Negaunee, MI – March 9th, 2018 – The Ishpeming Hematites Boys High School Basketball team took to Negaunee for the district championship game vs the Westwood Patriots narrowly losing with a final score of 54-53.
First Quarter: 16-13 Westwood
Hart Holmgren won the tip-off, the ball ended up in the hands of Jaden tucker who put up the first shot of the game and first points on the board and was fouled to go to the line, Tucker missed and Hart Holmgren rebounds and puts in a big 3 point shot bringing the score to 5-0 Hematites. The quarter wrapped up with the Hematites trailing by 3. 
Second Quarter: 30-25 Westwood
Westwood continued their lead though the start of the second, but the Hematites quickly closed the gap. Hart Holmgren tied up the game with his 13th game point with 4 minutes to go in the second. With 40 seconds left Westwood pulled back into the lead to finish the frame with a 3 point buzzer beater for 30-25 Patriots.
Third Quarter: 38-36 Westwood
This started all Hematites, Hart Holmgren and Darius and Dondre Yohe put on their flames and took the lead over Westwood early in the third. The remainder of this frame was shot for shot passing the lead between the two teams as time ran down in the frame finishing out 38-36 Westwood. Hart Holmgren broke the record for the most points in a season during this quarter. (More below.)
Fourth Quarter: 54-53 Westwood
Westwood solidified their lead over the Hematites during the first 4 minutes of the final frame pulling ahead slightly 42-38. The game was on the line and Ishpeming cut the Westwood lead to 2, taking possession of the ball again and bringing another 2 point shot to tie the game with 3 minutes remaining 42-42.
The tension in the gym was high, both teams played neck and neck, shot for shot still as the time counted down to the final minutes of the game, Ishpeming was trying to push the game to a more than one possession game and thanks to Hunter Smith with a steal pushed the lead to two possessions creating a small cushion.
The game boiled down to a comfortable Hematite lead of 53-46 with just a minute and a half to play. The Patriots managed to pull up a couple points and used their final timeout with 32 seconds on the clock with the score 53-49 Hematites, it would take a miracle for the Patriots to manage to take the lead and by the grace of luck with 7 seconds on the clock fouled Hart Holmgren who went to the line for 2 free throws, and missed both shots, Westwood rebounded and sprinted across court and put up a buzzer beater to beat the Hematites by one point with a final score of 54-53.
Hart Holmgren finished up his tenure with a career 1177 points, beating the previous record set in 1969 by 73 points. Hart also beat the record for most points scored in a season with a total of 509 in 22 games, that is 9 ahead of the previous held record in 1995-1996 season.
The Ishpeming Hematites Boys wrap up their season as the seniors move on to the next parts of their lives and we at Great Lakes Radio wish them all the best and look forward to the next season for our returning Hematites boys.
Listen to the game audio here: Ishpeming Hematites boys vs the Westwood Patriots.mp3
