Ishpeming’s A.J. Prosser, right, goes up for a short jump shot over a St. Ignace defender during their MHSAA Division 3 regional championship boys basketball game played at Gladstone High School on Wednesday. (Photo courtesy Ashley Ettenhofer)

GLADSTONE — Press and run.

That’s what St. Ignace basketball teams like to do.

The Saints did plenty of that at Gladstone High School on Wednesday night as they rolled past Ishpeming 62-38 in an MHSAA Division 3 boys basketball regional final.

This marked the first regional title since 2001 for the Saints, who face Traverse City St. Francis (22-4) in a state quarterfinal contest at 7 p.m. Tuesday in Gaylord. The Hematites finished 14-11.

“I think they will be a good challenge for us, but we’re capable,” said Saints’ junior guard Jonathan Ingalls, who scored 26 points, about St. Francis.

“We want to play fast, and I don’t think they were ready for our pressure,” he added about Ishpeming. “They play great defense, but we boxed out pretty well.”

St. Ignace led 14-5 after the first quarter, then extended its lead to 22-7 on three free throws by senior guard Kevin Frazier with 4:47 left in the opening half.

IHS junior guard Hunter Smith then sank a jump shot from inside the free throw circle.

The Saints, however, responded with 10 unanswered points and gained a 32-9 cushion on a jumper from the lane by senior forward Tyrel Matson with 1:40 remaining in the half.

A 10-foot jumper by Smith brought the Hematites within 32-13 moments before the intermission.

St. Ignace then opened the third quarter with an 8-0 run, extending its lead to 40-13 on a pair of gifters by junior forward Nicholas Halberg.

The Saints upped it to 53-22 by the end of the period and went up as much as 62-28 on a jumper from the boulevard by junior forward Ethan McLean midway through the fourth.

“In the first half and the third quarter, we played pretty well,” said Saints’ coach Doug Ingalls, a 1986 Gladstone High School graduate. “It’s always a great thing when you’re still playing in mid to late March. It feels great to be back home. It was fun to see a lot of former teammates and Gladstone fans.”

Jon Ingalls collected nine rebounds and six assists to go with his 26 points, while McLean added 10 points. Halberg tallied nine points and 16 boards as Frazier finished with nine points and three steals and Matson had eight points and 10 rebounds.

Senior forward A.J. Prosser led Ishpeming with eight points and sophomore forward Caden Luoma contributed seven.

“We saw how fast they were on film,” Ishpeming coach Chris Magnuson said. “It’s hard to simulate that in practice.

“I think we were a little nervous at first. When you go down by that much, kids have to be reminded to take it one possession at a time. It’s organized chaos. You have to be able to hang with them.

“We didn’t go strong to the hole tonight, but grew a lot during the season. We were 7-10 (win-loss record) at one point and got to the regional finals. That’s a good job by our kids.”

The Hematites committed 17 turnovers. The Saints had 15 miscues and sank 16 of 20 free throws.