Ishpeming's Jenna Maki hugs Hematites head coach Ryan Reichel after they defeated Ewen-Trout Creek to become MHSAA Division 4 regional champions following their game held in Baraga on March 13. (Photo courtesy Cara Kamps)

Like most teens, Mia McGregor’s phone is her friend. But hers is the kind of friend who is constantly poking and prodding and pushing her buttons. And the Mio girls basketball sensation wouldn’t have it any other way.

“The screensaver on her phone is the scoreboard of us losing against Gaylord St. Mary,” said Kristi McGregor, who doubles as Mia’s mother and coach. “I said ‘Why would you want something like that?’ And she said ‘I’m going to see this every day, several times a day.’ That’s going to drive her.”

McGregor never seemed to lack for motivation this season while erupting on the high school scene. After scoring at an unprecedented rate — 41.2 points per game — the freshman phenom earned Michigan Associated Press Division 4 Player of the Year honors for the state of Michigan.

She headlines the All-State team that includes Ishpeming senior Jenna Maki and Lake Linden-Hubbell junior Emily Jokela.

Ishpeming's Jenessa Eagle, front, goes up for one of the five 3-pointers she made during the MHSAA Division 4 state championship girls basketball game played against Kingston at Michigan State University’s Breslin Center in East Lansing on March 23. (Photo courtesy Cara Kamps)

And Maki’s head coach, Ryan Reichel, was named Coach of the Year after leading the Hematites to their first state championship.

Joining Maki and Jokela on the all-state team are Pittsford’s Ava Mallar, Bay City All Saints’ Annaka Neetz, Sterling Heights Parkway Christian’s Tamerah Peterson, Fowler’s Katie Spicer, Kingston’s Delaney St. George, Posen’s Ella Szatkowski and Colon’s Reese Williams.

Making Second Team all-state was Ishpeming sophomore Jenessa Eagle, while the Honorable Mention list includes Baraga senior Makenna Hendrickson and Ewen-Trout Creek sophomore Emma Besonen.

Maki set the Hematites program record with her 30th and final point of Ishpeming’s 75-40 win over Fowler in the Division 4 semifinal game, two days before pumping in another 24 points in IHS’ 73-54 victory over Kingston in the state title game.

During the finals, she had scored 16 of Ishpeming’s 21 points when she came out of the game late in the second quarter after drawing her second foul.

Ishpeming's Jenessa Eagle, left, drives past Fowler's Elizabeth Hufnagel during their MHSAA Division 4 state semifinal girls game played at Michigan State University’s Breslin Center in East Lansing on March 21. (Photo courtesy Cara Kamps)

Maki, who has signed to play at Bay College in Escanaba next season, finished with a 16.5 point-per-game average this season, making 44% from the field, including 31% on 3-pointers, and sinking 70% of her free throws. She also added in 4.7 rebounds, 3.7 steals and 2.7 assists per game while being named to the West PAC Dream Team and Mid-Peninsula Conference First Team.

Reichel led an Ishpeming squad that had last won a regional title in 1974, the first year of the varsity girls program’s existence.

The Hematites finished with a 28-1 record, winning all seven of their MHSAA tournament games by at least 19 points. Their only loss came against Negaunee, their next-door neighbor which reached the Division 2 semifinals and whose only loss before that game came against Ishpeming in their first matchup.

Eagle, despite being a sophomore, actually was the Hematites’ leading scorer this season at 16.7 ppg as she also was named to the West PAC Dream Team and M-PC First Team.

She added in 4.6 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 4.0 steals per game while hitting 39% from the field, including 31% on 3s, and 69% of her free throws.

Baraga's Makenna Hendrickson, left, defends against Negaunee's Aubrey Johnson in the fourth quarter of their high school girls basketball game played at Lakeview Memorial Gymnasium in Negaunee on Dec. 29. (Photo courtesy Daryl T. Jarvinen)

Baraga’s Hendrickson, an All-Upper Peninsula Second Team selection last season, averaged 14 points, 4.7 rebounds, 4.1 steals and three assists per game and will join Maki at Bay College this fall.

Despite all those accolades for local players, Mio’s McGregor ended up as the story of the year across the state.

The daughter of two Mio hoops heroes — father Ty sparked the Thunderbolts to the state title in 1989 and mother Kristi helped Mio to a runner-up finish in 1993 — she counted down the days until she could don that uniform.

A 5-foot-9 point guard who has toured the country playing high-level travel ball, McGregor announced her arrival with authority by scoring 47 points in her debut. She broke 50 in her third game.

Despite playing through a knee injury, she scored 866 points, second most in state history behind the 935 scored by Central Lake’s Jasmine Hines in 2010. McGregor was limited to 17 points against Alcona, but eclipsed the 30-point mark in every other game, including a season-high 58-point performance. Her 41.2 ppg average is believed to be a state record.

Suddenly, Mio — home to 21 thousand-point scorers, including the state’s all-time boys basketball scoring leader Jay Smith — was must-see basketball once again.

“I was in awe at how many people from northern Michigan came to our games to watch her play,” Kristi McGregor said. “We saw old friends, people we coached, people we played against.

“It seems like there are these old basketball gurus who are in every gym, and so many of them have come to watch her play. One guy said he drove two hours to see her. He said, ‘I came when Jay Smith played. I came when Ty McGregor played. And when I saw she was Ty’s daughter, I knew I was heading back to Mio.'”

Kristi McGregor said she submitted Mia’s numbers to the MHSAA, and 14 items are being added to the record book for her ninth-grade season. McGregor led Mio to a 20-5 record and its first league championship in 20 years.

Information was contributed to this story by Journal Sports Editor Steve Brownlee. His email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.