GWINN — After a slow start on offense, Gwinn scored 41 second-half points to pull away from Iron Mountain for a 63-53 girls basketball victory at the Modeltowners gym on Tuesday night.

The Mountaineers led just 6-5 after one quarter and still held a 23-22 advantage at halftime.

Gwinn then ran up 24 third-quarter points on the strength of four 3-pointers, including two by Brooke Mannor, to take a 46-41 lead heading to the fourth.

Mannor led the Modeltowners with 16 points and sisters Marissa Delmont added 15 and Mallory Delmont 12.

The Modeltowners made 7 of 11 free throws in the final eight minutes to nail down the win.

“Our game plan was to pressure and force turnover, which I feel we did in the first half,” GHS coach Ben Olsen said. “But we could not turn those turnovers into points, evident by the five points we scored (in the first quarter).

“In the second half, we continued to press and we were finally able to knock down some 3s and held a lead of about eight or more points for the remainder of the game.

“We ran into more foul trouble late in the third and Annalise Hoevker and Eliina Miilu gave us about six incredible minutes. They were a big reason, if not the reason, we were able to maintain our advantage.”

The Mountaineers were led by Saylor Swartout and Reagan Lundholm with 16 points apiece.

“We struggled putting Iron Mountain away because Saylor Swartout and Reagan Lundholm made some big shots that kept them in the game,” Olsen said.

IM won the JV game 45-39.

Gwinn plays a pair of Upper Peninsula Division 1-3 top-five teams later this week, hosting Westwood on Thursday and playing at Negaunee on Saturday.

Ishpeming 49, Manistique 19