GAYLORD — Inland Lakes’ season didn’t end the way to Bulldogs intended, but it made history nonetheless.
The No. 10-ranked Bulldogs lost 60-22 to No. 6 Ishpeming in Wednesday’s Division 4 girls basketball quarterfinal on Tom Johnson Court at the Jim Mongeau Gymnasium in Gaylord.
“There were some tears in the locker room,” Inland Lakes head coach Daryl Vizina said. “Obviously, when it ends it’s hard, but there’s a lot to be proud of, and the girls know that. … This isn’t an indictment on them. We just ran into a buzz saw.”
The Bulldogs’ senior class accomplished a ton in their four years, winning the school’s first regional championship in either boys or girls basketball, four districts and a Ski Valley Conference title.
The class finished with an 81-22 record, including the program’s first 20-win season in 2022-23 and besting that win total last year with 21 and again this season at 22.
“Before them, I think we had two winning seasons in 11 years or something in that ballpark,” Vizina said. “They’ve really turned this thing around. They’re all hard workers. They’re quality human beings. We love them so much, and we’re going to miss them. It’s going to be difficult to replace what we’re losing.”
Ishpeming moves on to Thursday’s semifinals at the Breslin Center in East Lansing against No. 1-ranked Morenci.
Both teams dealt with difficulties, many associated with inclement weather moving playoff sites and dates. Wednesday’s quarterfinal was originally slated for Gladstone, then moved to a Tuesday date at Gaylord that was eventually postponed until Wednesday.
The Bulldogs had more games (three) than practices (one) over the last eight days.
“So many moments where we could have folded and and we didn’t,” Vizina said. “Ishpeming made us fold eventually with their defensive tenacity, but it took a hell of a team to make us fold.”
Senior Mary Myshock drilled a pair of first-quarter 3-pointers, her second one giving the Bulldogs an 8-7 lead with 2:48 left in the opening stanza.
“We started off super strong,” Bulldogs senior Chloe Robinson said. “We had the right mindset, and they just started to chip away, and then they started to go and we couldn’t match it.”
Robinson led Inland Lakes with seven points, Myshock added six, and Faith Lehre, Furman and Ava Belford scored two apiece.
“I’m pretty proud of it,” Robinson said of the senior class accomplishments. “I couldn’t have asked for a better group. We made history with the first-ever regional. I’m just super proud. I don’t have any regrets.”
Ishpeming’s defense, turnovers and injuries took their toll after the first quarter. The Hematites closed the first on an 8-2 run to lead 15-10, then dominated the second and third quarters.
“Their size is was impressive,” Vizina said. “We played them this summer, and it was a six-point game. Their intensity, their defense, we had a hard time not turning the ball over, and they took advantage of it. Kudos to them. That’s just an amazing team, and they deserve it.”
Ishpeming outscored Inland Lakes 24-1 in the second quarter and the third 21-3, with I-Lakes freshman Josephine Furman hitting a driving layup at the horn.
Junior guard Khali Woollard left the game midway through the second quarter after a violent collision with the wall while chasing a loose ball, hitting the concrete just after the padding ended. One of the Bulldogs primary ball handlers, she didn’t return until the final three minutes of the third quarter.
“They’re a good team,” Ishpeming coach Ryan Reichel said. “They made it to this spot for a reason. Number 11 hitting two threes, she hasn’t hit a lot in the last couple games, but credit to her, she came ready to shoot it and it had us on our heels a little bit. I knew that once we got a couple buckets and were able to get our pressure up, good things were going to happen for us.”
Ishpeming won the Division 4 state title two years ago, with senior guard Jenessa Eagle (24.4 points per game) and senior 6-foot-2 center Mya Hemmer (16.6 points) starting on that championship run. Eagle is headed to Michigan Tech for basketball and Hemmer to Baylor for volleyball.
Hemmer played her freshman and sophomore seasons at Ishpeming before transferring to Wisconsin volleyball powerhouse and six-time state champion Howards Grove, but was ruled ineligible by the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association due to “undue influence” from the Howards Grove coach to go there. The school did not appeal the WIAA’s ruling — which also suspended the volleyball coach — and Hemmer returned to Ishpeming for her senior year.
Eagle scored a game-high 27 points, including 17 by halftime and 13 in the second quarter alone. Hemmer added 21 and Ava Jo Hares and Brittanie Piotrowski five each.
The Hematites didn’t put up a single point with a running clock in the fourth quarter, getting outscored 8-0.
“We’re not going to put energy into things we can’t change,” Reichel said in response to the weather changes. “What we had to do is put the energy into playing this basketball game. … There’s only eight teams left in Division 4. I would have played this on an iceberg in the middle of Lake Michigan under the Mackinac Bridge, if it would get us that much closer to Lansing.”