But he was more than just noticed by a panel of 18 media members when he was voted onto the all-division Dream Team when All-Upper Peninsula balloting took place on Monday during the annual U.P. Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association meeting held at Northern Michigan University in Marquette.

The 6-foot-6 junior forward from the U.P.’s only Division 1 school actually tied for the second-most votes for this elite group of high school boys basketball players before he was later nominated as the Divisions 1-3 Player of the Year.

MacPhee, who about a month earlier was voted the Player of the Year in the Great Northern Conference, won 16 votes in Dream Team balloting as only eventual Mr. U.P. Basketball Jonny Ingalls of St. Ignace was a unanimous pick for that elite squad.

MacPhee had the same number of votes for the Dream Team as another 6-6 junior from a strong team, Oskar Kangas of Iron Mountain, though Kangas outballoted him 8-5 in the D 1-3 Player of the Year vote.

Marquette's Jacob MacPhee, left, struggles for control of a rebound with Ishpeming’s Caden Luoma, second from left in back, and Ethan Corp, center, late in the fourth quarter of their high school boys basketball game played in the Barb Crill Gymnasium at Marquette Senior High School on Jan. 10. (Photo courtesy Daryl T. Jarvinen)

Two other Dream Teamers were also up for the D 1-3 top award — junior Gavin Grondin of Kingsford received four POTY votes, while senior Levi Frahm of Jeffers earned one.

Ingalls, meanwhile, was not just the only Division 4 player who made the Dream Team, but was a winner by acclimation as Division 4 Player of the Year.

In the Mr. U.P. Basketball vote for the UPSSA’s best overall boys player, Ingalls was actually a unanimous winner over Kangas after Ingalls had been named the Associated Press’ state Player of the Year in Division 4.

MacPhee and Kangas should be the preseason frontrunners in next year’s Mr. U.P. Basketball chase with Ingalls graduating this spring.

MacPhee led the 20-4 Sentinels — who picked up their new nickname part way through the season — to a perfect 8-0 mark in the GNC as they won their MHSAA Division 1 tournament opener over Gaylord in overtime before bowing out to Traverse City West in the district finals.

The junior forward led MSHS by averaging a massive double-double — 17.3 points and 14 rebounds per game. He shot well from the field, including a maybe unexpected good ratio on 3-pointers as a big man, while he also dished out an average of three assists each contest.

“Jacob was a captain this year and also led the team, shooting 60% from the floor, including 38% from the 3-point line,” Sentinels head coach Rich Ledy said.

He was already an All-U.P. First Team selection a year earlier when he was a sophomore.

Ingalls was the Straits Area Conference Player of the Year, a conference that includes Sault Ste. Marie, after he earned an All-U.P. Dream Team nod a season ago.

St. Ignace finished at 21-7 overall and 6-2 in the SAC, second to the Soo’s 7-1 conference mark, not so bad in a battle between Division 2 and Division 4 schools.

The Saints took on Marquette twice during the season with the Sentinels prevailing 72-57 in Marquette and 93-88 in overtime at St. Ignace about two weeks apart in late January and early February.

Ingalls for the season averaged a whopping 30.4 points per game as he finished his high school career with one of the highest totals ever of 2,029 points. He also averaged 9.4 rebounds, 5.7 assists, 4.3 steals and 2.6 blocked shots per game as it’s been announced that he will play at Central Michigan.

Kangas, an all-state First Teamer in Division 3, was voted the Player of the Year in both the West PAC and Mid-Peninsula Conference. And this year’s Divisions 1-3 POTY was his second consecutive as he earned the same honor as a sophomore.

This year, he joined MacPhee in averaging a double-double, 19.5 points and 10.1 rebounds a game while shooting 57% from the floor, then added in 3.4 assists, 2.5 steals and two blocked shots per game.

He led his Mountaineers to the No. 1 position at the end of the regular season in the weekly UPSSA D 1-3 boys poll as IM finished 22-2 and won a Division 3 district game before bowing out to Menominee in the district finals.

IM and Marquette didn’t face each other during the season.

One team that did play the Sentinels twice was fellow GNC member Kingsford with Grondin leading the way. He was a Division 2 all-state honorable mention for the 21-5 Flivvers, whose only conference losses were to Marquette.

Grondin, an All-U.P. Second Team selection a year ago, averaged 22.1 points, 4.5 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 2.3 steals per game while shooting 48.9% from the field.

Frahm hails from upstart Jeffers, which for many years was a Class D/Division 4 school until growing in the past decade but is still firmly ensconced in Division 3.

The Jets finished the year 23-2 overall and a perfect 12-0 in the small-school Copper Mountain Conference. Jeffers reportedly has applied and been accepted into the bigger-school West PAC for next school year.

Frahm was a Division 3 Second Team all-state pick this year, also earning CMC Player of the Year as he was All-U.P. Dream Team last season. He averaged 18.8 points, seven rebounds, 4.8 assists and 2.4 steals per game while shooting 41% on 3-pointers and 80% at the free throw line.

Steve Brownlee can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 552. His email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.