The longtime coach of the Gogebic Community College Samsons basketball team is retiring. Dennis Mackey announced on Thursday that he will be retiring as of May 31st, after 38 years of teaching and coaching at the Ironwood school. He won more than 500 games during 19 years of coaching the women's team, followed by 19 more years coaching the men's team. The basketball coach at GCC's Lindquist Center was named after Mackey in November, 2024. Click the above headline for details on Mackey's career, and the RRN coverage of Mackey's special 2024 night,
The Grand Valley State women's basketball team etched their name in the history books once again, winning their second straight National Championship, and the second in program history. The Lakers led wire-to-wire in a 72-49 victory over IUP in the championship game. Escanaba graduate Nicole Kamin was named the Elite Eight MVP and had 18 points, five rebounds, four assists, and three blocked shots in Saturday's championship game. (Grand Valley State photo, story)
Despite holding No. 6 Gannon Golden Knights to its second-lowest scoring performance of the season—20 points below its average—the No. 16 nationally ranked Michigan Tech Huskies couldn't find consistent offense, falling 75–49 in the Elite Eight at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse on Wednesday to end the program's historic NCAA Tournament run. Click teh above headline for details (courtesy of MTU Athletics), and video highlights and post-game comments, courtesy of NCAA.
Mya Hemmer and Jenessa Eagle put on one final show in an Ishpeming uniform Saturday. The Hematites seniors were dominant in leading their team to a 48-28 victory against Portland St. Patrick in the Division 4 Girls Basketball Final at the Breslin Center, winning their second title in three years. Click the above headline for details. (Photo and story courtesy of Michigan High School Athletic Association)
The Northern Michigan University women's lacrosse team downed the Saginaw Valley State Cardinals, winning 23-1, Friday, in the Superior Dome. The Wildcats (7-2, 1-0 GLIAC) were led by Josie Lakosky, who scored eight goals and three assists for 11 points to go along with nine shots and shots on goal, five ground balls, five draw controls, and five caused turnovers. Click the above headline for details. (NMU Photo)
The Ishpeming High School girls basketball team advanced to the MHSAA Division Four state championship game Thursday night with a gritty 37-34 win over the Morenci Bulldogs at Michigan State University. Click the above headline for details. (photo, story courtesy of MHSAA)
The Ishpeming High School girls basketball team crushed Indian River Inland Lakes, 60-22, in the MHSAA Division Four state quarterfinals Wednesday night in Gaylord. C;lick the above headline for details.
After seven seasons leading the Northern Michigan men's basketball program, head coach Matt Majkrzak has accepted the head coaching position at Division I Northern Illinois University. Click the above headline for NMU story, and to hear RRN's Casey Ford interview Majkrzak about his decision to leave NMU. (RRN Photo)
The Northern Michigan men's basketball team fell to the Walsh Cavaliers in the second round of the DII NCAA Tournament on Sunday. NMU's season ended with a program-best 28-7 record. Click the above headline for details. (Story, photo courtesy of NMU Sports Information)
The Negaunee Iron Range 12U boys Tier II AA hockey team won a state championship on Sunday, wrapping up a perfect weekend of hockey. The boys beat Orchard Lake, 4-1, in the semifinals, and then took down the Detroit Bulldogs, 7-4, in the championship game. Negaunee outshot Detroit, 28-16, in the championship victory. The games were played at the Centre Ice Arena in Traverse City. Negaunee also won all of its pool play contests.
Tahquamenon Area Youth Hockey Association 12U boys Tier Three hockey team won a state championship last night at the Farmington Arena near Detroit. The Bandits won all three of their games in pool play, and then beat the West Shore Wolves, 9-3, in Sunday's semifinals. The championship game saw the Newberry-Munising combined team beat Detroit Honeybaked, 7-1, outshooting the downstate team, 35-7, along the way. Congratulations to Coach Nutkins and the boys.
Senior guard Marcus Tomashek completed a four-point play with under three seconds to play to give the No. 15 nationally-ranked Michigan Tech men's basketball team its first win over No. 22 Grand Valley State this season, advancing to the Midwest Region Championship game with a 69-67 victory at the Alumni Arena on the campus of Walsh University on Sunday evening. Click the above headline for details. (Michigan Tech story, photo)
The Northern Michigan men's basketball team pulled off a March miracle by using a 10-2 run in the final 32 seconds of the game to stun the Rockhurst Hawks by a margin of 86-85 in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament. "I've never seen a comeback like that," said NMU Head Coach Matt Majkrzak. "We kept fighting, and you go down to the final horn, and we win." Click the above headline for details, photos, video highlights, and post-game comments.
The No. 16 nationally-ranked Michigan Tech men's basketball squad earned a game-high 34 points from Marcus Tomashek and a career-high 20 points from Jesse Napgezek off the bench in an 83-73 victory over Lake Erie to advance to the Regional Semifinal game at the Alumni Arena on the campus of Walsh University on Saturday afternoon. Click the above headline for details. (Michigan Tech photo)
The Northern Michigan women's basketball team hung tight with the Wayne State Warriors for three quarters, but a 24-13 final frame for WSU powered them past the Wildcats 77-61 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament Friday night. That ended Northern's season with a 25-8 record. Click the above headline for details, and to hear from Coach Casey Thousand and Sarah Newcomer. (NMU story, photo)
The Dollar Bay High School boys basketball team battled hard Thuirsday night, but lost to Detroit Douglass, 58-47, in the MHSAA Division Four state semifinal at the Breslin Center. The Blue Bolts faurced a team that has blown out all of its recent opponents, but were down by just six points in the fourth quarter. Click the above headline for details. (MHSAA story and photo)
The Menominee Maroons made seven three-point baskets in the first half to take a nine-point halftime lead on Thursday, but the outside shooting dried up in the second half and the Maroons lost to Arts & Technology of Pontiac, 78-66, in the Division Three state semifinals in East Lansing. Click the above headline for details. (Story and photo courtesy of MHSAA)
Liam Tourtillott scored 23 points, 14 of them down the stretch, to lead the Dollar Bay Blue Bolts to a 55-46 come-from-behind win over the Pickford Panthers Tuesday night in the MHSAA Division Four boys basketball state quarterfinal in Gladstone. Click the above headline for photos, videos, and interviews.
The Escanaba Eskymos eighth grade basketball team has won a state championship. The boys went undefeated and won the Michigan Middle School Silver bracket state title over the weekend in dowinstate Brighton. There were 12 teams in the bracket. In pool play, Escanaba beat Charlotte, 44-26, and topped Owosso 48-32, In the semifinals, Esky beat Niles, 47-25, and in the championship game, Escanaba pulled out a 45-42 win over SISU out of Vassar, Michigan. Tournaments were held in 3rd through 8th grades, and Escanaba was the only Upper Peninsula team in any bracket to bring home the championshiip.
The Bay College Norse women's basketball team had its most successful season in program history come to an end on Sunday with a loss in the NJCAA Region 12 championship game at the Ballenger Fieldhouse in Flint. The Norse lost to the nation's second-ranked team, the undefeated Schoolcraft College Ocelots, 82-60. The Bay ladies kept the game as close as they could for as long as they could, but Schoolcraft's deep roster proved to be too much to overcome. Click the above headline for details.
It was Selection Sunday late Sunday night, and the Northern Michigan University men's and women's basketball teams both heard their names called for trips to the NCAA-II tournaments. Click the above headline for details and to hear reaction from both NMU head coaches.
Eleven Upper Peninsula wrestlers reached the podium Saturday night after the MHSAA Individual Wrestling state finals wrapped up at Detroit's Ford Field. There were 22 wrestlers from across the UP competing at Ford Field. The top eight wrestlers in every weight class in the five divisions reach the winner's podium. Click the above headline for details.
The No. 21 Northern Michigan women's basketball team fell to No. 2 Grand Valley State in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Semifinals on Saturday, 66-38. Click the above headline for details. (GVSU Photo)
The Houghton High School hockey team won its first state championship since 1982 on Saturday, beating Orchard Lake St. Mary's, 5-2, at the USA Hockey Arena in Plymouth. Click the above headline for details, courtesy of Michigan High School Athletic Association.
The Bay College Norse women's basketball team was down-and-out several times in the second half of Friday's NJCAA Region 12 semifinal game against Grand Rapids Community College, but bounced back each time and pulled out a dramatic 57-55 victory at the Ballenger Fieldhouse. The result moved the Norse into Sunday's regional championship game against the second-ranked team in the country, the Schoolcraft Ocelots. Click the above headline for details. photos, videos, and interviews.
The No. 20-ranked Michigan Tech hockey team opened the postseason with a 5-3 victory over Bowling Green in the CCHA Quarterfinals. The Huskies improved to 22-12-3 overall and will try to wrap up the best-of-three series on Saturday night. Click the above headline for details. (Michigan Tech photo)
Dylan Kuehl was named the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year, headlining a group of postseason honors for Northern Michigan men's basketball. Matt Majkrzak was selected as the GLIAC Coach of the Year, while Cal Klesmit earned First Team All-GLIAC honors and Jackson Dudek was named to the Second Team. Click the above headline for details, courtesy of NMU Sports Information.
The Bay College Norse men's basketball team had its season come to an end on Thursday, falling to the Lansing Community College Stars, 81-64, in the NJCAA Region 12 tournament semifinals in Flint. The Norse had beaten Kirtland Community College in the quarterfinals 36 hours earlier, 98-57. Click the above headline for details.
The Northern Michigan women's basketball team advanced to the GLIAC Semifinals with a 74-66 victory over the Michigan Tech Huskies on Wednesday evening at Vandament Arena. It was NMU's third win over Tech this season, and the 'Cats will play top-ranked Grand Valley State on Saturday in Allendale. Click the above headline for details. (NMU Photo)
The Northern Michigan men's basketball team rolled past the Ferris State Bulldogs 91-62 on Wednesday night to advance to the GLIAC Semifinals. Being the No. 1 seed, NMU will host the Semifinals and Championship on Saturday and Sunday. Click the above headline for details. (NMU Photo)
