UPSSA Basketball Polls

(first-place votes in parentheses)

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BOYS

Divisions 1-3 W-L Pts Pvs

1. Marquette (6) 15-2 30 1

2. Iron Mountain 16-2 24 2

3. Kingsford 13-3 17 3

4. Westwood 14-5 11 4

5. Munising 15-2 8 5

Others receiving votes: None

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Division 4 W-L Pts Pvs

1. Forest Park (6) 17-1 30 1

2. Pickford 14-1 22 2

3. Norway 14-4 18 3

4. North Dickinson 12-5 9 4

5. Ewen-Trout Creek 12-4 7 —

Others receiving votes: Dollar Bay (13-4) 4

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GIRLS

Divisions 1-3 W-L Pts Pvs

1. Negaunee (6) 17-0 30 1

2. Gladstone 14-1 24 2

3. Calumet 10-5 16 5

4. Sault Ste. Marie 10-5 12 3

5. Houghton 12-4 8 4

Others receiving votes: NONE

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Division 4 W-L Pts Pvs

1. St. Ignace (3) 15-1 27 1

2. Ewen-Trout Creek (2) 15-1 25 2

3. Munising (1) 14-1 15 3

4. Baraga 12-4 11 4

5. L’Anse 13-2 7 5

Others receiving votes: Hancock (10-4) 5

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MARQUETTE — All seven of the top-five ranked teams remained unmoved in this week’s polling of Upper Peninsula high school basketball teams by the U.P. Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association.

But the two teams seemingly poised to break into those top-fives — a pair of squads receiving votes but languishing in the “others receiving votes” category, were left out this time around.

Those teams were both on the boys side — Negaunee in Divisions 1-3 and Baraga in Division 4.

The Miners are 13-5 after splitting a pair of home games last week, falling to Houghton by the thinnest of margins, 65-64, then zipping by Ishpeming 44-39.

The Vikings (12-5) lost the only game they were able to play last week, a 52-41 decision at Wakefield-Marenisco after having a home game vs. Division 4 No. 4 North Dickinson postponed.

Three other area boys teams and four area teams on the girls side remained locked into their top-five positions from last week.

Or in the case of the Negaunee girls, locked into where the Miners have been all season — a unanimous No. 1 in Divisions 1-3.

That’s because Negaunee is 17-0 after posting two home wins last week — a 37-31 win over D 1-3 now-No. 5 Calumet and a 44-30 triumph over next-door-neighbor Ishpeming.

While they’re the only area team in the girls D 1-3 rankings, three continue to take up residence in girls’ Division 4.

Munising continues at No. 3 and also continues to receive one first-place vote after the Mustangs suffered their first loss to stand at 14-1. MHS defeated Forest Park 66-44 at home before going to Felch and falling to North Dickinson 47-38 on Thursday.

Munising still trails two other one-loss teams in Division 4 — St. Ignace (15-1) is No. 1 and Ewen-Trout Creek (15-1) is No. 2.

Coming after all those near-perfect squads are Baraga (12-4) at No. 4 and L’Anse (13-2) at No. 5.

The Vikings girls slammed W-M 64-33 and won a much closer 47-41 decision over Jeffers last week, while the Purple Hornets also posted two wins, drubbing Ontonagon 72-33 and Dollar Bay 66-21.

In boys voting, all three area teams are in Divisions 1-3.

Marquette, like the Negaunee girls, continues as a unanimous No. 1 pick in D 1-3.

And if anything, the Sentinels made their case even stronger after Saturday’s 76-59 victory over Detroit Cass Tech at the third annual Northern Michigan Showcase in Traverse City.

While beating Gladstone 99-48 and TC St. Francis 82-50 earlier in the week was nice for Marquette, MHSAA Division 1 Cass Tech entered the game at 14-1 and ranked No. 7 in last week’s Associated Press Division 1 state rankings.

The Technicians play in the Blue Division of the Detroit Public School League that only has other Detroit schools that include Renaissance, Martin Luther King, Denby, Pershing, Mumford, Henry Ford, Southeastern and Western.

Also in the U.P. D 1-3 boys rankings are No. 4 Westwood (14-5) and No. 5 Munising (15-2).

The Patriots downed Ishpeming 69-45 and Manistique 80-34 on the road on back-to-back nights last week, while the Mustangs felled Escanaba 69-38 and North Central 54-29 in the past seven days.

With the AP poll not released until Tuesday evenings this season, a look at last week’s rankings show in girls Division 2, Negaunee holding steady at No. 4 as each of the top three teams — No. 1 Ann Arbor Gabriel Richard, No. 2 Tecumseh and No. 3 Frankenmuth — getting at least one first-place vote.

Also for the girls, Ishpeming was tied for 16th in Division 3 with seven votes, while Munising was eighth and Baraga tied for ninth in Division 4. The Mustangs held steady at that position from the previous week, receiving 26 votes, while the Vikings came up off the “others” list to tie Concord with 16 votes for the last spots in the top 10.

By the way also in Division 4, L’Anse is 13th with seven votes, with St. Ignace No. 1 and E-TC No. 6.

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