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Taking over control: Negaunee Miners gain upper hand in 2nd quarter to win district boys basketball game vs. Westwood

Negaunee’s Jakson Sager, center, is called for a charging foul on Westwood’s Jacob Adriano, left, as Sager tries to dish a pass around Adriano in the first quarter of their MHSAA Division 3 district tournament semifinal game played at Lakeview Memorial Gymnasium in Negaunee on Wednesday. (Photo courtesy Daryl T. Jarvinen)

NEGAUNEE — Westwood played the game it wanted to in the first quarter of an MHSAA Division 3 boys basketball district semifinal game Wednesday at Lakeview Memorial Gymnasium in Negaunee.

But after that, the Miners dictated what they wanted to do to pull out a 56-47 victory.

Negaunee (14-7) will host Gwinn at 7 p.m. Friday for the district championship.

After Negaunee built a small lead in the opening minutes, Westwood (12-10) went on a 10-2 run, capped off by a 3-pointer from guard Zach Carlson at the first buzzer for a 14-7 lead. Negaunee answered the bell in the second quarter, going on a 13-5 run of its own. A pair of free throws by guard Jakson Sager with 47 seconds to go before the break gave Negaunee a 20-19 lead they would take into halftime and never relinquish.

“We just started to play harder and compete a lot more (after the first quarter),” Sager said. “In the beginning, we started off kind of slow and we just picked it up from there.”

Sager scored 15 points, nine coming on free throws. Guard Jason Waterman led the Miners’ effort with 19 points, including 10 free throws.

“His handle and court vision is unbelievable,” Negaunee head coach Dan Waterman said about Sager. “It allows us to do some things offensively that I’ve never done as a coach. There’s so many ball screens and we’re constantly looking for ways for him to attack the defense.

“With the attention that Jason (Waterman) and (Drew) Lindberg draw, it really opens the court up for him. He not only gets his own points, but he creates a lot for everybody else.”

Carlson and Nathan Beckman were the lone Patriots to score in double figures with 11 points each. Forward Blake Hewitt scored seven and grabbed a team-high six rebounds.

“Westwood knocked us back on our heels,” Coach Waterman said. “They did a nice job. That’s a senior-laden team. I thought we did a good job of regrouping.”

Waterman noted when forward Alex Munson came into the game for the Miners, they were able to switch to a zone defense that slowed down the Patriots’ interior game and forced them to be more perimeter-oriented, where they struggled to sink shots.

The Miners continued to make it a long night for Westwood shooters in the second half as they opened up a 34-24 lead on a 3-pointer from the corner by Munson.

“It’s like a heavyweight title fight,” Westwood coach Chad Hewitt said. “They punch, we punch, they punch, we punch. We just came up a little short. We didn’t respond like we normally have to some of those runs. Hats off to them, they’re a good team.”

Physical throughout, the fourth quarter mainly became a free-throw shooting contest — at least for Negaunee.

NHS sank 12 of 17 attempts to keep the Patriots at arm’s length in the final period. Jason Waterman finished the night a perfect 10 for 10 from the line as Sager nearly matched him at 9 for 10.

“That’s the two kids we want on the line, they’re both 80 percent-plus,” Dan Waterman said. “I’m really proud of them stepping up in a tense atmosphere and doing what they had to do.”

Westwood made it to the line just six times all night and made two.

Aside from the free-throw discrepancy, shooting made a key difference. Although shot totals were unavailable, the Miners put in quite a few key baskets down the stretch while the Patriots didn’t quite get the friendly bounces from the rims.

“We had a couple of them that hit every part of the rim and came out,” Hewitt said. “That’s the game of basketball and that’s March Madness.”

Hewitt lauded his seniors, including Beckman, Zachary Niemi, Jacob Adriano, Blake Hewitt, Troy Anderson and Dakota Rodda, for their leadership this season.

“I’m so proud of the way those guys competed and everything that they do,” Chad Hewitt said. “They’re (leaving) their mark on Westwood High School in everything that they do.”

Dan Waterman said Gwinn will offer a challenge Friday night.

“They’ve already got two wins this week,” he said. “They blew out Bark River on Monday, beat a very athletic Ishpeming team tonight. They’re going to come in here sky high with confidence. It’s going to be a difficult job for us.”

“Tucker Taylor is a ‘man child,’ 6-4, 225, probably a 15-point, 12-rebound kind of kid. He’s the most athletic dude on the floor, a really tough matchup.

“And then they’ve got Austin Forbes, a really good shooter out at the point guard spot. Both are 1,000-point scorers.”

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