Ishpeming’s Madison Pruett, left, drives to the basket against Iron Mountain’s Hanna Ellis on Thursday, Jan. 10, 2019, in Iron Mountain, Mich. (Adam Niemi/Iron Mountain Daily News)

IRON MOUNTAIN — Ishpeming rallied late to overcome a 10-point deficit and beat Iron Mountain 42-39 on Thursday.

The Hematites (2-5) started off slow, scoring 17 points in the first half before erupting with 18 in the fourth quarter to end a two-game losing streak.

“It was nerve-wracking throughout. We had a chance to take a lead, they took a bigger lead. It was back and forth in that fourth quarter,” Ishpeming head coach Ryan Reichel said. “We made some mistakes but we weathered them. We lost our last two games by a combined 10 points — five points each game — so we were able to feel the taste of victory and fight through some adversity. I’m really happy we could come away with a tough road win against Iron Mountain.”

Emma Poirier and Rebekah Loman led Ishpeming with 10 points apiece.

The Hematites trailed by 10 in the third quarter before switching to a fullcourt press. Ishpeming trailed by five entering the fourth and took the lead halfway through the fourth and traded with Iron Mountain. The Hematites grabbed the lead on a layup with 1:30 to play.

Iron Mountain’s Riley Poupore never found a way to pop the lid off the rim. She missed a fastbreak layup with 48 seconds to play that would have tied the game. Ishpeming added a free throw and a last-ditch 3-pointer from deep by Poupore rimmed out.

Reagan Lundholm led Iron Mountain with 13 points while Poupore had 11 points and 11 rebounds.

What Ishpeming had in the fourth quarter was what Iron Mountain had in the second quarter, an 18-point output on the strength of smart passes and shot selection.

Reichel said the fullcourt press helped spark energy for his team.

“We uglied it up a little bit and made some plays, got some really nice fullcourt steals and got some layup attempts out of it,” he said. “I think it tired them out a little bit. I’ve seen some film on them and they’re not a pressing team. We press here and there but we run a lot in practice so this is where we’re getting better as a team and this helped us to our benefit.”