The crowd at Friday's non-league challenge between the Ishpeming Hematites (Ishpeming, MI) and the host Westwood Patriots (Ishpeming, MI), observed Ishpeming's basketball team edge Westwood by a score of 45-41.

The Hematites (9-2) will now prepare for their challenge against Iron Mountain (Iron Mountain, MI). The Mountaineers come into the Mid-Peninsula challenge with a 2-11 record. In their last challenge, Iron Mountain was tipped by Negaunee (Negaunee, MI), 67-28, in a league challenge.

In their next game, the Patriots encounter the Houghton Gremlins (Houghton, MI) in a Western Peninsula challenge, on Monday, January 27. Westwood will attempt to improve on its 4-8 season record. The Gremlins come into the challenge with a 10-3 record after their 51-43 non-league win over Kingsford (Kingsford, MI).