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Prep Basketball Roundup: Miner boys, girls triumph

By Journal Sports Staff

GWINN — The Negaunee High School boys varsity basketball team cruised to a 65-41 victory at Gwinn on Tuesday night behind a 21-point night from junior guard Drew Lindberg and 19 points from junior guard Jason Waterman.

The Miners are now 2-3 on the season while Gwinn fell to 3-2.

Negaunee head coach Dan Waterman said he was pleased with his team’s energy out of the gates, holding a 35-9 halftime lead over the Modeltowners.

“We played really well in the first half from an intensity and execution standpoint,” he said. “We were on top of our game and I’m happy with that.

“We had a good balance tonight with shooting. We nearly had four guys in double figures and that’s what we’re looking for.

Waterman also credited his sizable defense for containing Modeltowners senior standout forward Tucker Taylor.

“I need to give a shout out to our big guys,” he said. “Guys like (junior guard) Drew DuShane did a good job keeping Tucker under wraps. He got his points but had to work really hard for them.

“I’m proud of my guys. I’m proud of the way we came out and set the tone early, and that’s important for us moving forward.”

Gwinn head coach Jim Finkbeiner said the energy out of the Miners caused his team to stumble quickly.

“We didn’t live up to Negaunee’s pressure early,” he said. “They executed on offense and did a good job. We didn’t react to the pressure and that’s how they built the lead.

“We lost the third quarter by one point and outscored them in the fourth, but we can’t be beat out 22-4 after one quarter and expect to have opportunities. Negaunee executed their system better than we did and it took us out early.”

Gwinn found itself down 22-4 after one, with the 26 point deficit at halftime.

The second half was much better for the Modeltowners, keeping pace with the Miners offense and outscoring Negaunee 32-30 in the final 16 minutes.

Waterman added seven rebounds and two steals to go with his 19 points while DuShane was the third double-digit scorer with 10 points. Junior guard Jakson Sager added six points and five rebounds.

Gwinn was led by Taylor with a double-double, putting up 14 points and 15 rebounds for the game. Sophomore guard Mastin Love added nine points while senior guard Dawson Laurich chipped in with eight.

Gwinn travels to Westwood on Thursday while Negaunee visits Marquette on Friday.

Girls

Negaunee 67, L’Anse 33

At Negaunee, the Miners girls cruised to victory behind a 13-point performance from MacKenzie Karki to remain undefeated and improve to 5-0 on the season.

Karki was joined in the double-digits category by Alyssa Hill who dropped 11 points along with Abby Nelson and Emily Paupore who had 10 each.

The Miners went up 15-6 after one quarter and scored 15 more in the second, taking a 30-21 lead into the locker room.

While the nine-point lead seemed slim, the Miners defense held the Purple Hornets to four points in the third quarter and just eight more in the fourth. Negaunee used its offensive attack to put up 22 in the third to pull away from L’Anse.

L’Anse was led by Josie Rice with 12 points on the evening.

Nelson had eight rebounds while Hill had six. Karki also had five steals.

Negaunee visits Ishpeming Thursday while L’Anse goes to Calumet.

Jeffers 69,

Rep.-Michigamme 20

At Painesdale, the Hawks were unable to slow down the Jets who had three double-digit scorers on the evening. Republic found itself down 16-7 after the first eight minutes and 39-12 at the half.

The Hawks managed just four points apiece in each of the final two quarters as the Jets took off for the victory.

The Hawks were led by Tailyn Raisanen with six points while April Radcliffe, Kaitlin Ambuehl and Rachel Erickson added four each.

Republic-Michigamme is now off until 2019, traveling to Mid Peninsula on Jan. 4.

Munising 56,

Newberry 48

At Newberry, after getting dealt a defeat last Friday by North Central, the Munising girls basketball team returned to its winning ways Tuesday night with a 56-48 victory over Newberry.

Daryn Johnson led the Mustangs with 22 points, while Michaela Werner and Taylor Downs had 10 points apiece. Werner also snatched down nine rebounds for Munising. Katie Rahilly was the Indians’ offensive leader with 21 points.

Munising led 23-15 after the first quarter and held a 38-24 advantage at the half. However, the Indians started to chip away at Munising’s lead in the second half as they outscored the Mustangs 12-9 in both the third and fourth quarters, but their deficit was too much to overcome.

Newberry won the JV game 51-15. Munising plays at Stephenson Friday.

Forest Park 62,

Superior Central 33

At Eben, the Superior Central Cougars received 15 points from junior Willow Pasanen but it wasn’t enough to overcome Forest Park on Tuesday.

The Trojans led 22-10 after one quarter and 38-17 at the half.

Any chance of a Cougars comeback was shut down in the third, with SC being held to just three points.

SC’s best quarter of the night was the final one, outscoring Forest Park 13-11.

Jada and Riley Johnson combined for 25 rebounds, with Jada notching 12 and Riley 13.

Superior Central goes to Rapid River on Jan. 4.

Information compiled by Journal Sports Writers Ryan Spitza and Ryan Stieg. Email Spitza at sports@miningjournal.net. Stieg can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 252. His email address is rstieg@miningjournal.net.

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