Editors Note: Records are as of Monday afternoon.
The Marquette Redmen and Redettes compiled a near unanimous sweep of the inaugural Class A-B-C basketball polls, released Monday by the Upper Peninsula Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association.
The Redmen with a perfect 5-0 record, earned a unanimous No. 1 ranking after handing No. 2 Negaunee, believed by many to be among the strongest teams in the state, their only loss.
An undefeated Iron Mountain (6-0) team came in as a unanimous No. 3 selection. There was some dispute at the bottom of the poll however.
Gwinn (4-2) and Ironwood (4-1) were tied for No. 4 while West Iron County (4-1) received three votes and Houghton (4-1) received two.
The Modeltowners' strongest victories are over Superior Central (3-3) and Munising with closest losses to Iron Mountain and Negaunee.
Fact Box
U.P. Boys Basketball
CLASS A-B-C
RecordPts.
Marquette (5) (5-0)25
Negaunee (6-1)20
Iron?Mountain (6-0)15
Gwinn (4-2)4
Ironwood (4-1) 4
Honorable mention:?West Iron County (4-1) 3; Houghton (4-1) 2; Kingsford (3-2) 1; Gladstone (4-2) 1.
CLASS D
RecordPts.
Carney-Nadeau (4) (5-0)22
Cedarville (1) (5-1) 20
Mid Peninsula (5-1)12
Bessemer (7-0) 10
Brimley (6-1) 4
Honorable mention:?Lake Linden-Hubbell (5-0) 3; North Central (4-1) 2; Ewen-Trout Creek (4-2) 2.
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First-place votes follow team name. Voting conducted by five-member panel for the U.P. Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association.
U.P. Girls Basketball
CLASS A-B-C
RecordPts.
Marquette (4) (7-2)24
Houghton (1) (6-1)14
Calumet (6-1)13
Negaunee (6-1) 13
L'Anse (6-1) 10
Honorable mention:?Sault Ste. Marie (4-4) 1.
CLASS D
RecordPts.
St. Ignace (5)(7-0) 25
Forest Park(8-0) 20
Superior Central(8-0) 15
Bark River-Harris(6-2) 7
DeTour (6-0) 3
North Central (7-1)3
Honorable mention: Ontonagon (5-0) 2
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First-place votes follow team name. Voting conducted by five-member panel of the U.P. Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association.
Ironwood has defeated Wisconsin schools; Hurley, Mellen and Mercer as well as North Dickinson (0-4).
Marquette knocked off Iron Mountain Monday night, winning 52-32. The Redmen will host Menominee Friday night.
Negaunee hosts Ishpeming Wednesday night while Gwinn goes to Westwood. Friday night, Gwinn will host Iron Mountain. Ironwood fell 74-69 to Washburn Monday night and will play at Butternut Thursday night.
In Class D, Carney-Nadeau (5-0) coming off a final four appearance in 2011-12, was a unanimous No. 1 choice, their toughest test thus far coming at home on Dec. 13 when the Wolves clipped North Central (4-1) 59-53.
Cedarville (5-1) came in at No. 2 followed by Mid Peninsula (5-1), fresh off a 67-61 victory over Gladstone (4-2) Jan. 3, was ranked No. 3. An undefeated Bessemer (7-0) team came in at No. 4 while Brimley (6-1) filled out the poll at No. 5. Left out was an undefeated Lake Linden-Hubbell (5-0) team that received three votes. North Central and Ewen-Trout Creek (4-2) had two votes apiece.
Carney-Nadeau routed Big Bay de Noc 84-37 Monday night and will travel to Mid Peninsula Thursday night. Cedarville plays at St. Ignace (3-3) Thursday night while Bessemer plays at Washburn. Brimley hosts Burt Lake Tuesday night
The Marquette Redettes (7-2) took the top spot in the girls A-B-C poll with four out of five first-place votes. Marquette lost its first two games of the season at the Petoskey tournament, falling to Brighton and Class D No. 1, St. Ignace. From there, the Redettes have gone on a seven game win streak with victories over Great Northern Conference opponents Gladstone (4-4), Menominee (3-3) and Kingsford (6-2), as well as Traverse City Central and Traverse City West.
No. 2 Houghton (6-1) received one first-place vote. The Gremlins have victories over Escanaba (2-5) and Gladstone with their lone loss coming from No. 5 L'Anse (6-1) in overtime.
Calumet (6-1) and Negaunee (6-1) were tied for third with 13 points apiece.
This week Marquette plays at Escanaba Tuesday night while Houghton hosts Jeffers (0-8 before traveling to Westwood Friday night. Calumet plays at Ontonagon Tuesday night and Negaunee goes to Gwinn (1-5) Thursday night. L'Anse will play at Hancock (2-4) Tuesday night before hosting Lake Linden-Hubbell (2-4) Friday night.
Five undefeated teams in the Upper Peninsula remain in Class D, however only four were ranked.
St. Ignace (7-0) was a unanimous selection at No. 1, the Saints strongest win coming over Marquette in the first week of the season. A strong Forest Park Trojans (8-0) team was ranked No. 2, followed by a well-balanced and unbeaten Superior Central (8-0) team at No. 3.
Though Bark River-Harris (6-2) is coming off an upset loss at home to Carney-Nadeau (4-4) last Friday, the Broncos were still ranked No. 4, Tied at No. 5 were the streaking North Central (7-1) Jets and undefeated DeTour (6-0). Undefeated Ontonagon (5-0) received two votes.
The Jets have won seven straight since a season opening loss to Forest Park.
On tap this week, St. Ignace hosts Newberry (2-5) Friday night, Forest Park rolled 77-41 over Mid Peninsula Monday night and will have a rematch with Bark River-Harris Friday night. The Broncos also play at Munising Tuesday night. Superior Central hosts Ishpeming (4-2) Tuesday night for the second time this season. The Cougars won 45-37 at Ishpeming the first week of the season. Superior Central will then play at North Central Friday night in a battle of ranked teams. DeTour hosts Pickford (3-4) Friday night and Ontonagon hosts Calumet on Tuesday before playing at Ewen-Trout Creek (4-3) Friday night.