The Westwood boys team moved back into its “penthouse suite” at the very top of the Divisions 1-3 rankings this week after falling from there a week ago.

The Patriots had been leading the way for most of January among the biggest U.P. boys teams with an undefeated record until Marquette came along and knocked off WHS 59-35 in west Ishpeming on Jan. 27.

That left Westwood tied for No. 2 with the Sentinels last week, just in time for some kind of comeuppance by the Patriots as they knocked off the team that took over the No. 1 spot, Menominee, with a 55-52 triumph at home on Friday evening.

Marquette (10-7) remained at No. 3 once WHS (16-1) lifted itself out of the tie and back as the unanimous No. 1 team this week.

Menominee (14-3) shifted into a consensus No. 2 with every second-place vote this week.

Among the top three teams, Westwood has a 2-1 record this season, having split with Marquette and playing Menominee just this one time.

That’s one time in the regular season, as they could meet somewhere in Division 3 district or regional play if both win enough in the postseason.

Menominee also has a 2-1 record among them, having swept the Sentinels and lost this game to Westwood, while Marquette is only 1-3 within this triumvirate, though the Sentinels have other things to worry about when it starts the MHSAA Division 1 tournament against the largest schools in the state in two weeks.

Additionally last week, Westwood dropped Ishpeming at home 72-61, while Menominee dispatched Iron Mountain 48-39 at the Mountaineers gym.

Marquette also played twice last week, both at home and both wins, 87-54 over No. 5 Gladstone and 68-34 over previous Division 4 No. 1 North Dickinson (13-3).

Other than those teams, there were no changes in the U.P. polls involving area squads.

Kingsford (12-4) remained at No. 4 and Gladstone (11-7) at No. 5 in the D 1-3 boys poll.

For Division 4 boys, L’Anse (12-4) remained in a tie for fifth, even though it’s a tie with a different team. Last week, it was Norway, which has fallen into the “others receiving votes” list, while now the deadlock is with Bessemer (11-5), which didn’t draw any votes a week ago.

The Purple Hornets split their games last week, defeating Calumet 64-45 at home and losing at Division 4 No. 2 Dollar Bay (15-1) 77-61.

There was some jockeying around among the rest of the teams in the D-4 poll, however. Forest Park (14-3) took over the No. 1 spot after waiting in the wings at No. 2 when the Nordics lost to Marquette, while DB and Pickford (17-0) are now tied for second. ND slipped to No. 4.

In the girls polls, Negaunee (15-1) remained a unanimous No. 1 in Divisions 1-3 despite losing at Division 4 No. 1 Ishpeming 51-39 on Friday night. Earlier in the week, the Miners fended off Calumet 59-45 to run their win streak to 15 at the time.

Last week, the Hematites (12-2) also lost at Gladstone 53-49 in overtime to snap their five-game win streak.

But Ishpeming still garnered four of the five first-place votes to fend off a challenge from No. 2 Ewen-Trout Creek (12-2), which got the other top vote.

The rest of the Divisions 1-3 girls ranks were unchanged with Gladstone (13-3) at No. 2, Sault Ste. Marie (13-2) at No. 3, Kingsford (12-2) at No. 4, Menominee (12-5) at No. 5 with Houghton (11-4) receiving votes.

That was almost true in Division 4, too, with two small changes. After Ishpeming and E-TC kept their respective Nos. 1 and 2 positions, L’Anse (13-2) remained No. 3 and Baraga (14-2) was still No. 4.

However, the Vikings are now tied with Norway (12-3) for fourth, and Munising as the “others” team has been replaced by Newberry (11-1).

Last week, L’Anse downed Ontonagon 63-24 on the road, beat ND 60-32 at home, and won at Dollar Bay 74-40.

Baraga also won three times, taking down Westwood 41-27 at home, winning at Ontonagon 64-43 and downing Jeffers 43-19 at home.

Newberry joined the D-4 crew with wins over Pickford 51-28 at home and at Cedarville 43-27 last week.

In state Associated Press polls this week, two of the western Marquette County teams each have a No. 3 ranking.

The Westwood boys bounced up from a tie for fifth into third alone in Division 3, trailing only two teams receiving first-place votes, No. 1 McBain (15-1) and No. 2 Beal City (15-1).

The Ishpeming girls are also No. 3 in their Division 4 rankings, though it’s a tie for third with Mio (13-3) as No. 1 Concord (15-1) and No. 2 Morenci (14-1) are the only teams above the Hematites.

Baraga also rates the No. 8 position, L’Anse tied for No. 10, Newberry No. 14 and Munising (12-3) a tie for No. 15 for Division 4 girls.

In the state Division 2 girls ratings, Negaunee slid three spots to No. 9, just behind No. 8 Haslett (13-2) and ahead of No. 10 Otsego (12-1).

There’s a handful of other U.P. teams in the state rankings.

For the Division 3 boys, Menominee is No. 5 but one of four teams — not including Westwood — receiving at least one first-place vote, while among Division 4 boys, Pickford is No. 3, Forest Park No. 4, Dollar Bay No. 5 and North Dickinson No. 9.

In girls rankings in Division 4, Ewen-Trout Creek is No. 7 but getting a first-place vote.

Here are games on the schedule this week involving ranked teams from the area or games involving area teams playing a ranked team:

Thursday — Newberry girls at Engadine, Gwinn girls at Gladstone, Ishpeming girls at Escanaba, Dollar Bay girls at Baraga, Houghton girls at L’Anse, Calumet boys at Westwood

Friday — Marquette boys at Negaunee, Dollar Bay boys at Baraga, L’Anse boys at West Iron County, Menominee girls at Westwood, Marquette girls at Negaunee

Saturday — Westwood boys vs. Maple City Glen Lake at the Northern Michigan Showcase, at Traverse City St. Francis

Monday — Marquette girls at Houghton, Brimley girls at Newberry, Westwood boys at Gladstone

Tuesday — Sault Ste. Marie girls at Marquette, Superior Central girls at Norway, Manistique girls at Ishpeming, L’Anse boys at North Dickinson, Forest Park boys at Marquette, Superior Central boys at Norway

Story contents based on email received from the U.P. Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association. Journal Sports Editor Steve Brownlee’s email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.