After watching the 2025 Copper Mountain/Skyline Conference Showcase at Michigan Tech University, I've come to the following five conclusions/thoughts:
1) The youth was on full display Tuesday night, and the UP appears to be in good hands moving forward. In Michigan, if you are a Division 4 school with less than 100 kids, 8th graders are allowed to play high school basketball. Baraga's Sawyer Hendrickson didn't play in the 1st quarter, but provided a spark when he got in for the 2nd quarter and played the remainder of the game. Hendrickson finished the game with 5 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, and 2 steals. Crystal Falls was without their best player, so freshman Lyle Price had to take the load of ball handling. So much so that Dollar Bay ended up denying him the ball after the first 3 minutes of game time. Price finished the game with 7 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal and 2 blocks. Dollar Bay had two freshman in the starting lineup, Tyler Jaehnig and Noah Tourtillott. Both players had moments during the game where they looked really good. Jaehning finished the game with 7 points, 9 rebounds, and 1 steal. Noah Tourtillott finished with 5 points, 7 rebounds, 1 assist, and 2 steals. Stephenson had one freshman, Evan Ruleau, who saw significant minutes for what was a previously unbeaten team. Ruleau finished the game with 10 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, and 1 steal. The last underclassmen for this section is sophomore Blake Lebo from Lake Linden-Hubbell. Lebo had probably the most impressive game of any of these underclassmen, he finished with 22 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists, and 5 steals.
2) L'Anse is sophomore dominated, and they are on the rise. Three sophomores started for L'Anse, and another two came off the bench to play meaningful minutes. We didn't talk about them in the previous section because the team needs it's own topic. They are now 5-2 after the event with loses to Houghton and Norway. Sam Lee is the known name in that group after he was named All-Conference in the Copper Mountain as a freshman. Although he really struggled to get his shot going, he greatly impacted the game in other ways finishing with 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, and 1 block. Talan Larson and Kale Cichosz were the other two sophomore guards who started for the Purple Hornets. Larson was an All-UP selection as a freshman a season ago. Miles VanAlstine came into the game and hit 3 threes right away against the Norway zone. Maysen Thompson was the last sophomore to get in the game, with limited minutes. There is lots of room for their youth to grow the remainder of the season, which seems to give them the feel of being a very dangerous team. Add in senior Keegan Davidson, who was an All-UP selection last season and it makes them more interesting. They had some growing pains last season, and probably lost to Norway due to just being a younger team on Tuesday night. Way too early to be discussing this, but two years from now could be a very good season for L'Anse if they are able to stay together and have all five of those players in the program still.
3) Dollar Bay and Crystal Falls Forest Park was a nice playoff teaser game. It was a back and forth game and went to overtime, what more could you ask for as the night cap of a showcase? It's very possible that both of these teams win their District and have to square off again in the playoffs in the Regional Final in Negaunee with a trip to the Michigan Division 4 Quarterfinals on the line. Crystal Falls Forest Park played without their best player, Vic Giuliani and if it wasn't for a late three pointer by Baron Colbert they would've left Houghton with a victory. Crystal Falls Forest Park juniors, Dax Huuki and Izaiah Tarter, both carried some of the scoring load and got things going later in the game to help the Trojans get the lead. With no seniors on the roster, Crystal Falls Forest Park should be primed to be competitive for another year. To play devil's advocate, Dollar Bay didn't get their best performance from Liam Tourtillott, who is one of the better players in the UP currently. Dollar Bay could get more out of a few of their players, including their freshman that were listed above. Their starting junior, Baron Colbert played very well, but if he develops a little more throughout the season he could become a real difference maker for them by playoff time. If you ask me, it seems like Lakeview Memorial Gymnasium in Negaunee will probably be packed once again come March!
4) Getting to the Breslin Center is going to be a battle. It's never easy to win come playoff time, and this Regional always seems to be tough regardless of what team played the best all season. Dollar Bay and Crystal Falls Forest Park stand out as the favorites to win their Districts and and meet in the Regional to make it to East Lansing. But that doesn't mean they are the only ones who have a chance. Bessemer, Felch North Dickinson, L'Anse, Norway, Stephenson, and Wakefield-Marenisco all appear to be teams to keep eyes on who could pull an "upset" of the two previously names schools. It would be great to have a team make it down state and come home with a State Championship in Division 4. Since Michigan switched to divisions for the 2018-2019 season, Ewen-Trout Creek and Munising are the only two UP schools to come home with hardware. Ewen-Trout Creek dropped a heartbreaker in overtime to Wyoming Tri-Unity Christian in 2022, and Munising knocked off Wyoming Tri-Unity Christian the following season to win the Championship. I'll always cheer for the small public school from the UP to go to the Breslin Center and beat a private school from the Lower Peninsula!
5) We need more events like this put on by conferences! This was the second year of this event and people need to make sure that it continues to grow. Imagine a whole day of basketball and you get more of the conferences involved. While at the event I was told about how Calumet, Hancock, Houghton, and Jeffers got together and did a similar event a few weeks ago. But those teams all play each other in the regular season regardless. Events like this are fun for the fans and make it worth the drive (I watched four games and paid for a $7 ticket). Both conferences had quality teams and players there, and it seemed like all of the games were evenly matched (the largest winning margin was 9 points). Imagine something like this with the Lakeland and Marawood Conferences in Wisconsin, or the Arrowhead and Polar Conferences in Minnesota. Highlighting both conferences and giving a mid-season atmosphere of what could be some potential state playoff matchups is a fun way to keep everyone excited during the dog days of winter. My biggest complaint with this event is that Michigan still plays quarters instead of making the switch to halves like Minnesota and Wisconsin.
