Justin St. Ours | Daily Press Rapid River’s Braydon Moss shoots in the middle of Superior Central defenders Mikey Rondeau (11), Will Carlson (32) and Parker Maki (behind) during a Divison 4 district opener Wednesday at Rapid River. Looking on for Rapid River is Vincent Micheau (23).

RAPID RIVER — It was status quo in a Division 4 district boys basketball opener here Wednesday night as the Rapid River Rockets coasted past the Superior Central Cougars 70-30.

The Rockets (14-7) host Hannahville (16-5) in the championship game Friday at 7 p.m. The Cougars finished 4-16.

Hannahville advanced with a 72-55 triumph over Mid Peninsula Wednesday for its first district win since 2004.

“I think Hannahville is very well coached,” said Rockets coach Mitch Hall. “They play with a lot of heart and they’re a threat in transition and from the 3-point line. This is the best Hannahville team I’ve seen. This is the first time I’ve been scared about playing them.”

Rapid River grabbed a 13-2 lead in Wednesday night’s game on a 20-foot jump shot from the right wing by senior guard Braydon Moss.

The Cougars trimmed their deficit to 13-5 on a 25-foot jumper by junior guard Mikey Rondeau.

Rapid River then outscored the Cougars 24-2 in the second stanza, gaining a 37-7 advantage on a five-foot jumper by junior Griffin Flath at the halftime buzzer.

“I’d say it was a pretty complete game,” said Hall. “Although, I think we could have moved the ball a little quicker. They didn’t give us many open layups. We need to move better without the ball.”

The Cougars trimmed their deficit to 39-18 on a putback by junior forward Michael Leppanen.

Rapid River, however, didn’t allow them to get any closer.

“A lot of it was nerves,” said Cougars coach Harry Robbins. “We have two seniors on the team. We also brought up a lot of young jayvees to get them into the district tournament and in front of a bigger crowd than they’re used to. This was a learning experience for them. Rapid River has a very, very good team. They’re senior-oriented and can go 8-9 players deep.”

Rockets’ senior center Tony DeMars collected 14 points and 10 rebounds. Moss also scored 14 and Flath had 10. Junior guard Parker Maki led the Cougars with 13 points.

“We got the ball inside to Tony, and I think that was the difference tonight,” said Hall. “We passed the ball real well and our defense was decent.”

The Rockets hit 27-of-60 field goals and committed 12 turnovers. The Cougars were 12-of-51 from the field and had 19 miscues.

“Attitude, work ethic and sportsmanship are the three things I emphasized at the beginning of the year,” said Robbins. “The kids made a lot of progress during the season. They played hard and didn’t give up. We have an opportunity to make even more progress next season. Much depends on what the guys want to do during the offseason.”

Superior Central 5 2 15 8 — 30

Rapid River 13 24 11 22 — 70

Superior Central — Maki 13, Frusti 2, Rondeau 8, Leppanen 2, Carlson 2, Koski 3. FT: 0-6; F: 13; Fouled out: None; 3-point field goals: Maki, Rondeau.

Rapid River — Sundling 9, Moss 14, Snay 6, Sefcik 1, Hernandez 4, Micheau 5, Lenaker 3, Flath 10, Dausey 4, DeMars 14. FT: 9-11; F: 7; Fouled out: None; 3-point field goals: Moss 2, Snay 2, Sundling, Micheau, Lenaker.