Iron Mountain sophomore Brayden Kassin fires a 3-point shot against the Flivvers on Jan. 14 in Kingsford. Kassin scored 17 points in Calumet on Wednesday. (Terry Raiche photo)

CALUMET — There is a reason the Iron Mountain boys varsity team is a top-rated team in the Upper Peninsula. The Mountaineers (15-2, 7-1) come to play from the opening tip to the final buzzer with no downtime in between.

That was evident on Wednesday in Calumet as they buried the Copper Kings (11-5, 2-4), 67-26.

The Mountaineers pushed out to a 24-9 lead in the opening eight minutes and never looked back. Senior Oskar Kangas had 10 points in the quarter, while sophomore Brayden Kassin added five.

“We got off to a good start,” noted Iron Mountain coach Bucky Johnson. “The kids came out and were ready to play. We were fast and moved the ball well up and down the court.”

That quickness and ball movement led to a 14-0 run to open the second and a 41-13 lead at the half. Senior Gerald Sampoll-Torres had five in the frame, while Kassin added two 3-pointers.

The last two quarters were much the same, with Calumet scoring just six points in the third and seven in the final eight minutes.

The Mountaineers had seemingly worn them down, winning rebounds and forcing turnovers.

They went up by 41, 65-24, at the 3:40 mark of the fourth, and that started the running clock to close out the contest.

“We had pretty even scoring, which was good to see,” said Johnson. “Everybody contributed.”

Kangas and Kassin both ended the game with 17 points. Sampoll-Torres poured in 12, and Ian Martilla pitched in 10. Aiden Ellis and Charles Anderson each had four points, and Evan Copley scored three. As a team, the Mountaineers sank 10 3-pointers and were 7-for-10 from the charity stripe.

Gavin Sturos led the scoring for the Copper Kings with nine points.

Despite the loss, Calumet coach Frank Bonacorsi credited his team for fighting until the end.

“Iron Mountain is a strong team and our kids gave great effort. They never quit,” noted the coach.

Iron Mountain returns to Mountaineer Gym today against Gwinn.

On Monday, it closes out the home portion of its regular season schedule against Kingsford at 6:15 p.m.