Iron Mountain senior Oskar Kangas (0) makes a play at the basket during a game against Escanaba on Wednesday at Escanaba High School. (Mitch Vosburg/Daily Press photo)

ESCANABA — There are a few certainties in life. Death and taxes are two that come to mind.

In Michigan, it’s also a certainty that the brutally cold month of January brings basketball season. And the 2024-25 season is beginning to pick up steam. In Wednesday’s boys’ basketball clash between No. 4 Iron Mountain and Escanaba, IM struck early and often while Esky’s offense struggled to get out of first gear.

The Mountaineers walloped Esky 73-37 on Wednesday.

“We’re always hoping to come out running and gunning,” Esky coach Tom Gereau said. “We’ve been struggling with that all year against these higher-ranked teams.”

IM (6-2) aimed to wash the taste of a 61-56 home loss to now No. 3 Ishpeming Westwood out of its mouth. The Mountaineers managed to do just that, catching fire from everywhere.

Shots were so precise that a stormtrooper would be left in a furious rage of jealousy. But it also gave the Mountaineers a commanding 29-7 lead after the first eight minutes of play.

“We wanted to get off to a good start on the road,” IM coach Bucky Johnson said. “You don’t want to let a home team feel comfortable shooting the ball. We wanted to play defense, rebound, and get out in transition. I think we did that.”

Esky (6-6) struggled to knock down shots to keep pace with IM’s rapid-fire pace. The Eskymos were bottled to 14 points in the first half.

“We have to keep our heads up,” Gereau said. “We have to get after it, keep our attitudes and spirits high and (make a good) effort. We have to find something offensively where we can consistently (score) some points. Every game, you see something, and you want to try to fix it, but you don’t have time to get after it and get fixed.”

Senior center Cody Noel is beginning to work back into the Eskymos’ lineup while recovering from a lower-body injury sustained during Esky football’s Week 7 showdown against Gaylord.

Noel came off the bench late in the first quarter for the Eskymos. Early in the second quarter, however, he suffered another setback.

Noel gathered the ball and drove toward the paint from the corner nearest to the IM bench.

He went down and had a noticeable limp to his right leg. He was seen on the bench with ice on his right knee during the remainder of the game and was able to put weight on his right leg.

No further updates are available at this time.

“It’s a shame. We’re trying to bring him in slowly, and I know he wants to play,” Gereau said of Noel. “I feel for the kid. I went through the same thing with knee issues in high school. I feel bad for him.”

Kangas (k)ommits

A storyline throughout this basketball season was where the U.P.’s top seniors will play at the next level.

Kingsford senior Gavin Grondin is playing at Lake Superior State University. Marquette senior Jacob MacPhee is heading to Michigan Tech.

IM senior Oskar Kangas is the latest domino to fall. On Tuesday, he announced his commitment to the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh via his Instagram account.

Kangas, a four-year varsity player for the Mountaineers, chose the Titans after becoming comfortable with the coaching staff, a relationship which started at a team camp in the spring.

Kangas is also excited to finally have his recruitment process finished to focus on his last season as a Mountaineer.

“It was stressful at times because I had different coaches from different schools reaching out,” Kangas said. “It was a very hard decision to make, but there was a big sigh of relief the day I got to announce (my commitment).”

BADGERS 72, RANGERS 32

WAUSAUKEE, Wis. — Senior Cameron Schiefelbein continued his offensive dominance on Tuesday, scoring 23 points and pushing the Niagara boys varsity basketball team to a 72-32 Marinette & Oconto Conference win over the Rangers in Wausaukee, Wis.

The Badgers (6-4, 4-0) are currently tied for first place in the M&O conference alongside Coleman and Crivitz.

Niagara employed a balanced offensive attack in the first half, with five players surpassing the five-point mark (Alex Tripp, Gavin Neuens, Tommy Martin, Dante Stachowicz, and Schiefelbein). Wausaukee managed to keep pace with the Badgers in the first half and went into halftime trailing 32-22.

“We made some adjustments at half time and played an excellent second half,” Niagara head coach Terry Youren said. “Great team effort.”

Although the Badgers won easily, they struggled at the free-throw line. As a team, they were 4 for 12 from the stripe. However, the Rangers also finished 4 for 12.

Niagara received contributions from Tripp (5 points), Neuens (11 points), Martin (12 points), Stachowicz (11 points), Brayden Bartels (8 points) and Noah Wheeler (2 points).

The Badgers are back home today as they look to keep their perfect M&O Conference record intact against Suring (2-5, 1-3) at 7:15 p.m.

Daily News sports editor Sean Chase contributed to this report.