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Branstrom-Led Mid Pen Built to Play Big
January 10, 2018
By Dennis Grall
Special for Second Half
ESCANABA - Mark Branstrom was a prolific scorer when he played at Perkins High School more than 40 years ago.
Now, as coach of the Mid Peninsula Wolverines – the consolidated school that grew out of Perkins and Rock high schools in 1977 – defense has been the calling card for Branstrom as he tries to overcome the odds and put his players into competitive positions.
"It might look ugly. We are not as good as anybody else but we can play defense with anybody," Branstrom said about developing an approach that gives Mid Pen – with just seven players on the varsity – a good chance to hang around against better teams with deeper rosters.
Branstrom became Mid Pen's coach in 1984-85, sitting out the 2007-09 seasons for health reasons. The Wolverines are off to a tough start this winter at 0-6, still searching for their first win and with a couple of close losses. But against heavy odds, he has guided Mid Pen to a pair of Class D District titles and one Regional championship and was selected Upper Peninsula Class D Coach of the Year in 2015-16.
That happens through diligent practice sessions, made easier perhaps because Branstrom has also served as junior varsity coach the past four years.
"Everyone knows their job," said Damian Richmond, a former player now with the revived program at Bay de Noc Community College in Escanaba. "He makes sure everyone is in their spot. He runs plays over and over in practice."
Branstrom, who has coached all three of his sons during his tenure, adopts a buddy-buddy approach with some players and serves as a father-son figure as well, according to Richmond. "He took me under his wing," said Richmond, who indicated Branstrom played a vital role in his decision to play college basketball after graduating from high school in 2016.
Branstrom's youngest son, Brett, is Mid Pen's all-time scoring (1,785) and rebounding (1,328) leader, a two-time Class D all-stater and later four-year regular at Northern Michigan University. He supplanted his brother Carl (1,161 points) as scoring leader. A sister, Hunter, scored 1,019 points. A third brother, Marcus, also played for his dad.
Mark Branstrom holds the scoring record at the former Perkins school, scoring 1,451 points for the Yellowjackets, who played in one of the smallest gyms in the state – typical of that day and age.
"The basketball floor is my element," said Branstrom. "I enjoy every aspect of it, and then I have the kids who respond. I get to teach (young) people who are like a sponge.
"There is never a time since I went into coaching that I did not think we had a chance to win, even against (three-time Class D champion) North Central these last few years."
That was underlined in a recent game at Rapid River, which had halted North Central's state-record 84-game win streak Dec. 7. Mid Pen led much of the first half, using tough defense and a patient offense with Branstrom adroitly guiding everything from the sideline. That lasted until the Rockets settled in and scored the final nine points of the half en route to a 67-41 victory.
"The hardest thing is to get them to communicate on the floor defensively," said Branstrom. "It is like a musical for me to sit there and watch them when they communicate on defense."
Rick Pepin, now Rapid River athletic director but a former coaching opponent of Branstrom, knew what he was getting into against the Wolverines.
"He's always done a great job forcing tempo to fit his style. He never lets his kids play outside of their ability," said Pepin after that recent game in Rapid River.
Branstrom, who has mellowed considerably in recent years, now understands another side of coaching better. "Everything happens for a reason," he said, recalling his earlier days when he was prowling the sidelines with a hot temper.
"I get along with people a lot better (now). There is so much more to basketball than just basketball," he said with a twinkle in his eye. He said long-time basketball referee Dave St. Onge of Marquette was a factor in that change, telling him once "you've got to enjoy this."
Coaching the jayvees has also helped in that adjustment. "It is energizing to the point it has made me a better coach at the next level," he said. "This year I've literally had to collect kids just to have a jayvee team (three of the starting five are in their first year of basketball)."
That underscores why he has stayed on the sidelines. "It is for the love of it. I extremely enjoy it," Branstrom said. "I'm doing something for the kids."
His two teams will practice together, and varsity players will serve as assistant coaches.
The response of his players has kept Branstrom motivated to be in the gym and handle the extensive travel during the winter. His family also lived briefly in Coldwater and White Pine before finally settling in Perkins prior to high school, and he said a childhood friend in White Pine was a big influence.
Ward Helakoski is the son of Ed Helakoski, who directed Chassell to a then-state record 65 straight wins and three consecutive Class D basketball titles in the 1950s. Young Helakoski was a good all-around athlete and excellent student. "He helped me out considerably. My grades improved and I stayed eligible," Branstrom said, adding, "I dedicated myself to basketball when we moved to Perkins because we had no football."
He has remained dedicated, to the sport and to his players, through all the ups and downs of his profession. "I won't leave," he said. "I think I do a pretty decent job. If I wasn't, I would leave. You have to be dedicated to the kids, and I am extremely dedicated and loyal to the kids.
"I love Class D basketball. We have one of the best Class D (basketball) conferences in the state. The competitive level is to the point where the level of play has gotten so good."
However, he has seen how declining enrollments impact the game, noting the 67 students at Mid Pen face Class D schools with enrollments just shy of the Class C level. "Getting to twice or three times the enrollment levels in the same class is not good," said Branstrom.
More than a dozen U.P. schools have enrollments below 80 students. But those are the kind of challenges that also motivate Branstrom and his athletes. Branstrom also was cross country coach for the Mid Pen boys and girls teams last fall, guiding the girls to a Division 3 runner-up finish in the Upper Peninsula.
He believes the farming, rural community is beneficial in the work ethic displayed by many U.P. athletes. "They seem to work harder," he said, noting their academic and athletic endeavors seem to confirm that observation.
Pepin recalls his battles against the Wolverines. "I have a tremendous amount of respect for Coach Branstrom," he said. "I watched him coach in the (lopsided) jayvee game (last week) and he never gave up, he never stopped coaching. He took every advantage to teach that team."
Pepin noted Branstrom was also teaching character and pride during that game. "Those are important character traits for life," he said.
"He has never given up on his community, his school, his student athletes. When Mark Branstrom is coaching our kids, they are better off. He makes your team play four quarters because he inspires his kids to play hard."
Basketball has obviously changed since Branstrom led the Upper Peninsula in scoring in 1974-75, with the inception of the 3-point shooting arc primary. "The mid-range game is not there anymore," said Branstrom, who worked that area of the floor. "In pick-up games and practices, they want to shoot those threes, and that has changed everything.
"The two-point shot is still worth so much more. The threes make it a more exciting game to come back (from a deficit), but it takes away from the scenario of the inside-out game. I like the mixture. I'm not for it, but I deal with it."
Dealing with players has also changed during his tenure, as he noted he could not coach today the way he did earlier in his career. "You've got to roll with the flow," he said, which includes adjusting to evolving basketball strategy and how a coach and player communicate. "If you don't change, you don't belong there," he said.
Branstrom has adjusted through the years and shows every night he is totally involved with the game and his players.
Denny Grall retired in 2012 after 39 years at the Escanaba Daily Press and four at the Green Bay Press-Gazette, plus 15 months for WLST radio in Escanaba; he served as the Daily Press sports editor from 1970-80 and again from 1984-2012. Grall was inducted into the Upper Peninsula Sports Hall of Fame in 2002 and serves as its executive secretary. E-mail him at [email protected] with story ideas for the Upper Peninsula.
PHOTOS: (Top) Coach Mark Branstrom of Rock Mid Peninsula talks to his varsity during a timeout at a recent game in Rapid River. Branstrom, who is also the junior varsity coach, has just seven boys on his varsity team. (Middle) Branstrom directs his team to back off on the tempo as the Wolverines bring the ball up court against the Rockets. Branstrom has been the Mid Pen coach since 1984-85 after playing at Perkins High School, which consolidated with Rock High School in 1978 to become Mid Pen. (Below) Branstrom applauds his team prior to pre-game introductions. (Photos by Dennis Grall.)
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63-Pointer Stirs Memories of UP Legends
February 29, 2020
By Ron Pesch
Special for Second Half
For the first time since 1970 – 50 years ago – and for only the 10th time in Upper Peninsula boys basketball history, a player has scored 60 or more points in a single game.
And that Houghton showing has stoked memories of legendary U.P. scoring showcases going back more than a century.
For the first time, the effort was for naught, at least from a win-loss standpoint, as Houghton dropped a nonconference road contest to Ishpeming 88-83 on Feb. 4. Brad Simonsen hit 23 of 45 field goal attempts, including 7 of 18 from beyond the 3-point arc, as Houghton pushed the play, hoping to narrow what had been a 10-point halftime margin. The 6-foot-6 senior, signed by Michigan Tech, was 10 of 13 from the free throw line and scored 24 points in the fourth quarter, ending the night with 63.
The performance topped Houghton’s school record of 60 points, set by Gary Lange in 1970. The total ranks 14th across the entire state for single game points in a contest, and tied Simonsen for sixth highest above the bridge. There, the mark equaled the top single-game output posted by Stephenson’s Mel Peterson, considered by many the greatest cager ever to come out of the Upper Peninsula.
“Marvelous Mel”
Peterson was the son of a minister and one of 10 children (and eight boys). His older brother, George, broke the U.P. scoring record in 1949 with 44 points in a game for Stephenson High School. The family moved away from the Upper Peninsula following George’s graduation, ultimately landing in southeastern Idaho.
There, Mel emerged as an outstanding athlete for Idaho Falls High School. Standing 6-foot-4½, Peterson’s growth occurred mostly during his freshman year.
“I played quite a bit on the varsity my sophomore year,” recalled Peterson recently. “My junior year I started out very, very slow but ended up very good. (However,) I fractured my ankle with about a minute to go in the semifinals of the (1955) state tournament, which we won.”
Peterson led all scorers with 25 points and dominated the boards that night, but had to be helped from the floor, then didn’t play in the title contest. “We lost the state tournament by three points, (43-40 to Kellogg). I was a cheerleader. … It would have been fun to play in the final game.”
When his father received a call to serve the Mission Covenant Church in Wallace, Michigan, about seven miles south of Stephenson, the family returned to the Upper Peninsula for Peterson’s senior year.
“At that time, it was nothing like it is now, where you can find anything about anybody. Then, that wasn’t the case at all,” Peterson said. “So, when we came back, no one had any idea of where I lived before, if I played or not.”
Indeed, prior to football season, one newspaper report indicated Peterson had transferred in from North Dakota, while another listed him as coming from Illinois. Regardless, Peterson emerged as a solid football player at Stephenson High in the fall of 1955. But it was on the basketball court where his scoring and rebounding prowess quickly loomed. He opened the season with 33 points in a win over Gladstone, despite fouling out early in the fourth quarter.
By January, the media had taken to calling him “Marvelous Mel” as Peterson averaged 32.3 points in his first half-dozen games for the Eagles. He drove Stephenson to a 15-1 regular-season record, posting 11 games over 30 points and scoring more than 40 in six.
On Jan. 21, 1956, he poured in 63 points in an 89-44 win over Manistique, shattering his brother’s school record. Mel nailed 25 of 38 shots from the field and 13 of 16 from the free-throw line. At the time, the scoring total exceeded the previous known best in the U.P. of 60 points, scored by Norbert Purol in February 1952. (Purol, from Ironwood St. Ambrose, would later play two seasons of AAU ball in Chicago before matriculating at Kentucky Wesleyan, earning four letters between 1956 and 1959. Wesleyan ended the 1957 season as runner-up to Wheaton College in the inaugural NCAA Small College Tournament – now known as Division II.)
“I don’t remember a great deal about a lot of it. That was so long ago,” said Peterson, laughing. “I guess the thing I appreciate most about the game was that my coach (Duane “Gus” Lord), let me play the whole game, which didn’t happen real often. Probably the thing I remember most about the whole year is that we played a Catholic school, Lourdes, from Marinette, Wisconsin. The first game we played them we beat them 110 to 44. The second game we lost 68-66.”
Peterson’s regular-season total of 570 points also exceeded Purol’s U.P. record of 556 posted over 19 games in 1952. His regular-season average, which had climbed to 35.6, topped the previous best of 29.6, posted by Pete Kutches in 1952 for Escanaba St. Joseph. Then Peterson pushed the per-game-average even higher in the postseason.
Seeing more playing time in the playoffs, “Marvelous Mel,” notched more than 30 points in all seven postseason games (exceeding 40 in three of the contests and 50 once), leading Stephenson to the MHSAA Class B championship win against Detroit St. Andrews in sudden-death overtime, 73-71. There he scored the game-tying bucket with 17 seconds remaining in the three-minute extra frame, and then sunk the game winner 26 seconds into sudden death, where the first team to gain a two-point advantage was proclaimed the victor. That 1956 season saw three of the four basketball championships awarded to U.P. teams.
Peterson finished with 849 points on the year – at the time the best single-season performance in MHSAA history. He averaged 36.9 points across 23 contests – currently eighth in the MHSAA record book.
Following graduation, Peterson nearly signed to play at the University of Minnesota, but felt a better fit at Wheaton College, outside Chicago. There, he earned three All-American honors. As a freshman in 1957, he led Wheaton to victory in that first NCAA Small College Tournament championship game against Wesleyan, earning Most Outstanding Player honors along the way. Today, he remains Wheaton’s all-time leader in career points, points per game, field goals made and career rebounds, all accomplished “without the benefit of a 3-point line, which had yet to be implemented.”
Peterson, who helped the USA team win gold at the 1963 Pan American Games in Sao Paulo, Brazil, played two games for Baltimore in the National Basketball Association (NBA) before a heart condition sidetracked his career. Once the issue was repaired, he returned to play 134 games over three seasons in the American Basketball Association, earning an ABA league championship with the Oakland Oaks in 1969. In 2019, he was inducted into the Small College Basketball National Hall of Fame.
The High-Scoring Sixties
Roger Roell, a senior at Channing, topped Peterson’s U.P. single game record with a 67-point performance in early January 1960 by dropping 31 field goals and five free throws in a 105-55 win over Michigamme.
Just over seven weeks later, Jim Manning scored 69 for Trout Creek against Amasa in another lopsided affair, 140-47 (then, a U.P. record for highest team score. The team’s 44 points in the fourth quarter was also a U.P. mark at the time. Trout Creek’s coach, Bruce Warren began substituting in the second quarter).
Manning, a junior, finished the 1959-60 season as the first player in U.P. history to exceed 600 points in one regular season, totaling 608 over 18 games. He would later pitch in the Major Leagues.
Roell finished second with 569 points in 18 regular-season contests. Third on the regular-season scoring list was another junior, Erwin Scholtz of Hermansville, who tallied 505 across 18 games.
As a senior, the 6-foot-5 Scholtz would post 71 points against Channing, a new benchmark for points in a game in the Upper Peninsula.
Or was it?
The Master’s Thesis
Perhaps because of the media coverage of Scholtz’s accomplishment, in 1962 the Crystal Falls Diamond Drill ran an article detailing the recently unearthed exploits of Ed Burling some 50 years prior. Richard Mettlach, football and baseball coach at Crystal Falls, had uncovered the Burling story.
Mettlach, “in the process of preparing a history of local high school sports which he submitted as a part of the preparation for his master’s degree … discovered that the newspaper records of the early years of high school basketball tell of a match between Iron River and Crystal Falls (played during the 1910-11 season).”
Crystal Falls had downed Iron River, 107-27, according to Mettlach’s research, and Burling had scored all but 10 of Crystal Falls’ points.
“Basketball was different in those days,” said Burling when interviewed by the Diamond Drill in January 1962. Then 68 years old and working as the postmaster in Crystal Falls, he recalled, “when one man was hitting the basket well, the rest of the team fed him the ball and let him shoot. I couldn’t miss that night.”
According to the article, “Burling said as he recalled the game, he made 98 points that night. It appears that 97, however, reportedly verified in two newspaper accounts of the game, will have to be the figure used in the record book.”
Burling recalled that the majority of his shots were from in front of the basket and that rules of the day allowed the top shooter on the team to attempt the free throws.
“The 97 point scoring record would probably have never been uncovered if it had not been for Mettlach’s research,” added the Diamond Drill.
Three more U.P. additions
In 1966, Bob Gale of Trout Creek scored 60 against Mercer, Wisconsin. Gale would later play at Michigan State.
Houghton’s Lange scored his 60 as the Gremlins walloped Painsedale Jeffers, 134-62, on January 23, 1970. One week later, Larry Laitala dropped 65 as Champion crushed Felch, 114-71.
“We had a very good team that year. We had a lot of wings and normally, I wouldn’t play the whole game. My coach was Dominic Jacobetti (who played at Negaunee St. Paul, then Northern Michigan University) and he was a pretty prolific scorer in the U.P. It was one of those nights where the rim was real big,” recalled Laitala, chuckling.
Laitala finished second to Lange in regular-season scoring, 557 to 523, with each athlete playing 17 games.
“Houghton is possibly the best team in any class in the Upper Peninsula,” wrote Hal Schram in the Detroit Free Press, who predicted an MHSAA state title for the team noting that many felt Lange was the top player north of the bridge. The Gremlins, at 17-0, finished as the top-ranked team in Class C in the weekly press polls assembled by the Free Press, The Associated Press and United Press International.
But the season ended earlier than expected for both teams. Houghton fell to St. Ignace in a Regional Semifinal.
“We were beat by our archrival, Republic (61-55) in the first game of the (Class D) Districts, which was kind of an upset,” added Laitala.
Prior to Simonsen’s accomplishment, Lange and Laitala were the most recent players above the Straits of Mackinac to equal or exceed the 60-point minimum established in the MHSAA record book.
The Challenge of Traceability
With modern-day electronic archiving of a number of the state’s newspapers and the accessibility of newspapers on microfilm, an effort has been made to add dates to single-game records, where once only the season of accomplishment was listed. The work continues.
Today, more than 100 years later, the “two newspaper accounts” used back in the 1960s for verification of Burling’s scoring accomplishment have not resurfaced. Hence, neither the date of the game, nor details from period accounts are available for study. That, combined with knowledge that basketball games from the time were usually low-scoring affairs, means doubt is still cast on the mark.
After investigation, the record was accepted by Crystal Falls historian Malcolm McNeil and U.P. sports archivist, Jim Trethewey, a former sports editor of the Marquette Mining Journal who travelled to Crystal Falls to interview Burling. MHSAA historian Dick Kishpaugh ultimately added the performance to the state record book. Questions about the legitimacy of Burling’s total began almost immediately and have resurfaced every 10 years or so. Todd Schulz, a former sports columnist at the Lansing State Journal, wrote extensively on the chase in 2012.
One of the individuals still working to help solve the mystery is Al Anderson of Crystal Falls.
The Diamond Drill was a weekly paper during Burling’s high school days, and newspapers of the time generally didn’t separate prep sporting news into sections. When reported upon, accounts of high school games were usually included in a ‘School Notes’ column.
The season was, without question, a success. “Winning eight out of ten games played, and having three challenges refused, the local basket ball team lay claim to the U.P. championship for the season of 1910-11,” stated the Diamond Drill in the March 25, 1911 edition.
Still, reports uncovered from the period publication continue to cast doubt on the plausibility of the feat occurring in a high school game. “… More basket ball and less indoor foot ball next time will look better to the audience,” noted the newspaper about a 17-10 victory over Niagara, Wis., in mid-December 1910.
“The basket ball game last night resulted in a dispute near the end of the last half with the score 13 to 12 in favor of Crystal Falls. Iron Mountain disputed a decision by the referee and withdrew from the floor,” was the account in the Feb. 18, 1911 edition of the paper.
“There’s an article that was cut out of the physical copy of the December 10, 1910 Diamond Drill,” reports Anderson, who’s been seeking confirmation in fits and starts for nearly a decade. “It looks like it could be the ‘School Notes.’ portion. It’s missing on microfiche copies as well. Perhaps that’s it.”
So the chase to verify continues.
2019-20 season brings sudden burst
Sophomore phenom Emoni Bates of Ypsilanti Lincoln is the latest prep player to etch his name in the MHSAA record book for scoring 63 points. He accomplished the feat in a 108-102 double-overtime win against Chelsea two weeks after Simonsen’s accomplishment. Statewide, that means 34 players have now scored 60 or more points in a game – 30 boys (10 in the U.P. and 20 in Lower Michigan) and four girls (one in the U.P and three in the Lower Peninsula).
Will the list be reduced by one? Time and additional research will tell.
Ron Pesch has taken an active role in researching the history of MHSAA events since 1985 and began writing for MHSAA Finals programs in 1986, adding additional features and "flashbacks" in 1992. He inherited the title of MHSAA historian from the late Dick Kishpaugh following the 1993-94 school year, and resides in Muskegon. Contact him at [email protected] with ideas for historical articles.
PHOTOS: (Top) Brad Simonsen celebrates becoming Houghton's all-time leading scorer Wednesday. (2) Stephenson's Mel Peterson. (3) Trout Creek's Jim Manning. (4) Houghton's Gary Lange. (5) Trout Creek's Bob Gale. (Top photo courtesy of Houghton Daily Mining Gazette. Peterson photo courtesy of Upper Peninsula Sports Hall of Fame. Houghton and Trout Creek photos courtesy of those schools' yearbook departments.)