Justin St. Ours | Daily Press The Escanaba basketball team poses with its Division 2 District 33 trophy after beating Kingsford Wednesday in Escanaba.

ESCANABA — Surreal.

That’s how Escanaba boys basketball coach Tracy Hudson described earning back-to-back district titles after the win against Kingsford, 74-50, Wednesday in Escanaba in the MHSAA Division 2 District 33 district final.

“Surreal. It’s just like wow,” Esky coach Tracy Hudson said. “We just played the district final and won it. It’s unbelievable. I told the kids it’s championship week. Every time you turn on the TV, someone’s playing for a championship. Let’s punch our ticket to March Madness.”

The Eskymos came out with the same defensive intensity they had against Negaunee Monday night (57-31) and put the Flivvers on the back foot almost immediately.

“Our guys … played two games with unbelievable defensive intensity, unbelievable passion and just an unbelievable team approach,” Hudson said. “That’s what I think really separates our guys from a lot of other teams is how much defensive intensity (we play with). We play multiple defenses, we switch a lot, and we didn’t press a lot because we were worried about their quickness.”

Despite a big early lead, Kingsford fought back to within two points on a triple from Nic Nora just 23 seconds into the third quarter to make it 31-29.

“We don’t get punched in the face very often,” Flivvers coach Daniel Olkkonen said. “They did it right from the start. Hanson’s 3-pointer to start the game. I mean, that’s the one person we’re trying to guard from the 3-point line, and they run a little tweak to a play, and he hits it.

“Our whole thing was just making corrections on offense. We weren’t making good enough reads. We play all man. We’re a man team. They’re a good offensive team. We kept getting mismatches with Hanson coming off these screens, and we weren’t doing a good enough job hedging.”

However, a little over a minute later, Colin Hudson’s putback sparked an 8-0 run, including Connor Smale and Jared Hanson both going 2-for-2 from the charity stripe, to push the Eskymos back ahead 39-29.

“They just kept running the floor,” Olkkonen said. “I think they got too many wide-open layups. Their guards are good. I thought Bray and Smale especially came downhill, and they were making some plays. Then, the offensive rebounds with Hudson. They’re so big, and we didn’t do enough.”

Just over halfway through the quarter. Kingsford’s Gavin Grondin, who finished with 17 and as the top scorer for the team, laid one in and sank one from the free throw line for a three-point play to cut the deficit to 41-32.

Unlike the explosiveness of the first, the Eskymos steadily pulled ahead to ultimately lead 50-36 at the end of the third.

“The score is very deceiving because it was a very close game,” coach Hudson said. “We gradually pulled away in the third. The game slowed down, and we went to some of our reliable sets. We used our motion-2, and we were able to create some distance.

“They punched back hard. I felt like we were lucky. We were fortunate enough to get the last little spurt in the half to kind of hang on and go in with a lead. I felt like the way they came back on us, we could’ve been down five at halftime. We stayed out of foul trouble. That was a key for us. We handled their pressure. They’re very quick. I think we did a very good job understanding their individual tendencies trying to keep their guards from getting to the basket. I thought our 2-3 kept Nora and Myllyla away from getting to the basket. They hurt us with some 3s, and we gave up some at the free throw line with Kopp and gave up some outside shots. But, we took away a lot of the straight-line drives.”

In the first quarter, Escanaba owned the first three and a half minutes with triples from Hanson and Hudson and a basket from Smale and Hudson to lead 10-0.

The Flivvers made it onto the scoreboard when Cole Myllyla went 1-for-2 from the free throw line. Forty-seven seconds later, Ben Trevillian added two more free throws to cut Kingsford’s deficit to 12-3, but over the next two minutes, Esky added six more to lead 18-3 with just over two minutes left.

What began the momentum rolling back toward the Flivvers’ way was a triple from Nora with 1:45 left in the first, and while the Eskymos went into a drought for the remainder of the quarter, Kingsford added four more to make it 18-10 entering the second.

Brody Kopp collected 12, and Nora finished with 11.

“Michael Meneguzzo and Brody Kopp have been with the program three years on varsity,” Olkkonen said of his seniors. “They’ve left their imprint. they’ve been great friends, great teammates. They put a lot of effort in, and they really helped turn our program into something special for the years to come.

“As far as the team, I told those guys they’re all going to be great young men. We’re proud of this season. We had 15 wins, and it’s been a while since we’ve been up there. We just have to get over that hump to win the really big games.”

Hudson led the Eskymos with 29, including a 12-point fourth quarter and going 11-for-11 from the charity stripe, Smale notched 18 — along with going 6-of-7 from two-point range and committing no turnovers — and Hanson finished with 17.

“I thought we got some good bench play,” coach Hudson said. “We went with Adam Willette and Nathan Howes. Those were our guys off the bench. I thought we stayed out of foul trouble, and we answered. When they pressed us, you saw Jared (Hanson) hit the 3. Connor Smale, when they pressed us, he did a good job getting to the rim. I thought he really stepped his game up. It’s something these kids (have been working toward). It’s not something they started working on a few weeks ago. These kids have been working toward a district since they were in fourth or fifth grade. I thought Trevor Brown did a great job on the boards. He had nine rebounds. We only had five turnovers. We had great ball security tonight.”

Escanaba takes a break until facing either Sault Ste. Marie or Boyne City Monday in Manistique for a regional semifinal.

“We were able to get a win against two really good teams,” coach Hudson. “It’s just something that, now, I feel like everything is a bonus. Coming up a little short in the conference, this would be devastating not getting this one. I think we were healthy, motivated and this was our number one goal for the year.

“A Friday to a Monday, that’s a quick turnaround, so I think being able to take Thursday off and get some film and (have some light practice), I think it’s a pretty good deal.”

Kingsford 10 16 10 14 — 50

Escanaba 18 13 19 24 — 74

Kingsford — Grondin 17, Kopp 12, Nora 11, Trevillian 6, Myllyla 4. FT: 6-8; F: 13; Fouled out: none; 3-point field goals: Grondin 4, Nora 3, Myllyla 1.

Escanaba — Hudson 29, Smale 18, Hanson 17, Brown 4, Bray 2, Weaver 2, Willette 2. FT: 13-13; F: 8; Fouled out: none; 3-point field goals: Hanson 3, Smale 1, Hudson 1.