It was whether Hematites senior Jenna Maki was going to outscore Fowler all by herself.

In a spectacular showing, Maki finished with 30 points in Ishpeming’s 75-40 win as the Hematites did reach Saturday morning’s state championship game.

At halftime, Maki had 22 points to Fowler’s 19 as Ishpeming held a 42-19 lead.

By the end of third quarter, it was Maki 29, Fowler 27, as Ishpeming continued to roll and took a 60-27 lead to the fourth.

Starter Mya Hemmer yells in ecstasy with the rest of the Ishpeming bench as they celebrate the Hematites’ 75-40 win over Fowler in an MHSAA Division 4 state semifinal girls basketball game played at Michigan State University’s Breslin Center in East Lansing on Thursday. (Photo courtesy Keith Dunlap)

Then Maki sat for most of the fourth quarter, ending up 11 of 22 from the field and 7 of 11 from the free-throw line.

With her last free throw, Maki became the school’s all-time leading scorer, according to Ishpeming head coach Ryan Reichel.

“Obviously watching film and breaking down what they do as a defense and their whole game, we all did that together as a team,” Maki said. “I just tried to play as hard as a I could to break through.”

Maki has been a starter for the Hematites since she was a freshman, and during most of those years, she has usually been looked upon to shoulder the load offensively.

But Reichel said Maki made an important transformation after last season ended.

“She changed as a player,” Reichel said. “She went from a ‘me’ player to a ‘we’ player over this past summer. We’re not in this position without her change as an athlete. She started on varsity all four years and we’ve often had to look to her to do everything. She went from wanting to score 1,000 points to wanting to play in the Breslin Center.”

Fowler head coach Nathan Goerge, who has coached five straight teams to the semifinals and has faced plenty of great players around the state, was impressed by Maki.

“(Maki) is a special player and we knew it from watching film,” Goerge said. “We had a difficult time containing her. Our help defense struggled a little bit. When you go up against someone like that, it’s usually a recipe for disaster.”

Maki also was a part of Ishpeming’s full-court pressure defense that was a nightmare when Fowler had the ball.

The Hematites forced a whopping 34 turnovers by Fowler, including 19 in the first half.

Now Maki and the rest of the Ishpeming seniors will suit up for their school one more time at 10 a.m. against Kingston and attempt to deliver the Hematites (27-1) their first state title and the perfect punctuation to a dream season.

Winning a state championship would be the culmination of what the senior class has dreamt about doing ever since those players started playing together in kindergarten.

“We have been talking about this for so long,” Maki said. “It doesn’t really feel too real yet. I don’t really know what to say about it yet. It’s really cool and amazing that we’ve gotten this far.”

Fans who couldn’t make the long trip downstate can watch the game on TV on Bally Sports Detroit, or listen to it on the Hematites’ home radio station, WRUP 98.3 FM.

Keith Dunlap also writes for the Michigan High School Athletic Association and several media and social media websites, and is a past sports writer for the Oakland Press. He wrote stories for The Mining Journal a year ago when the Munising High School boys basketball team played in the MHSAA Division 4 semifinals and finals in East Lansing.