REPUBLIC — The Republic-Michigamme boys basketball team faced one of its stiffest tests of the season on Friday and got to see what the Upper Peninsula elite is like.

Jeffers scored a 100-27 victory at the Hawks’ gym as the Jets improved to 18-1 and were the No. 5 team last week in the U.P. Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association poll. They’re not in the Division 4 poll, but instead are in the rankings for Divisions 1-3 teams.

Jeffers featured rather balanced scoring with Levi Frahm leading the way with just 20 points, a seemingly low number for a team hitting the “century.” That’s because he was closely followed by Damien Heikkinen with 18, Lincoln Just 17, Landon Larson 15 and Malaki Mattila 13. Even the Jets who didn’t reach double figures were close as Chase Kinnunen had nine and Ian Nordstrom eight.

R-M, which lost its ninth straight to fall to 3-15, was led by John Wheeler with 13 points as he made five baskets and was 3 of 4 at the free throw line. Teammate Kenneth Ambuehl added seven points, hitting the Hawks’ only 3-pointer.

Meanwhile, Jeffers sank 15 of those long-range puppies, led by Heikkinen with five, Frahm with four and Just with three.

The Jets, who most recently blitzed U.P. Division 4 vote-getter Lake Linden-Hubbell by 24 points, have also defeated Westwood by nine points, Calumet by 51, Hancock by 35 and taken down Houghton twice. In fact, their only loss has been to Ishpeming, 75-72, on Dec. 27.

On Friday, Jeffers raced to a 24-6 lead after one quarter, extending it to 52-14 by halftime and 80-20 at the end of the third quarter. While Wheeler scored 10 of his 13 points in the middle two quarters, Ambuehl complemented him, getting all seven of his points in the first and fourth quarters.

Though Tripp Lofaro didn’t score for the Hawks, he did pull down a team-high six rebounds, while Wheeler had two blocked shots, two rebounds and a steal.

R-M enters the final two weeks of the regular season with two home games this week, hosting Chassell at 6 p.m. today and Big Bay de Noc at 6 p.m. Friday.

Information compiled by Journal Sports Editor Steve Brownlee. His email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.