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Individual points corrected at Upper Peninsula all-star hoops game played Saturday in St. Ignace

Negaunee's Gavin Saunders, left, takes a big stride as he drives toward the basket in the first quarter as Ishpeming's Griffin Argall follows the play in their high school boys basketball game played at Lakeview Memorial Gymnasium in Negaunee on Feb. 10, 2023. (Photo courtesy Daryl T. jarvinen)

MARQUETTE — Apparently due to some bad and incomplete information that was initially handed out after the games, individual point totals publicized from the Upper Peninsula All-Star Basketball Games were largely incorrect.

The final scores of both boys and girls games were spot on, the East defeating the West in both games, 110-103 in the boys game and 87-83 in overtime in the girls contest in a doubleheader played at St. Ignace LaSalle High School on Saturday.

The games allow recently graduated high school seniors from all around the Upper Peninsula to compete one last time, while the contests also serve as a fundraiser for its sponsoring organization, the U.P. Sports Hall of Fame. Those working at the games are almost entirely made up of volunteers.

The most egregious error in the individual scoring had to be for Negaunee’s Gavin Saunders, who was originally reported as not scoring when, in fact, he put in 19 points.

Official numbers were also kept for rebounds, steals, assists and blocked shots, and Saunders had nine rebounds, a steal and a block, too.

Saunders played on the West team that also included Andrew Niemi of Westwood, who recorded 13 points, five rebounds, an assist and a block.

On the East boys team, Jonny Ingalls of the hometown Saints was voted MVP and he actually had two more points than initially reported, 48 points.

This future Northern Michigan University player added in 11 rebounds, eight assists, four steals and two blocked shots as he scored more than twice as many points as any other boys player. He also led all boys players in assists, tied for the most steals and blocks, and was second to Niemi in rebounds.

Joining him locally on the East was Wyatt Demers of Manistique, who was second on that team in scoring with 14 points while adding four rebounds, two steals and two assists.

Also playing for the East was Trent Rutter of Superior Central, who contributed four points, two rebounds and a steal.

In the girls game, most of the point totals were closer to being correct than in the boys game.

Ella Mason of Negaunee and Keira Maki of Escanaba shared MVP honors, both playing for the triumphant East squad.

Mason scoring 26 points and added in five steals, five assists, five rebounds and three blocked shots. Her steals and assists were the most in that game, while her blocks tied for second overall.

Maki had fairly similar numbers, scoring 24 points, grabbing 12 rebounds, making four blocks and also recording two steals and two assists.

But Jenna Maki of state champion Ishpeming was a bright light for the West, leading her team with 26 points while grabbing nine rebounds and adding in two steals, two assists and a block.

Five other area players were listed on the East team roster, though Kyley Elmblad of Marquette was listed as not playing due to injury.

The Miners’ Callie Rajala scored 11 points and also had two rebounds and a block; Danielle Lund of Manistique had five points, four rebounds, two steals and two assists; Emersyn Crisp of Munising notched three points and three rebounds; and Lucie Rabochova of Newberry had two points but shared with Keira Maki the high rebounding honors with 12 as Rabochova also had three steals, three assists and two blocks.

For the West girls, four other area players joined Jenna Maki.

Megan Marta of Westwood had 12 points, a team-high 10 rebounds and one steal, one assist and one block. McKenna Hendrickson of Baraga scored eight points and pulled down five rebounds while making a steal and a block; Jaycee Larson of Baraga had six points and a rebound; and the Hematites’ Kadie Kaukola scored one point and also had a rebound and an assist.

The girls game also gave Negaunee head coach Mike O’Donnell and Ishpeming mentor Ryan Reichel another chance to square off, O’Donnell coaching the East and Reichel the West.

In special contests held around the games, Niemi won the boys’ dunk contest.

Here are the full point totals, along with the top leaders in other statistics:

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BOYS

East (110 points) — Jonny Ingalls, St. Ignace, 48; Wyatt Demers, Manistique, 14; Ethan McLean, St. Ignace, 11; Perry LeBlanc, Brimley, 10; Drake Johnson, Gladstone, 8; Cam Peterson, Rudyard, 8; Nick Halberg, St. Ignace, 7; Trent Rutter, Superior Central, 4; Brad VanDamme, Mid Peninsula, did not score. Top rebounds: Ingalls 11, Peterson 8, Halberg 7, Johnson 6. Top steals: Ingalls 4, Demers 2, Peterson 2, Halberg 2, LeBlanc 2, McLean 2. Top assists: Ingalls 8, Peterson 7, VanDamme 3, Halberg 3. All blocks: Ingalls 2, Halberg 2.

West (103 points) — Shane Wallin, Escanaba, 23; Gavin Saunders, Negaunee, 19; Andrew Niemi, Westwood, 13; Levi Frahm, Jeffers, 12; Gabe Popko, Lake Linden-Hubbell, 11; Matt Schutz, Jeffers, 7; Gaven Rintala, Forest Park, 7; Dan Marcotte, LL-H, 5; Connor Coduti, Menominee, 4; Felix Quevedo, Forest Park, 2. Top rebounds: Popko 13, Saunders 9, Niemi 5. Top steals: Quevedo 4, Frahm 2. All assists: Quevedo 2, Niemi 1, Coduti 1, Wallin 1. All blocks: Saunders 1, Niemi 1, Popko 1.

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GIRLS

East (87 points) — Ella Mason, Negaunee, 26; Keira Maki, Escanaba, 24; Callie Rajala, Negaunee, 11; Autumn Tremblay, Brimley, 7; Danielle Lund, Manistique, 5; Allison CeCe, St. Ignace, 4; Emersyn Crisp, Munising, 3; Chloe May, Maplewood Baptist, 3; Lucie Rabochova, Newberry, 2; Ceara LeBlanc, Brimley, 2. Top rebounds: Rabochova 12, Maki 12, CeCe 8, Mason 5. Top steals: Mason 5, Rabochova 3, Lund 2, Maki 2, LeBlanc 2. Top assists: Mason 5, Rabochova 3, Lund 2, Maki 2. Top blocks: Maki 4, Mason 3, Rabochova 2, CeCe 2.

West (83 points) — Jenna Maki, Ishpeming, 26; Megan Marta, Westwood, 12; Danica Shamion, West Iron County, 12; Anna Axtel, Menominee, 9; McKenna Hendrickson, 8; Jaycee Larson, Baraga, 6; Brooke Stanislawski, Bessemer, 3; Grace Kleikamp, North Central, 3; McKenzie Hoffmeyer, Bark River-Harris, 3; Kadie Kaukola, Ishpeming, 1; Adelyn Swain, Dollar Bay, did not score. Top rebounds: Marta 10, Maki 9, Axtel 6, Hendrickson 5. Top steals: Axtel 4, Shamion 3, Hoffmeyer 3, Maki 2. Top assists: Maki 2, Axtel 2, Hoffmeyer 2, Shamion 2. All blocks: Maki 3, Shamion 3, Marta 1, Hendrickson 1.

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

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