(first-place votes in parentheses)

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BOYS

Divisions 1-3 W-L Pts Pvs

1. Kingsford (3) 17-3 23 2

2. Marquette (2) 19-3 22 1

3. Iron Mountain 19-3 15 3

4. Westwood 17-5 9 4

5. Munising 19-2 6 5

Others receiving votes: NONE

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Division 4 W-L Pts Pvs

1. Forest Park (5) 20-2 25 1

2. Pickford 19-2 20 2

3. Norway 17-5 15 3

4. North Dickinson 16-5 7 4

5. Ewen-Trout Creek 17-5 4 T5

(tie) Dollar Bay 18-4 4 T5

Others receiving votes: NONE

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GIRLS

Divisions 1-3 W-L Pts Pvs

1. Negaunee (5) 19-0 25 1

2. Gladstone 19-1 20 2

3. Calumet 15-5 14 3

4. Sault Ste. Marie 14-5 8 4

5. Ishpeming 15-5 7 5

Others receiving votes: Westwood (10-9) 1

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Division 4 W-L Pts Pvs

1. St. Ignace (4) 19-1 24 1

2. Ewen-Trout Crk. (1) 19-1 21 2

3. Baraga 16-5 12 4

4. L’Anse 16-4 9 —

5. Munising 16-3 7 3

Others receiving votes: Hancock (12-7) 1, Lake Linden-Hubbell (15-6) 1

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MARQUETTE — The change had to be expected, even if it seems a bit severe for the Marquette Senior High School boys basketball team.

The Sentinels had their 18-game winning streak snapped on Thursday and that led to their tumbling out of their season-long top spot in the weekly high school basketball polls released by the Upper Peninsula Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association.

Marquette (19-3) has beaten the likes of MHSAA Division 1 top-10 Detroit Cass Tech along with U.P. top-five schools Iron Mountain, Kingsford and Westwood on the way during this special season.

But it was a loss in their second meeting with Kingsford that cost MSHS.

The Flivvers (17-3) prevailed at their own gym 72-60 last week to hand Marquette its first loss since Dec. 7. That was when the Sentinels lost games on consecutive days at Division 1 Traverse City West and TC Central on a road trip downstate.

Those two Traverse City schools have a combined record of 32-9 and one of them will likely provide the opposition if and when MSHS gets to its district championship game on Friday — at the Barb Crill Gymnasium in Marquette.

But with Kingsford waiting in the wings as the No. 2 school in the U.P. in Divisions 1-3, it didn’t take much to knock the Sentinels from their unanimous perch at the top.

The Flivvers just barely rose above Marquette, getting one more first-place vote and one more total voting point.

Fortunately, the poll is just for bragging rights and doesn’t affect any postseason placement, especially considering MSHS and Kingsford are is different divisions.

Marquette also won another big showdown last week, beating Division 4 No. 1 Forest Park 82-67 at home on Tuesday.

In that same D 1-3 boys poll, Westwood (17-5) remained at No. 4 and Munising (19-2) at No. 5.

Last week, the Patriots won their only game, a 67-43 home decision over Gladstone, while the Mustangs also won the only game they could get in, a 52-47 victory over Division 4 No. 2 Pickford.

In D-4, everyone remained locked in position, even at the tie for No. 5 between Ewen-Trout Creek and Dollar Bay. The only losses suffered by any of the half-dozen top-five teams — doesn’t that sound incorrect? — were Forest Park’s setback to Marquette and Pickford’s to Munising.

In girls polling, Negaunee (19-0) remained a unanimous No. 1 in Divisions 1-3, while Ishpeming (15-5) stayed at No. 5. Westwood (10-9) received a vote again but is in the “others receiving votes” list in the D 1-3 list.

Last week, the Miners didn’t play, the Hematites downed Manistique 65-27 and Hancock 58-42, and the Patriots took down West Iron County 62-28 and Gwinn 53-21.

There was a bit of a shakeup among area teams in Division 4, however.

With St. Ignace (19-1) still No. 1 and E-TC (19-1) still No. 2, Baraga (16-5) rose a spot to No. 3, while L’Anse (16-4) jumped back into the top five at No. 4.

Munising (16-3) took the brunt of those moves, slipping two spots to No. 5.

Last week, the Vikings posted victories on three consecutive days, all blowouts of at least 30 points at home — Chassell 54-22, Ontonagon 63-28 and Bessemer 73-30.

The Purple Hornets were maybe even more impressive, picking up three wins in four days — and all of them on the road. L’Anse downed Jeffers 62-53, Chassell 75-37 and Hancock 51-37.

The Mustangs could only get in one game in last week, but it was by 50 points, a 63-13 win at Rapid River.

In last week’s Associated Press state polls — this week’s aren’t scheduled to be released until tonight — the Negaunee girls held at No. 3 in Division 2, trailing only frontrunner Ann Arbor Gabriel Richard (18-1) and second-place Tecumseh (17-1).

Also in Division 2, Gladstone is 12th, while in Division 4, St. Ignace is still No. 1, though not unanimously, E-TC is No. 6 with a first-place vote, Hancock is 12th, Baraga 13th and Lake Linden-Hubbell tied for 14th.

In boys voting, Marquette remained just outside the top 10 in Division 1 in 11th place with 16 votes. That’s three more votes than the Sentinels received last week and just four votes shy of 10th-place Lansing Waverly (17-3).

Also for the boys, Kingsford is 10th in Division 2 and Iron Mountain seventh in Division 3.

In Division 4, Forest Park is second, though with the same number of first-place votes as No. 1 Wyoming Tri-unity Christian (18-2). Pickford is eighth and Norway 11th.

With boys teams playing district tournaments this week, the girls are in the final week of their regular season.

The highlight game this week for girls teams has to be Divisions 1-3 No. 2 Gladstone at No. 1 Negaunee at 7:15 p.m. Thursday, though past top-five team Houghton is at No. 5 Ishpeming at the same exact time.

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