Three Baraga County teams each eased their way up or into the discussion of the top-five teams in the U.P. in Division 4.

For the boys, L’Anse moved out of the “others receiving votes” purgatory into a three-way tie for fifth, while in that same poll, Baraga now has moved into that “others” slot where they didn’t receive any votes previously.

The Purple Hornets (8-3) didn’t even get to play last week, having their only game at home vs. Ontonagon postponed. However, L’Anse is working on a three-game winning streak after a pair of victories over Hancock and one over Chassell in the previous two weeks, all by at least 15 points.

The Vikings (8-4) actually lost their only game last week, 49-46 at home to Ironwood, but had also won three in a row over the two weeks before that, taking down Watersmeet, Ewen-Trout Creek and Ontonagon.

Marquette's Pavel McCutcheon, center, and Kingsford's Mathew Sundquist, left, jockey for position under the basket for the rebound after a Sentinels’ free throw attempt during their high school boys basketball game played at the Marquette gym on Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025. (Photo courtesy Cara Kamps)

Among the girls, L’Anse is now receiving a single vote to get into the “others” category.

These Hornets (7-2) won the only game they played last week, a 72-64 triumph at Wakefield-Marenisco.

The only other area team to move at all in these rankings are the Marquette (7-6) boys, down one spot to No. 4 in Divisions 1-3 even after winning their only game last week, a 70-33 blowout at home vs. Escanaba.

Otherwise, the Westwood boys and Negaunee girls continued on as No. 1 in their Divisions 1-3 rankings.

Both are undefeated, and now with the Patriots boys consolidating their ranking, both are unanimous picks for the top spot in their ratings.

The Westwood boys are 13-0 after posting a 66-41 win at Iron Mountain last week, while the Negaunee girls are 12-0 with a 69-16 shutdown at Manistique in the past week.

Menominee (11-2) is still No. 2 in the D 1-3 boys rankings, but is no longer receiving any first-place votes after splitting its games last week, losing to Kingsford 50-34 and beating Gladstone 63-54.

The win for Kingsford (8-4) is probably what got the Flivvers up above Marquette and into No. 3 in the D 1-3 rankings, while Gladstone’s loss helped knock the Braves (9-5) down from No. 4 to No. 5.

In Division 4 boys, North Dickinson (11-1) surged to the top from being No. 4 after a 57-55 win at previous No. 1 Forest Park and a 45-38 victory over Norway last week.

Dollar Bay (10-1) held on to second, while Forest Park (10-3) slid to third and Pickford (13-0) down a spot to fourth.

Meanwhile, what had been a Bessemer and Wakefield-Marenisco two-way tie for fifth became a three-way deadlock with L’Anse also getting into fifth.

In the girls rankings, Gladstone (10-2) is Negaunee’s closest pursuer in Divisions 1-3 as the Braves have run their winning streak to seven in a row after wins over Menominee and Manistique last week.

This week should prove pivotal, though, as Gladstone was visiting Negaunee on Tuesday night.

The rest of the girls D 1-3 rankings still had Sault Ste. Marie (8-1) at No. 3, while Kingsford (7-2) and Menominee (9-4) switched, the Flivvers now No. 4 and Maroons No. 5.

And in Division 4 girls, three area teams are among the entire group that held their positions. Ewen-Trout Creek (7-1) is a unanimous No. 1 despite not playing last week, while Ishpeming (9-1) is No. 2 after a 53-27 win over Iron Mountain and 59-31 victory over Westwood last week.

Baraga (10-1) is No. 3 after a 74-25 home win over Ironwood last week, Norway (9-1) stayed No. 4 after two wins last week over Forest Park and Carney-Nadeau, and Munising (9-1) remained No. 5 after not playing in the past week.

In the state Associated Press polls that rank teams in each of the four divisions, the Ishpeming girls — we think — are the highest-ranked area team.

The Division 4 girls poll lists “Ishpeming-Westwood” as No. 4 with a 9-1 record, but that lofty record actually belongs to Ishpeming High School. With Westwood highly ranked in the Division 3 boys poll, there might’ve been some confusion way down in the Lower Peninsula.

Either way, the likely Hematites received 29 voting points, just 13 shy of No. 1 Ewen-Trout Creek, a dozen behind No. 2 Concord (11-1) and seven behind No. 3 Morenci (8-1), which actually received two of the five first-place votes.

Baraga is also eighth in the D-4 girls rankings with 16 votes, while Munising is 13th with four votes.

Also for the girls, Negaunee is sixth in Division 2 with 18 votes, as No. 1 Grand Rapids South Christian (11-0), No. 2 Goodrich (13-0), No. 3 Grand Rapids West Catholic (9-2), No. 4 Flint Powers (12-1) and No. 5 Tecumseh (10-2) are ahead of the Miners.

In the boys AP ratings, Westwood — for real! — is No. 6 in Division 3 with 19 votes. Only No. 1 Beal City (10-0), No. 2 Menominee (11-2), No. 3 McBain (11-1), No. 4 Detroit Loyola (12-3) and No. 5 Onsted (13-1) are ahead of the Patriots.

Along with Menominee rated quite loftily in boys Division 3, other U.P.-ranked boys teams are all in Division 4 — Pickford is No. 3 with one first-place vote, North Dickinson No. 4, Dollar Bay No. 5 and Forest Park No. 8.

One other girls AP-ranked team from the U.P. is Norway at 14th in Division 4.

Among area games scheduled this week involving ranked teams are, by day:

Tonight — Ishpeming girls at Gwinn

Thursday — L’Anse girls at Baraga

Friday — Munising girls at Ishpeming, Hancock girls at Gwinn, Negaunee girls at Escanaba, Westwood boys at Manistique, Marquette boys at Menominee, L’Anse boys at Baraga

Monday — Westwood girls at Baraga, L’Anse girls at Ontonagon, Negaunee boys at Houghton, Calumet boys at L’Anse, Gladstone boys at Manistique

Tuesday — Gladstone boys at Marquette, Wakefield-Marenisco boys at Baraga, Negaunee girls at Calumet, Ishpeming girls at Gladstone, North Dickinson girls at L’Anse, Munising girls at Forest Park