ISHPEMING — Madigan Johns scored 22 points to lead Ishpeming to a 51-37 win at home over Gwinn on Tuesday night in a high school girls basketball game.

The Hematites jumped out to a 16-11 lead after the first quarter before their defense stepped up, limiting the Modeltowners to just two points in the second quarter to take a 29-13 lead into halftime. Then they upped their advantage to 43-22 after three quarters.

Ishpeming head coach Ryan Reichel said three quarters of strong play helped Ishpeming fend off the resilient Modeltowners, who made things interesting down the stretch.

“We started off a little shaky in the first quarter,” Reichel said. “Gwinn was prepared well by (head coach Ben Olsen).

“In the second quarter, we were able to get some good stops that allowed us to get a decent halftime lead. Gwinn never gave up and gave us a tough fourth quarter, narrowing the lead.”

The Modeltowners outscored Ishpeming 15-8 in the final quarter, but that only managed to put a dent into the final margin of victory for Ishpeming.

Gwinn’s Kia Evans finished the night with nine points.

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Baraga 42, Chassell 33

At Chassell on Monday, the Vikings scored a key Copper Mountain Conference win in a meeting of teams previously unbeaten in the CMC.

Baraga (6-1, 3-0) had to fend off a late Chassell rally after taking a 33-19 lead late in the third quarter. The Panthers (5-2, 3-1) cut the deficit to 37-33 with less than two minutes left on the strength of six points by Meg Hokenson and a pair of baskets by Milly Allen.

Then a key bucket by the Vikings’ Justice Kinnunen and four free throws by reliable Carsyn Osterman finally put the game out of reach.

“I was satisfied with our defense in the first half,” BHS coach Keith Willis said. “But we still haven’t played a complete game yet.”

The teams were knotted 7-7 after a sloppy first quarter before Baraga assumed an 18-11 halftime lead.

Kinnunen scored nine of her 16 points in the third to make it appear to be a safe lead heading into the fourth. Osterman also scored 16 points while pulling down a team-high eight rebounds and adding five assists and two blocks. Kinnunen added seven rebounds of her own.

For Chassell, 6-foot-2 center Sydney Danison had team highs of 12 points and 10 rebounds.

Information compiled by Journal Sports Writer Ray Bressette with contributions from the Houghton Daily Mining Gazette. Bressette’s email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.