These honor squads were released as seasons neared their end in the MHSAA season.

From Westwood, the Patriots are members of the Western Peninsula Athletic Conference and Mid-Peninsula Conference, therefore had two chances to win top awards.

That’s exactly what Westwood junior AJ Pizziola and coach Luke Gray did.

Pizziola was named Defensive Player of the Year in the West PAC and shared that honor with Iron Mountain sophomore Brayden Kassin in the M-PC.

Marquette’s Jacob MacPhee, right, fouls Negaunee's Kyle Waterman as the Miners’ player goes to the hoop during their high school boys basketball game played at the Barb Crill Gymnasium in Marquette on Feb. 14. (Photo courtesy Cara Kamps)

Gray, meanwhile, was the single honoree as Coach of the Year in both conferences.

Interestingly, All-Upper Peninsula Dream Team member Ethan Marta only shared the Player of the Year honor with another Dream Teamer, senior Oskar Kangas of Iron Mountain.

Kangas also won the award outright in the M-PC.

For Marquette, a member of the Great Northern Conference, senior Jacob MacPhee was named Player of the Year for the second straight year, no surprise considering that he would end up as Mr. U.P. Basketball for all divisions across the U.P. when the U.P. Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association decided its All-U.P. awards in late March.

In addition, the Sentinels’ Rich Ledy shared the Coach of the Year honor with Kingsford’s Ben Olsen, who until a few years ago had been head boys and head girls basketball coach at Gwinn High School.

Westwood's Aaron Pizziola, right, works the ball toward the net while being guarded by Gladstone’s Alex Prins during their high school boys basketball game played at the Patriots’ gym in Ishpeming on Feb. 17. (Photo courtesy Cara Kamps)

Marquette also shared the GNC team championship, with MSHS JV and freshmen teams also winning their titles.

County schools also won a number of First Team, Second Team and All-Defensive Team honors, not to mention special mention and honorable mention awards.

In the M-PC, area schools claimed four of the six spots on the First Team and all four positions on the All-Defensive Team.

The M-PC First Team included Marta, a junior, and Ishpeming senior Caden Luoma, Negaunee senior Jordan Guenette and Westwood senior Tristan Miller.

On defense, that team was all area seniors — DJ Bell

ville of Manistique, Baron Heslip of Negaunee, Waylon Sales of Gwinn and Ethan Corp of Ishpeming.

In the West PAC, this large conference had a Dream Team that included Ishpeming’s Luoma, Negaunee’s Guenette and Westwood’s Miller, with the Iron Division First Team including Negaunee’s Heslip, Gwinn’s Sales and Westwood senior Reid Frustaglio.

West PAC top defenders included Negaunee’s Heslip and Ishpeming’s Corp.

Then over in the GNC, with Marquette as the only area member, senior Jaxon Jurmu was named to the First Team and senior Kyler Sager and junior Connor Fierstine made the Second Team.

Here are the entire rosters of each of these all-conference units. Players are listed with school, along with year and position when available:

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MID-PENINSULA CONFERENCE

Player of the Year — Oskar Kangas, sr., Iron Mountain

Defensive Player of the Year — AJ Pizziola, jr., Westwood; and Brayden Kassin, soph., Iron Mountain

Coach of the Year — Luke Gray, Westwood

First Team — Ethan Marta, jr. guard, Westwood; Caden Luoma, sr. guard, Ishpeming; Jordan Guenette, sr. guard, Negaunee; Gerald Sampoll-Torres, sr. guard, Iron Mountain; Lonnie Davey, soph. guard, Gladstone; Tristan Miller, sr. forward, Westwood

All-Defensive Team — Baron Heslip, sr. forward, Negaunee; Ethan Corp, sr. forward, Ishpeming; Waylon Sales, sr. forward, Gwinn; DJ Bellville, sr. guard, Manistique

Second Team — Baron Heslip, sr. forward, Negaunee; Waylon Sales, sr. forward, Gwinn; Evan Copley, sr. guard, Iron Mountain; Reid Frustaglio, sr. forward, Westwood; Ian Marttila, sr. guard, Iron Mountain; Kyle Waterman, soph. forward, Negaunee

Honorable Mention — Ethan Corp, sr. forward, Ishpeming; DJ Bellville, sr. guard, Manistique

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WEST PAC

Player of the Year — Ethan Marta, jr., Westwood; and Oskar Kangas, sr., Iron Mountain

Defensive Player of the Year — AJ Pizziola, jr., Westwood

Coach of the Year — Luke Gray, Westwood

Dream Team — Caden Luoma, sr., Ishpeming; Jordan Guenette, sr., Negaunee; Luke Hill, sr., Houghton; Gerald Sampoll-Torres, sr., Iron Mountain; Tristan Miller, sr., Westwood

All-Defensive Team — Brayden Kassin, soph., Iron Mountain; Baron Heslip, sr., Negaunee; Jared Larson, sr., Calumet; Isaiah Lawson, sr., Houghton; Ethan Corp, sr., Ishpeming

Iron Division First Team — Baron Heslip, sr., Negaunee; Evan Copley, sr., Iron Mountain; Reid Frustaglio, sr., Westwood; Ian Marttila, sr., Iron Mountain; Waylon Sales, sr., Gwinn

Copper Division First Team — Isaiah Lawson, sr., Houghton; Gavin Sturos, sr., Calumet; Elijah Oberlin, sr., West Iron County; Micah Pieti, sr., Calumet; Lane Laux, sr., Houghton

Iron Division Honorable Mention — Kyle Waterman, soph., Negaunee; Holden Meyer, sr., Negaunee; Grady Gauthier, jr., Ishpeming; Ethan Corp, sr., Ishpeming; Dane Wixtrom, sr., Gwinn; Brayden Kassin, soph., Iron Mountain; AJ Pizziola, jr., Westwood

Copper Division Honorable Mention — Terry Nolan, fresh., Houghton; Abel Lundin, sr., West Iron County; Kent Koskela, sr., Calumet; Gage Chynoweth, fresh., Hancock

Team champions — varsity, Westwood and Iron Mountain (tie); JV, Negaunee

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GREAT NORTHERN CONFERENCE

Player of the Year — Jacob MacPhee, sr., Marquette

Defensive Player of the Year — Gavin Grondin, sr., Kingsford

Coach of the Year — Rich Ledy, Marquette; and Ben Olsen, Kingsford

First Team — Jaxon Jurmu, sr., Marquette; Gavin Grondin, sr., Kingsford; Tanner Theuerkauf, jr., Menominee; Lonnie Davey, soph., Gladstone; Morgan Sleik, sr., Kingsford

Second Team — Kyler Sager, sr., Marquette; Connor Fierstine, jr., Marquette; Darrent Butler, jr., Menominee; Jack Kriegl, jr., Kingsford; Javon Stevenson, sr., Escanaba

Special Mention — Alex Prins, fresh., Gladstone; Dylan Beal, soph., Menominee; Gavin Trevillian, sr., Kingsford; Taylor Asgaard, jr., Escanaba

Honorable Mention — Ford Richardson, jr., Marquette; Henry Wood, sr., Marquette; Owen Olkkonen, jr., Kingsford; Jett Buckley, soph., Kingsford

Team champions — varsity, Marquette and Kingsford, both 7-1; JV, Marquette, 8-0; freshman, Marquette, 6-1

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