Westwood’s Caden Balzarini, left, uses his body to force Iron Mountain’s Ian Marttila toward the end line and out of bounds for a turnover during their high school boys basketball game played at the Patriots’ gym in Ishpeming on Thursday. (Photo courtesy of Cara Kamps)

ISHPEMING — Two high school boys basketball winning streaks collided on the Westwood Patriots’ basketball floor on Thursday night, and it was Iron Mountain that emerged intact by defeating the Patriots 58-32.

A dominant first quarter set the tone, with the Mountaineers pulling away early and securing their sixth straight triumph. Westwood had been on an even longer win streak, eight games, before it came to a sudden halt Thursday.

With all those victories, not surprisingly this was a matchup of top-five teams in this week’s Upper Peninsula Divisions 1-3 polls conducted by the U.P. Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association. The Pats are now 11-4 while IM improved to 11-2.

From the opening tip, IM made its presence known on both ends of the court, leaving the Patriots struggling to keep pace. With a slow start offensively, Westwood couldn’t overcome its early scoring drought. Iron Mountain’s Oskar Kangas led the charge with a game-high 20 points, while teammate Gerald Sampoll Torres added 12.

“Westwood has been playing really good,” Iron Mountain head coach Harvey “Bucky” Johnson said.

“I’m just proud of my team. Oskar struggled (Wednesday) night, he showed what he’s made out of tonight and it was awesome.”

The previous night, the Mountaineers hosted another top U.P. team, Negaunee, and also won that one, 50-43.

Thursday’s game began with Kangas setting the tone, nailing a 3-pointer on his team’s first possession.

With the Patriots struggling to find a rhythm, IM quickly built a double-digit lead as Kangas and Sampoll Torres spearheaded the visitors’ offensive attack and took a 19-9 lead at the end of the first quarter.

Westwood head coach Luke Gray acknowledged the challenge of playing from behind against a strong opponent like Iron Mountain.

“They had a great … game plan,” he said. “They’re a great basketball team. They show up and they were ready to go. I thought they took over in the first quarter and it’s hard to come back when you put yourself at a deficit against a really good team, really early in the game.”

The home team began to break out of its offensive sluggishness in the second quarter, with Ethan Marta and Preston Argall providing key baskets to pull the Patriots within seven points. But turnovers and missed opportunities plagued Westwood with the Mountaineers capitalizing.

Evan Copley hit a critical 3 just before halftime to push IM’s lead to 32-19 headed into the locker room.

The Mountaineers opened the second half with a quick burst, highlighted by Brayden Kassin’s layup and Sampoll Torres’ smooth finish in the paint. Despite Marta’s best efforts — he finished with a team-high 18 points — the Patriots couldn’t really cut into the deficit.

IM’s defense continued to press, forcing turnovers and limiting second-chance opportunities. The Mountaineers closed the third quarter with an even larger 45-30 lead, and from there they never looked back.

In the fourth, Kangas delivered a powerful dunk off an inbounds play, drawing roars from the IM bench. Kassin and Ian Marttila added late baskets to seal the 26-point victory.

With Kangas and Sampoll Torres leading Mountaineers’ scorers, Kassin added 11 points. Marta was the lone Westwood player to reach double figures.

The Mountaineers aim to keep their momentum on Tuesday as they welcome Gladstone to Mountaineer Gym.

WYKONS 61, KNIGHTS 49

IRON RIVER — After dropping 12 straight games to start the season, the West Iron County boys varsity basketball team picked up its first win of the season on Thursday.

The Wykons welcomed Norway to town and battled to a 61-49 victory over the Knights.

West Iron scored 26 points in the first half and held a five-point advantage at halftime.

Jessiah Smith led the Wykons with 21 points.

West Iron also received contributions from Abel Lundin (10 points), Nathan Camps (5 points), Gatlin Gillaspie (4 points) Elijah Oberlin (14 points) and Seth Oberlin (7 points).

Norway’s leading scorer was senior Mason Trudeau with 19 points.

The Knights also received contributions from AJ Gallino (10 points), Bryce Adams (6 points), Cole Baij (5 points), Anthony Pineda (4 points) and Elliott Kraemer (5 points).

The Wykons are home on Monday against Negaunee. Norway welcomes Kingsford to town on Tuesday.

BOBCATS 59, JETS 56

FLORENCE, Wis. — The past couple of weeks have been a challenge for the Florence boys varsity basketball team.

However on Thursday against North Central, the Bobcats appeared to turn the corner as they held on for a 59-56 win.

“It wasn’t always pretty, but we overcame lapses of not scoring the ball, growing up on the floor in some tough moments, to get a solid win,” Florence head coach Bryan Bomberg said. “North Central plays so tough and does the little things correctly. I’m proud of my guys tonight, as it feels like since our Norway game, we are turning the corner to playing better basketball. (It was a) total team win.”

Truth Setner led the Bobcats with 11 points in the first half.

As a result, they led 31-28 at the break.

Setner paced Florence with 16 second-half points and led all scorers with 27 points.

The Bobcats also received contributions from Carson Chrisman (7 points), Bradly Steber (3 points), Mason Koski (8 points) and Caleb Baker (14 points).

North Central received contributions from Ben Stage (13 points), Jordan Walters (12 points), Kaden Malone (9 points), Lane Gorzinski (13 points), Castle Brooks (1 point) and Abram Eichhorn (8 points).

Florence is back in action today at home against Gibraltar. The Jets return to play on Tuesday at home against Carney-Nadeau.

COUGARS 52, BADGERS 45

COLEMAN, Wis. — Despite holding a lead at the end of the first half, the Niagara boys varsity basketball team couldn’t hold on against Marinette & Oconto Conference foe Coleman on Thursday.

The Badgers (9-3, 7-1) struggled to score in the second half and the Cougars (6-6, 6-1) picked up a 52-45 win in Coleman, Wis.

Brayden Bartels led Niagara with six points in the first half and it took an 18-12 advantage into halftime.

Badgers’ senior Cameron Schiefelbein led the way in the second half. He scored 13 points in the frame while Alex Tripp added seven. However, it wasn’t enough to keep their perfect conference record intact.

Schiefelbein led Niagara with 15 points.

The Badgers also received contributions from Tripp (9 points), Gavin Neuens (6 points), Tommy Martin (4 points), Dante Stachowicz (3 points) and Bartels (9 points).

Niagara is back in action on Tuesday at home against St. Thomas Aquinas Academy.

Daily News sports editor Sean Chase contributed to this report.