By JULIE GOLDBERG

Journal Sports Writer

WESTWOOD — Negaunee didn’t have a chance to think about Thursday night’s loss to Marquette with Westwood up next the following night.

After losing the heartbreaker the night before, the Miners boys basketball team rebounded by beating Mid-Peninsula Conference foe Westwood, 41-35.

The Patriots had no answer for Negaunee 6-foot-7 senior Trent Bell, who scored well over half his team’s points with 26.

“Our game plan was to give it to him,” Negaunee head coach Dan Waterman said. “It was a huge mismatch and we took advantage of it the entire game.”

“We don’t have a Trent Bell,” Westwood head coach Chad Hewitt said. “He’s good at all aspects of the game and played great tonight.”

Negaunee improved to 13-4 and 7-2 in the M-PC, while Westwood fell to 4-12 and 3-8.

Senior Dre Tuominen made a basket and free throw to get the Miners a quick 3-0 lead, one they never relinquished.

“We had some mental lapses throughout the game, but keeping the lead was our primary focus,” Waterman said.

Bell made a layup at the first-quarter buzzer to give the Miners an 11-4 lead.

Down 16-11 midway through the second quarter, Westwood sophomore Nathan Beckham hit a triple to cut his team’s deficit to two. Bell responded by draining a free throw and making a layup to help the Miners rebuild their lead to five with two minutes left.

Negaunee’s big man once again made a layup at the halftime buzzer to make it 21-18.

Westwood was down 27-20 with just over four minutes left in the third when Beckham scored four straight to cut the deficit to three. Negaunee led 31-26 going into the final quarter.

NHS built its biggest lead of nine points after Tuominen sank back-to-back baskets just a bit past the midpoint of the final quarter. The senior guard had eight of Negaunee’s 10 points in the fourth.

“We played hard for 32 minutes,” Hewitt said. “The guys played extremely hard tonight and our game is getting better.

“I wouldn’t change a thing about the way we play. We go in with the same mindset every game and we’re making teams earn their victories against us.”

Negaunee outrebounded the Patriots 24-13.

Tuominen had 13 points for the Miners while Bell had a team-high 14 rebounds. Beckham led the Patriots with 11 points.

“This wasn’t a pretty win, but we’re in a good position now for where we need to be this season,” Waterman said. “We’re going to take some time to look at film and correct our mistakes.”

These two teams have a rematch in Negaunee on Wednesday, which happened because Friday’s game was a makeup from Feb. 8. In the meantime, Westwood hosts Gladstone on Monday.

Email Julie Goldberg at sports@miningjournal.net.