as a senior.

Kipling, a 6-3 forward who made the M-PC First Team, averaged 13.2 ppg, 6.4 rebounds and 1.7 blocked shots a contest.

He produced in some key situations, such as 18 points, six rebounds and four blocks vs. Jeffers; 17 points and nine rebounds against Iron Mountain; along with 14 points and eight rebounds vs. Negaunee.

Boase, a three-year varsity player at Westwood, was named Defensive Player of the Year in both the West PAC and M-PC as he averaged 2.9 steals, 3 rebounds, 3 assists and 5 ppg, making 50 percent of his field goals.

He was also West PAC First Team in the Iron Division and M-PC honorable mention, adding in a Second Team berth in the West PAC when he was a junior.

This season, he hit a scoring high of 20 points in a game vs. Calumet, and maybe even more impressively, had nine assists, seven rebounds, three steals and nine points in another game against IM.

Steve Brownlee can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 252. His email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.

Starting at /week.