Mid Peninsula sophomore Cyler Brunngraeber (2) drives to the basket during a game against North Dickinson on Jan. 24, 2025 at Mid Peninsula School. (“The Big Dog” Mitch Vosburg/Daily Press)

ST. NICHOLAS –Defense in basketball is crucial.

Whether it’s taking away passing lanes, suffocating opposing ball handlers in the paint or clamping down with a press. There’s many ways to attack a team.

But there’s no defense for red-hot shooting.

Mid Peninsula boys’ basketball learned that the hard way on Friday in a 70-26 loss to No. 5 North Dickinson.

The Nordics (10-4) shot 51% from the floor and drained 10-of-20 shots from 3-point range.

“That was one of our best shooting performances. That was nice to see,” Nordics coach Chris Mattson said.

While Ty King led all players with 12 points, the Nordics got help from multiple players. Actually, in this case, all 14 players recorded at least one made shot from the floor.

“That’s a tribute to the team. We have some unselfish players,” Mattson said. “It’s fun to be around this group of kids. The teamwork they showed was evident tonight.”

For the Wolverines (0-8) it’s back to the drawing board to get their first win of the season. The first problems to resolve, according to head coach Carl Brunngreaber, are effort and attitude.

“We didn’t show up tonight with that,” Brunngraeber said. “We’re better in those two areas than we showed. We need to have everybody with full effort, and we have two or three (players) with full effort right now. We have some guys that need to make some decisions over the weekend.”

Next games

North Dickinson: Hosts Rapid River at 7:15 p.m. Tuesday.

Mid Peninsula: Host Superior Central at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday.

Box score

Mid Peninsula 7 6 8 5 — 26

North Dickinson 21 27 15 7 — 70

Mid Peninsula — Norden 2, Dahm 3, Micheau 11, VanDamme 3, Holmes 4, Devos 3; FT: 1-2; Fouls: 3; 3-point baskets: Micheau, VanDamme, Devos

North Dickinson — King 12, Steinbrecher 2, T. Kramer 8, Fleming 8, Jungwirth 6, Roberts 3, Lindholm 2, Anderson 5, S. Kramer 5, Mora 5, Madigan 2, Haney 3, Graham 5, Florenski 4; FT: 2-3; Fouls: 7; 3-point baskets: Fleming 2; Jungwirth 2, Roberts 1, Anderson 1, S. Kramer 1, Mora 1, Haney 1, Graham 1