IRON RIVER — Earlier in the day Monday, West Iron County boys basketball coach Cade Contreras found out that his senior center and leading scorer Elijah Oberlin would miss the Wykons’ game against Gwinn that evening.

His reaction was understandable.

“When I found out Elijah wasn’t playing, I was a little nervous,” Contreras said. “I think anybody would be nervous because Elijah is a huge piece to be missing.”

Turns out there was no need to worry so much there was another Oberlin ready to step in.

Freshman Seth Oberlin filled his older brother Elijah’s spot beautifully, finishing with a game-high 14 points as West Iron nipped Gwinn 43-42 in a West PAC contest at Charles Greenlund Gymnasium.

West Iron sophomore Nathan Camps broke a 40-all tie with two free throws with 46 seconds left, senior Abel Lundin added another 28 ticks later, and the Wykons held on for their second win of the season.

After the horn sounded, the Wykon players and students’ section celebrated the victory with gusto. And why not? Wins have been difficult to come by for West Iron in the last couple of seasons as Contreas and junior varsity coach Grant Papineau work to rebuild what had been a solid boys’ basketball program at West Iron for decades.

“It’s phenomenal,” Contreras said, remarking about the celebration afterward. “These kids work really hard day in and day out, and a lot of times that doesn’t reflect on the scoreboard, so when it does, it’s absolutely important to celebrate it, celebrate their hard work.”

The Wykons (2-14) grabbed an early 8-2 lead on a bucket by junior forward Gatlin Gillaspie and three hoops by Oberlin, one off a post-to-post feed from Gillaspie.

The two repeated that connection later in the quarter as the Wykons looked to attack the Gwinn 3-2 defense, with Gillaspie in the short corner on the baseline looking for Oberlin cutting to the hoop from the high post.

The West Iron perimeter guards and wings displayed the discipline their coach wanted as they moved the ball around the perimeter while they explored entering the ball into the post areas.

“I thought offensively we did a phenomenal job not settling (for 3-point shots) and working the ball around until we got open looks,” Contreras said. “I thought Seth did a really good job in the high post and Gillaspie did a really good job in the low post.

“I thought our defensive effort was good, too. You could see all our guys were bought in, and the energy level was high.”

The Modeltowners (5-10) climbed to within 14-13 at the end of the opening period but then went scoreless for nearly six minutes to start the second.

Meanwhile, Lundin sank a short shot off an inbounds feed from Camps before sophomore Jessiah Smith broke loose for two triples and a driving layup to give the hosts an 11-point advantage.

Gwinn responded to begin the third quarter with a 7-0 run on a tip-in by senior forward Andrew Hill, a layup by senior forward Waylon Sales, and a 3-pointer by senior guard Dane Wixtrom.

Camps nailed a shot from beyond the arc to end West Iron’s 5½ minute scoreless stretch to help the Wykons hold a 29-26 lead heading down the stretch.

West Iron rebuilt an 8-point lead to start the fourth on two free throws each from Oberlin and Lundin, a layup by Oberlin off an assist from Camps and a triple by Smith.

Gwinn bounced back to tie the game at 38-all with just over two minutes left, setting up crunch time. Lundin and Sales traded buckets as the game went into the final minute tied.

But behind the combined three free throws from Camps and Lundin, the Wykons left with the victory.

While both teams are on the downside of .500, they staged an interesting back-and-forth contest.

“It was just a really fun game to be part of,” Contreras said.

West Iron went back in action Tuesday night with a non-conference contest at Kingsford (11-3) in the second game of a girls-boys doubleheader. The Flivvers handled the Wykons 75-33 in the first match on Dec. 17 in Iron River.

MOUNTAINEERS 64, MAROONS 48

MENOMINEE — Despite facing a 17-point deficit after the first quarter, the Iron Mountain boys varsity basketball team didn’t panic.

Instead, the Mountaineers (14-2, 6-1) methodically chipped away at Menominee’s lead and ended up with a 64-48 road win over the Maroons (9-8, 3-3).

“Menominee came out on fire in the first quarter,” Iron Mountain head coach Harvey “Bucky” Johnson said. “We had four seniors in double figures, some great passes and some not-so-great, but it was a very good road victory. The team showed some great maturity in the game.”

Menominee has eliminated Iron Mountain in the district round in both of the past two seasons. None of that mattered on Monday as the Mountaineers’ win streak improved to nine games.

The Maroons opened the first on a roll, opening up a 23-5 advantage over Iron Mountain. Senior Evan Copley had three points, and senior Ian Marttila had two for the Mountaineers.

Backed into a corner on the road, Iron Mountain senior Oskar Kangas came out swinging in the second quarter. He scored 12 points while Marttila added seven points and Copley pitched in two 3-pointers.

The Mountaineers’ defense responded in kind, holding Menominee to three points in the frame. They led 33-25 at the half.

The Maroons’ halftime adjustments didn’t result in points. Iron Mountain held Menominee to seven points in the frame and led 50-32 entering the fourth.

Kangas and senior Gerald Sampoll-Torres each scored seven in the final quarter, sealing the Mountaineers’ win.

Kangas led all scorers in the contest with 26 points.

Iron Mountain also received contributions from Sampoll-Torres (13 points), Marttila (11 points), Copley (14 points) and Brayden Kassin (2 points).

The Mountaineers head to Calumet today and return to Mountaineer Gym on Friday to face Gwinn.

TROJANS 69, NORDICS 58

CRYSTAL FALLS — Every time the Forest Park and North Dickinson boys varsity basketball teams meet up, it will be a battle.

The matchup on Monday met expectations as the Nordics (12-5, 2-3) made the trip to Crystal Falls. But in the end, the Trojans (16-1, 6-0) emerged with a 69-58 Skyline Central Conference win.

“We had problems in the second quarter,” North Dickinson head coach Chris Mattson said. “They out-did us 27-9 in that quarter, and to be honest, that was kind of the ball game. We gave up too many transition points. Kevin Giuliani got into a little bit of foul trouble and I thought we may have had an advantage. But, his brother, Vic (Giuliani) took the brunt of the load. He did a really good job of stepping up.

“I liked the effort from our kids, especially in that third quarter. We were down 41-24 and it could have turned into a blow out. I’m very happy with the way we came out and still played hard.”

North Dickinson held a one-point lead after the first quarter, with junior Spencer Kramer scoring six points. Junior Ty King added five, and sophomore Trenton Kramer added four.

Forest Park turned the tables in the second. It held the Nordics to nine points while racking up 27 in the quarter. The Trojans led 41-24 at halftime.

North Dickinson out-scored Forest Park 16-11 in the third quarter.

However, the Trojans still held a 12-point advantage entering the fourth.

Forest Park’s Vic Giuliani led all scorers with 25 points. He also recorded eight rebounds, an assist and two steals.

The Trojans also received contributions from Gabe Quevedo (6 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals), Izaiah Tarter (5 points, 6 assists, 3 rebounds, 2 steals), Dax Huuki (7 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal), Matthew Showers (10 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals), Aiden Waldo (3 points, 1 rebound, 2 assists) and Kevin Giuliani (13 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist).

King led the Nordics with 23 points. He also recorded three rebounds and an assist.

North Dickinson also received contributions from Trenton Kramer (8 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals), Tyler Fleming (1 assist), Brady Jungwirth (2 points, 2 rebounds, 9 assists, 6 steals), Mason Anderson (4 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist, 2 steal) and Spencer Kramer (21 points, 8 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal).

On Thursday, the Trojans are back home against Superior Central, while the Nordics are in Baraga.

Daily News sports editor Sean Chase contributed to this report.