Marquette’s Jacob MacPhee dunks over teammate Jaxon Jurmu during the All-Star dunk competition on June 12, 2025 at the Bay College Gymnasium. (Adam Hinch/Daily Press)

ESCANABA — Basketball athletes from all across the U.P. came together at Bay College for the 39th Annual Upper Peninsula All-Star Basketball games. The west girls picked up a 50-41 win over the east and the east boys needed overtime to secure a 96-93 win.

The festivities got underway with the girls free throw contest won by Kaitlyn Smith of West Iron County. The boys and girls each had a 3-point contest with Emily Jokela from Lake Linden-Hubbell taking the crown for the girls and Trevor Nolan from Munising winning for the boys. The boys also had a dunk competition that was won by Jacob MacPhee of Marquette.

Girls game

The west girls took a 26-21 lead into the half. The east quickly cut the lead to two as Brianna Anderson of Marquette split a pair of free throws and Bailey Corcoran pulled up and knocked down the mid-range jumper to cut the deficit to 26-24.

The wast responded with back-to-back layups by Brooklyn Dompier of L’Anse and Emily Jokela to extend the lead to 30-24.

The east tied the game at 35 on a layup by Adria Ruleau but the west outscored the east 15-6 during the fourth quarter with Jokela scoring four of her 18 points in the fourth frame.

“It was great to get to play with these girls the last two weeks,” Jokela said. “I have made a lot of friends and got to compete with other girls that are fierce competitors so that was a lot of fun.”

The east was led by Jokela with 18 points. Addison Cullen led the way for the west with 11 points.

Boys game

The boys game was full of excitement as Munising Trevor Nolan knocked down four 3-pointers from way downtown and finished with 15 points. 

“It was an unbelievable experience and amazing to be able to play with such great players,” said Nolan, who will play at Bay College beginning next season. “I just wanted to have fun coming in and making new friends and I’m excited to be here for the next two years.”

Each team held big leads in the contest. The east had their biggest lead of 16 points at 51-35, and the west had their biggest lead of eight at 80-72.

The west led 86-83 when Kyler Sager knocked down a shot from half-court to send the game to overtime.

“I got the pass from Trevor and had to split two defenders,” Sager said. “With one second left you have to just chuck it up and see what happens.”

The east took care of business in the overtime frame as MacPhee went to the basket for the layup to give the east a 88-86 lead.

The west answered right back with a basket by Morgan Sleik from Kingsford to tie the game at 88. 

The east went on a 7-0 run highlighted by a driving layup by Marquette’s Jaxon Jurmu and drew the foul and converted the three point play and the east led 98-88.

Gavin Grondin had a game high 26 points in the loss. 

The east was led by Sager with 16 points. Nolan had 15 and MacPhee had 12.