GWINN — Gwinn took advantage of Houghton’s “pack-it-in” defense by sinking a half dozen 3-pointers for a 62-44 boys basketball victory on Wednesday night.

“Houghton plays a 2-3 zone, which we don’t see much down here, so it was about finding the open guy the ball,” Modeltowners coach Jim Finkbeiner said.

And the guy finding the open man was often 6-foot-5 senior forward Reed Wiedenhoefer, who finished with 14 points, 10 rebounds and six assists.

“Our big guys garnered a lot of attention, getting double-teamed and triple-teamed,” Finkbeiner said. “Reed did a nice job getting the ball back to the man who was open.”

Gwinn sophomore guard Austin Forbes led all scorers with 18 points, including four 3-pointers, while sophomore forward Tucker Taylor had 12 points.

Houghton was paced by George Butvilas and Bradley Sirard with 12 points apiece.

Gwinn improved to 5-4 despite a brutal schedule that has included undefeated Negaunee, Munising and Norway along with one-loss Iron Mountain so far.

“That’s the way I like it,” Finkbeiner said. “It’s a good challenge early in the season.”

After building a modest 15-11 lead after one quarter, the Modeltowners put together “a little run” in the middle of the second quarter to extend the advantage to 35-21 at halftime.

One more run late in the third gained Gwinn a 51-30 lead entering the fourth quarter.

The Gremlins won the JV game 46-11.

The Modeltowners host Iron Mountain on Friday night while Houghton has West Iron County at home on Monday.

Information compiled by Journal Sports Editor Steve Brownlee. His email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.