Iron Mountain senior Ian Marttila (14) and Negaunee’s Ty Jacobson (1) battle for position on a free throw attempt during Wednesday’s contest at Mountaineer Gym. (Sean Chase/Daily News photo)

IRON MOUNTAIN — Entering the fourth quarter, the Iron Mountain boys varsity basketball team trailed Negaunee by one point in Mountaineer Gym and needed someone to step up.

It was Mountaineers’ senior Evan Copley who stepped up, knocking down two 3-pointers in the final frame to propel Iron Mountain (10-2, 4-1) to a 50-43 West PAC-East Division win over the Miners (8-4, 4-2).

“We had a game like that right after break, that we kind of played the same way and we lost that game,” Mountaineers’ head coach Harvey “Bucky” Johnson said. “Negaunee came in right away ready to play and (Jordan) Guenette torched us. He had a great game. We didn’t do that job on him. But we were fortunate to win the game.

“Oskar (Kangas) was 15 points below his average. Gerald (Sampoll-Torres) was a few under his average. But, Evan Copley really stepped up for us and we needed that. He had a heck of a game for us offensively and we needed every point. … It was a grind it out game and I’m proud of my guys for grinding it out, because that was a big conference win.”

The Miners focused on stopping IM senior Oskar Kangas early in the game and found success. However, they couldn’t stop him all game and Kangas ended the contest with 11 points while going 5 for 8 from the free throw line.

“Oskar has been really consistent,” Johnson said. “In this game, Negaunee was all over him. I mean they were hanging on him. I give Oskar credit for hanging in there.”

Negaunee held Kangas to two points in the first quarter. With the Mountaineers’ No. 1 scoring option battling double and triple-teams, Copley stepped up. He buried two 3-pointers in the frame and helped keep Iron Mountain on pace with the Miners.

“Evan is a shooter and he’s a scorer,” Johnson said. “Those (shots) were huge tonight and he wanted them.

“He wanted the shots and that’s what you want.”

Jordan Guenette led the way for Negaunee in the first, scoring seven points and it took a 9-8 lead into the second.

“We never really panicked at all, even when we were down 7-0 to start the game,” Johnson said. “There was no panic in the huddle, I was just encouraging them to get to loose balls and contest the shots. I thought defensively we did what we wanted to do.”

The Mountaineers struggled to stop the 3-pointer in the next eight minutes. The Miners made three in the quarter.

However, the main issue was that Iron Mountain fouled on two of those three makes.

“We wanted to run them off the 3-point line, but we didn’t want to foul them after they shot the ball,” Johnson said. “You’ve got to close out under control. You can’t close out and foul.”

The errant fouls didn’t hinder the Mountaineers and Kangas sank two free throws late in the quarter to put them ahead 21-20 at halftime.

Brayden Kassin, Ian Marttila and Copley each made a 3-pointer in the frame.

Negaunee opened the third quarter with back-to-back makes from long range, pushing it ahead by five points.

Sampoll-Torres converted an and-one to tie things at 28 with three minutes left in the third. Copley followed that with a right wing 3-pointer and Iron Mountain led by three.

Negaunee scored seven points in the final two minutes of the third and it held a 35-34 lead entering the final quarter.

Although the Mountaineers had struggled to control the ball at times against Negaunee, they tightened that up in the fourth.

“We were loose with the ball too often and that’s got to stop, it’s got to stop,” Johnson said. “I’ll keep working on that and so will the team.”

Both teams opened the quarter with two quick points and the game seemed destined for a photo finish.

But, Copley had other plans. He made two 3-pointers in the first minute and a half of the fourth, giving the home team a five-point edge.

Guenette tried willing the Miners back into the contest. It wasn’t enough as the Mountaineers secured the 50-43 win with free throws.

“Sometimes, the ball doesn’t go in the basket but you have to find other ways to win,” Johnson said. “Even though Guenette had 24 (points), we still only gave up 43 points. I think we could have rebounded the ball better, at times.”

Guenette led all scorers in the contest with 24 points.

Copley was close behind with 20 points. He led Iron Mountain.

The Mountaineers also received contributions from Kangas (11 points), Sampoll-Torres (7 points), Marttila (7 points) and Kassin (5 points).

Iron Mountain went to Ishpeming on Thursday to face Westwood. It is back in action on Tuesday at home against Gladstone.