IRON RIVER—West Iron County Coach Mike Dallavalle had every right to be happy after his team’s win over Forest Park Jan. 8. The Wykons led most of the way and fought off the Lady Trojans down the stretch.

“I’m proud of what happened tonight,” Dallavalle said. “They executed, they fought for rebounds, took care of the ball. I’m ecstatic they got a win—they should feel great about themselves.

“We’re growing up in a hurry, and it’s nice to see.”

The victory followed West Iron’s 48-42 win at Hancock on Jan. 5. West Iron is now 2-2 in the West Pac Conference and 3-4 overall. Also on Jan. 5, Forest Park visited Rapid River and returned home with a 58-37 win (separate story).

Wykon victories over Forest Park’s girls are not unprecedented, but they don’t happen often. The most recent one was a 34-18 win on Sept. 28, 2004--five years ago, when girls basketball was a fall sport and FP varsity Coach Jeff Syrjanen coached the Trojan JVs.

This time, there were eight lead changes, four of them in the fourth quarter. Forest Park trailed by eight in the third quarter but fought back into the game with a 12-4 run. It was 38-all as the fourth quarter began.

Forest Park struck first with a 7-0 run, including two baskets by Maria Valesano and one by Audrey Sholander. The Lady Trojans led 48-44 with three minutes left--their first lead since the second quarter.

But the Wykons weren’t done. Desi Rasmussen scored from the lane and later put in a rebound, was fouled and added the free throw, making it 50-50. FP’s Daryl Arcand fouled out on the play, and Coach Syrjanen later said it was a key factor. “Then we had to go to a man [defense], and we didn’t have an answer for Rasmussen down low.”

Shannon Koski’s hoop off Rasmussen’s pass put the Wykons ahead, but Valesano drove in for a bucket: Trojans, 54-53 with 1:23 left. Next, Kylee Erickson was fouled and the freshman coolly made both free throws: Wykons, 55-54 with 1:02 left.

“Desi and Shannon started getting some great post-ups,” Dallavalle said, “and our guards were making some great passes in to them. We went up strong, made some baskets and got to shoot some free throws.”

Forest Park came back down but lost the ball on an over-and-back violation—a pass was muffed and bounced into the backcourt. West Iron passed the ball around until Jaclyn Waara was fouled. Waara made both free throws: Wykons, 57-54 with 22 seconds left.

The Lady Trojans still had a shot to tie it—but West Iron defended the perimeter well, and Rasmussen embraced an off-target three-point attempt as the final horn sounded.

West Iron scored the game’s first six points, but FP got the next six. WIC led 11-7 after one, but the Trojans took the lead twice in the second quarter. Late in the half, Waara hit a three, Koski put in a rebound and Waara broke downcourt to hit a bucket right at the halftime horn. The seven-point spurt put West Iron up 25-18 at the break.

“I felt we dominated their ball control in the first half,” Dallavalle said. “We took care of the ball against their press and settled down. Then we started getting some things going offensively.”

The Trojans’ big problem was shooting. Forest Park shot just 19% overall in the first half, only 21% inside the arc. “We had some good looks,” said Syrjanen. “We just couldn’t hit them.”

Forest Park tied it in the third thanks to a 12-4 rally led by Courtney Lehto and Sholander. Sholander scored 15 points in the second half. Later, Valesano took charge, with eight points in the fourth quarter.

“They hit some shots,” said Dallavalle, “and when we closed in on that, we couldn’t stop Sholander from penetrating. I knew she was good; I didn’t realize how quick she was, but we found out in a hurry.”

The Trojans found their shooting touch at halftime and hit 50% in the second half. They were 34% for the game. West Iron shot 32% each half.

Sholander was high scorer for Forest Park with 22 points, and Valesano finished with 14. The Wykons had four girls in double figures: Waara led with 19, followed by Rasmussen (13), Koski (11) and Erickson (10). Both Koski and Rasmussen scored six in the fourth quarter. Erickson was 10 for 11 at the free throw line.

For FP, Arcand had eight rebounds, Valesano had seven assists and Sholader and Valesano each had three steals. For West Iron, Koski led with 10 rebounds, Waara and Erickson both had four assists, and Waara had four steals.

On Jan. 4, the Wykons’ aggressive defense gave them the upper hand at Hancock.

West Iron outscored the Bulldogs 15-4 in the first quarter, helped by fast break baskets by the young guard tandem of Erickson and Waara. Erickson had seven points in the first quarter, while Waara scored in eight in the second. The Wykons led 28-18 at halftime, shooting 46% from the floor.

“Our defensive pressure kept us in that game,” Dallavalle said.

One problem was 6-1 Maria Almquist, who scored 11 of Hancock’s 14 points in the second quarter. Dallavalle said Alexis Heimerl and Rasmussen shut her down in the first quarter. So Almquist was moved about 15 feet from the hoop—made her shots, drew fouls and made free throws. “She kept them in the game.”

She hit three more baskets in the fourth quarter, as Hancock got within two. But West Iron played smart with the lead, playing keepaway with the ball and making free throws when fouled.

Waara led the Wykons with 25 points and six steals, and Erickson added 14 with three steals. West Iron turned over the ball just eight times and outscored Hancock off turnovers 19-2.

This week, the Wykon girls visit Bessemer on Jan. 12 and return home to take on Florence Jan. 14. On Jan. 22, they visit Houghton.

Wykons 15 13 12 8 -- 48
Bulldogs 4 14 14 10 -- 42

Trojans 7 11 20 16 -- 54
Wykons 11 14 13 19 -- 57