MENOMINEE — Three was the magic number for the Menominee boys basketball team in Wednesday’s District 66 semifinal playoff game against Gwinn, as the Maroons made mincemeat out of the Modeltowners 64-38.
Menominee (17-6) hit 11 3-pointers and converted two successful and-1 opportunities, which gave the Maroons more points off three-point plays (39) than Gwinn mustered all night.
Wednesday’s victory punches Menominee’s ticket to its fourth straight District championship game tonight, where a familiar foe in Iron Mountain (22-1) awaits.
Against Gwinn, six of the Maroons’ 11 triples came in the first quarter, while Tanner Theuerkauf tacked on a layup and Connor Coduti added a pair of free throws to give Menominee a commanding 22-2 advantage.
“We did what had to be done. I think that sometimes, it can be difficult for a team that’s favored to win, especially with what’s looming on Friday, to stay focused,” Menominee coach Sam Larson said. “I give our guys a lot of credit for mentally locking in, especially in that first quarter.”
Menominee opened the second quarter on a 10-0 run before buckets by Ashton Bell and Logan Soyring coupled with a trey from Connor Dupras helped Gwinn trim the Maroons’ lead down to 24 at halftime.
Dupras led the Modeltowners with 18 points and was the only Gwinn player to score more than eight points on Wednesday.
“We varied up our defense a lot. We went some full-court pressure, some half-court man and worked a lot of zone too, and I thought that we lost Dupas a couple of times against the zone,” Larson said. “Other than that, our defensive intensity was very good, especially in the first half.”
Gwinn (6-17) pulled within 22 early in the second half until triples from Coduti and Nathan Schultz along with baskets from Theuerkauf, Eli Beal and Landan Bardowski pushed the Maroons ahead 54-26 at the end of the third quarter.
Blake Paasch came off the bench and poured in five points as Menominee’s cushion swelled to 32, but Gwinn closed out the frame strong, outscoring the Maroons 8-2 over the final three minutes.
Nine different Maroons collected a basket on Wednesday, led by 16 points from Coduti, while Theuerkauf was hot on his heels with 15.
Beal and Schultz both pitched in eight points, Paasch and Trevor Theuerkauf chipped in five points apiece, Nathan Komp added three, with Bardowski and Gable Buck both notching two.
“For a zone offense, we executed very well. We had a lot of possessions end with a really good look out of someone dumping the ball off to somebody else. The unselfishness was nice to see,” Larson said.
Waylon Sales was Gwinn’s second-leading scorer with eight points. Bell and Soyring each had six.
Up nextMenominee: The Maroons host Iron Mountain tonight in the District 66 championship game. It’s the fourth consecutive season that the two schools will lock horns with the District title hanging in the balance, with Menominee emerging victorious the past two times.
Revenge will be on Iron Mountain’s mind after the Menominee handed the Mountaineers their lone loss of the season, a 60-58 overtime setback on February 5 in Iron Mountain.
“Both teams know each other very well, so it’s going to come down to players making plays and who can be the most disciplined,” Larson said. “We’re looking forward to the challenge. We respect the quality of program that Iron Mountain has, but we feel good about the guys that we have in our locker room too.”
Tonight’s game tips off at 6 p.m.
Menominee 64, Gwinn 39Menominee 22 15 17 10 — 64
Gwinn 2 11 13 12 — 39
Menominee: Coduti 16, Ta. Theuerkauf 15, Beal 8, Schultz 8, Paasch 5, Tr. Theuerkauf 5, Komp 3, Bardowski 2, Buck 2; FTs: 5-6
Gwinn: Dupras 18, Sales 8, Bell 6, Soyring 6; FTs: 7-13
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