Ishpeming's Kadie Kaukola, right, pressures Fowler ballhandler Katie Spicer during their MHSAA Division 4 state semifinal girls basketball game played at Michigan State University’s Breslin Center in East Lansing on Thursday. (Photo courtesy Cara Kamps)

EAST LANSING — Ishpeming head girls basketball coach Ryan Reichel has made it a point all season to link this current group of players to past players who laid the initial foundation for the Hematites’ program.

For the first time in school history at 10 a.m. today, the Hematites will play for a state title when they meet Kingston in the MHSAA Division 4 championship game at Michigan State University’s Breslin Center.

The game will be shown live on Bally Sports Detroit and broadcast on area radio station WRUP 98.3 FM, but it’s a good bet a big chunk of Ishpeming’s population will be in East Lansing.

It’s been a moment 50 years in the making for the Hematites since the last time they won a regional title in 1974, and as he has all year, Reichel wasn’t shy about remembering what previous players who came through the program have done for the current team after a 75-40 win over Fowler in Thursday’s semifinals, also played at Breslin.

“It’s been 50 years since we established girls basketball at our school,” Reichel said. “It was 50 years since we had a regional title. We were able to capitalize.

“We are representing a bunch of trailblazing ladies. You don’t get a good future without a good past. These girls are now setting a standard for what we want to be over the next handful of years.”

Standing in the way of history is Kingston, a school located in the Thumb region of the Lower Peninsula and enters with an identical 27-1 record to Ishpeming following its own dominating 56-33 win in the other semifinal over Frankfort.

The Cardinals are also similar to the Hematites in that they are a roster dominated by seniors and sophomores, they have also competed against and defeated bigger schools this season and also are competing in their first state championship game.

Kingston has a good outside shooter in senior Delaney St. George, who had made 84 shots from 3-point range and was averaging 16.2 points per game going into the semifinals.

Sophomore Molly Walker (13 ppg) is also a player to watch for Kingston, which has allowed fewer than 30 points in five of their six Division 4 tournament games.

“It will be a great challenge,” Kingston head coach Jay Green said. “They are the type of team with height and this and that. But we’ll be ready and we’ll give them our best shot.”

It will also be a challenge for Ishpeming, but then again, the Hematites have been rising to challenges throughout this dream season with its relentless full-court pressure defense and playmaking led by senior Jenna Maki and sophomore Jenessa Eagle.

IHS’ senior class that has played together since they were in kindergarten is one step from fulfilling their lifelong dream.

Ishpeming will also attempt to become the first girls basketball program from the Upper Peninsula to win a state title since St. Ignace and Calumet did so in 2015.

Reichel said it’s been a team that has represented the community in the best way possible and will be one to remember for a long time, just like its 1974 team.

“They are probably one of the best representations of what you can do as a girls basketball player,” he said. “They play with grit, they play with fire and they show emotion.

“Sometimes in any kind of sport, girls kind of (get) scrutinized for showing emotion on the court. This group of girls is not afraid to show their emotion.

“I’m proud to be their coach because it’s a special journey for me. To have these women leading our school and our community, it’s something that’s unheard of.

“These opportunities are once in a lifetime. I think what they are going to do is cement a legacy for our community for the rest of their lives.”

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.