Rapid River senior Blake Lundquist (30) attempts a 3-pointer against Munising on Jan. 3, 2024 at Rapid River High School.

RAPID RIVER — Wednesday’s Skyline Central Conference boys’ basketball showdown served as a learning opportunity for Rapid River.

The Rockets fell to Munising, the defending Division 4 state champions, 89-38.

“They gave us a good punch to the gut tonight,” Rockets coach Brent Lundquist said “Trevor (Nolan) filled Kane’s shoes tonight. It’s hard to control him because he’s comfortable no matter where he is on the floor.”

Trailing 4-1, Rockets’ junior Clay Christoff hit a left-wing triple to tie the game at 4. Nolan and junior Carson Kienitz each connected from beyond the arc to give Munising a 10-4 lead. Rapid River answered back on a 3-pointer by Blake Lundquist. Blake Lunquist also turned a steal into two points by knocking down a mid-range jumper to cut the deficit to 10-9, forcing the Mustangs to burn a timeout. Munising came out of the timeout on a 13-0 run to end the first quarter on a jumper by Dusseault for a 23-9 lead after one.

Blake Lundquist hit the first basket of the second quarter for the Rockets, but Munising used a 7-0 run to extend its lead to 29-11. Nolan continued to pull the Mustangs away on his fifth of seven three pointers in the first half to put Munising up 32-13. Nolan hit his seventh 3-pointer as the buzzer sounded to end the first half, extending the Mustangs lead to 47-22. “We played well offensively and defensively,” Munising coach Terry Kienitz said. “We got some good production from our bench players and that will be important for us going forward.”

Rapid River returns to action at 7 p.m. Tuesday when it travels to Manistique.

Munising 22 25 27 15 –89

Rapid River 9 14 9 6 –38

Munising — Nolan 27, Kienitz 11, Dusseault 22, Nelson 9, Connaughton 8, Long 4, Goss 1, Curtis 2, Rockhill 3, Adkinson 2. FT: 5-8; F: 11; 3-point field goals: Nolan 7, Kienitz, Rockhill.

Rapid River — Anderson 13, Christoff 4, Forslund 6, Lundquist 13, Carlson 2. FT:4-11; F: 16; 3-point field goals: Lundquist, Christoff.