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MARQUETTE — A half-dozen high school girls basketball players from area teams did incredibly well this season in the eyes of a veteran sports writer at the Detroit Free Press.

But it was the area coach who was honored that garnered the biggest prize from longtime Free Press prep writer Mick McCabe.

McCabe placed Ishpeming head coach Ryan Reichel as his Dream Team head coach, making him the de facto coach of the year for the entire state regardless of division.

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)

That’s quite a statement for a Hematites team that just this season slipped into the state’s smallest grouping of girls basketball schools, Division 4, and is just over 450 miles from where McCabe’s newspaper in headquartered.

By contrast, the five-player Dream Team is composed entirely of girls from largest-of-the-large Division 1 schools. Three come from the Detroit suburbs, one from suburb

an Grand Rapids and the other from what many would call the outer Grand Rapids area in Holland.

But making a surprise run — at least to all the “trolls” on the other side of the Mackinac Bridge — not only to Michigan State University’s Breslin Center, but smashing through for the state championship, will garner a team, a coach and his players that kind of attention.

These honors were published on Saturday in the Detroit newspaper and have subsequently been placed online at several sites, including on the stalwart American Online website at https://www.aol.com/meet-detroit-free-press-2024-100747121.html.

Reichel led a team from a school that never had won more than a regional title before, and that happened in the very first year of the program’s existence as Ishpeming Public Schools celebrated the 50th anniversary this past season of that accomplishment by the 1974 Hematites.

Despite the Hematites leading early 10-0, Ishpeming head coach Ryan Reichel looks concerned while giving the scoreboard a check after Jenna Maki's successful short jumper midway through the first quarter of a high school girls basketball game played against Negaunee at Lakeview Memorial Gymnasium in Negaunee on Jan. 12. (Photo courtesy Daryl T. Jarvinen)

Two of Reichel’s charges also earned high praise from the Free Press as they were named Division 4 First Team all-state. In fact, senior Jenna Maki not only attained that honor but added the title of captain as the No. 1 player of that particular honor squad.

One of the players she’ll “captain” on the First Team is her sophomore teammate Jenessa Eagle, along with Jillian Fraser of St. Ignace.

With room for just 15 players on each division’s First, Second and Third teams, there were plenty of Honorable Mention slots, unlike with The Associated Press, which has tried to limit the number of HM’s by asking media members to not nominate someone unless it’s felt strongly that they can attain all-state.

Two D-4 honorable mentions among the 28 allotted went to Emersyn Crisp of Munising and Makenna Hendrickson of Baraga.

Two more area players cracked the lists in bigger divisions.

Ishpeming's Jenessa Eagle, left, drives under the basket and puts up a right hook to score during a high school girls basketball game played against Hancock at the Hematites’ gym in Ishpeming on Jan. 4. (Photo courtesy Cara Kamps)

Negaunee’s Ella Mason, who was named Miss Upper Peninsula Basketball by the U.P. Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association on the first day of this month, won a coveted First Team honor in Division 2.

And Westwood’s Megan Marta earned a spot on the Honorable Mention list in Division 3.

But back to Reichel, who as a Dream Teamer, McCabe expanded on his praise for Ishpeming’s coach.

“Not only did Ishpeming win its first regional title in 50 years and its first-ever state title by easily capturing the Division 4 crown, but the Hematites were so powerful that they might have made a deep run in the state tournament if they were in any of the other divisions,” McCabe says about Reichel. “The only loss of the season for Ishpeming was a defeat to Division 2 semifinalist Negaunee, a team Ishpeming split two regular season games with.

“‘This run didn’t happen by accident,’ Reichel said. ‘These girls lived in the gym. They had the talent, but they put those tools to work. It wasn’t given to them. It was earned.'”

Ishpeming's Jenna Maki, left, steals the ball from a Hancock player during their high school girls basketball game played at the Hematites’ gym in Ishpeming on Jan. 4. (Photo courtesy Cara Kamps)

A count of the honor lists shows three more U.P. players making a First, Second of Third Team all-state, then another 10 making honorable mention lists.

In order by division, they are Keira Maki of Escanaba, Division 2 Second Team; Lillie Johnson of Gladstone, Division 2 Third Team (though her school is in Division 3); Piper Bell of Sault Ste. Marie, Division 2 Honorable Mention; Anna Axtell of Menominee, Division 3 HM; Caitlyn Storm of Calumet, Division 3 HM; Laren Zawada of Bark River-Harris, Division 3 HM; Danica Shamion of West Iron County, Division 3 HM; Emily Jokela of Lake Linden-Hubbell, Division 4 Second Team; Emma Besonen of Ewen-Trout Creek, Division 4 HM; Grace Maule of Carney-Nadeau, Division 4 HM; Addison Cullen of St. Ignace, Division 4 HM; Carine Cole of Wakefield, Division 4 HM; and Lauren Adams of Norway, Division 4 HM.

Of the five southern Lower Peninsula players named to the Dream Team, here’s a brief synopsis of each as provided by McCabe:

Gabby Reynolds of Holland West Ottawa — This 5-foot-9 senior guard was named captain of this Dream Team, averaging 29.9 points a game with a high of 47 points. She won Miss Basketball in Michigan and will play collegiately at George Washington University.

Summer Davis of West Bloomfield — Another 5-9 senior guard, she shot 41% on 3-pointers while averaging 18.2 ppg. She and twin sister Indya led West Bloomfield to its second D-1 state title in three years, as Summer will play at the University of Georgia.

Negaunee's Ella Mason gets tripped up while scrambling for a loose ball in the first quarter of a high school girls basketball game played against Ishpeming at the Hematites’ gym on Feb. 9. (Photo courtesy Daryl T. Jarvinen)

Indya Davis of West Bloomfield — Not surprisingly, another 5-9 senior, though she is a forward while being Summer’s twin, shooting 50% from the field and averaging 15.0 ppg and 7.5 rebounds a game. She’ll stick with her sis and also play at Georgia.

Madison Morson of Plymouth Salem — A 5-8 senior guard, she averaged 25 ppg, 8.1 rebounds and 4.3 steals. Heading to Central Michigan, she scored in double figures in 65 straight games while scoring a school-record 44 earlier in the season and finished with more than 1,500 career points.

Steve Brownlee can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 552. His email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.

Negaunee's Ella Mason, left, yells out to direct a teammate while being guarded by Ishpeming’s Lilly Swanson in the first quarter of their high school girls basketball game played at Lakeview Memorial Gymnasium in Negaunee on Jan. 12. (Photo courtesy Daryl T. Jarvinen)