You’d be wrong.

Five more county players earned spots on the D 1-3 First and Second teams when the U.P. Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association gathered for its annual basketball meeting at Northern Michigan University in Marquette on Monday afternoon.

Four schools were represented with those five players, including each school that had already put Aubrey Johnson and Jenessa Eagle on the Dream Team.

Johnson’s Negaunee Miners also saw 5-foot-7 sophomore Gretel Johnson make the D 1-3 First Team, while 5-11 junior teammate Clare O’Donnell got on the Second Team.

Ishpeming's Janessa Eagle, second from left, makes a move against Westwood's Lexi Olson, left, to score two points during their high school girls basketball game played at the Patriots’ gym in Ishpeming on Jan. 26, 2024. (Photo courtesy Cara Kamps)

Eagle’s Ishpeming Hematites also won a Second Team berth for 5-7 senior Peyton Kakkuri.

Also on the First Team is Westwood 5-5 senior Lexi Olson, while nabbing a spot on the Second Team is Marquette senior Brianna Anderson.

Johnson — Gretel Johnson, that is — was a key component in Negaunee’s 22-0 start that unfortunately ended in the Division 2 district tournament finals with a loss to eventual state quarterfinalist Gladstone.

She helped the Miners win West PAC and Mid-Peninsula Conference regular season titles, and had also been an important contributor as a freshman when Negaunee reached the D-2 semifinals a year ago.

This year, though, she averaged 12.5 points, 3.8 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 2.3 steals per game, scoring numbers likely depressed as the 22-1 Miners only reached 60 points four times — and never 70 — while keeping 13 opponents to 30 points or less.

Westwood’s Lexi Olson, left, tries to make a move around Marquette defender Aubree Blackburn in the first half of their high school girls basketball game played at the Patriots’ gym in Ishpeming on Jan. 30. (Journal photo by Caden Sierra)

A West PAC Dream Team and M-PC First Team honoree, Johnson’s notable performances included 17 points in a regular-season win over Gladstone, 13 points vs. downstate D-2 powerhouse Ludington, 19 points vs. Ishpeming and 16 points vs. Marquette.

“Gretel really took that next step of progression after last year’s very strong freshman season, when she contributed off the bench,” Negaunee head coach Mike O’Donnell said in support of her All-U.P. nomination. “This year, she asserted herself in our starting lineup and became one of our top scoring options.

“She can hit from the perimeter, but is also deadly slashing to the basket.”

Also on the D 1-3 First Team, Olson led the Patriots to a 14-10 record and an unlucky second-round exit in a D-3 district that included Ishpeming and Calumet.

Up until a 57-40 loss to Ishpeming in the districts, Westwood had put together a seven-game winning streak, more than making up for a 2-6 start.

She averaged 15.5 points, 5.0 rebounds, 3.5 steals and 3.2 assists per game and was actually tied for the second-leading vote-getter on the First Team, receiving 15 of 17 votes from the panel.

O’Donnell, the Miners’ third All-U.P. honoree, was her team’s No. 1 rebounder, actually outrebounding her points average — she had 5.8 points vs. 8.0 rebounds each night out. She added in 1.2 assists, 1.0 steals and had 20 blocked shots.

She was named to the West PAC First Team and M-PC Second Team, piling up some big numbers against quality opponents. They included 12 points and 12 rebounds, then again 10 points and 11 rebounds in the two wins vs. Gladstone, and 14 points and 14 rebounds vs. Marquette, along with nine points and 15 rebounds against Houghton.

“She had the highest VPS (Value Point System) for Negaunee,” O’Donnell said.

A look online says that “VPS … is a statistic created to look at efficiency of a player and to give a more well-rounded indication of overall player performance.”

It brings together points, rebounds, assists and “recoveries” — steals, blocked shots and charging fouls drawn — while knocking off points for missed shots, missed free throws, fouls and turnovers.

Kakkuri was lauded by her coach, Ryan Reichel, after compiling 11.5 points, 3.5 rebounds, 1.7 steals, 1.1 assists and 1.8 deflections per game, also shooting 38.4% from the field that included 32.6% on 3-pointers.

“Peyton has grown into our second-leading scorer and helped us to wins in games where the other team focused more on Jenessa (Eagle),” Reichel said in her support.

Anderson was a rebounding machine for Marquette this season as the Sentinels had a modest 11-14 record as the only Division 1 school in the U.P. MSHS won four straight right up until it was eliminated in its district championship game, 44-41 at Traverse City Central.

Named First Team in the Great Northern Conference, Anderson averaged 13 rebounds per game while mixing in 8.1 points, 3.6 assists, two steals and 1.8 blocked shots each contest.

“She did a little of everything and a lot of rebounding,” Marquette head coach Ben Smith said. “(She) had great timing defensively with shot blocking.”

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