Ishpeming sophomore guard Madisyn Mead, right, dribbles past Manistique junior forward Emilee McDaniel in an MHSAA Division 3 girls district tournament first-round game at Ishpeming High School on Monday. (Journal photo by Ryan Spitza)

ISHPEMING — Sometimes spreading out the scoring can be more beneficial to a team than one or two star players rolling up the points.

The Ishpeming girls basketball team used that spread to perfection on Monday as no player reached double figures, but 10 of 13 players found the scoresheet in the Hematites’ 56-44 win over visiting Manistique in the opening round of the MHSAA Division 3 district tournament.

With the win, Ishpeming (8-13) advances to Wednesday night’s semifinal versus Gwinn (11-9) at the Modeltowners’ gym.

“We really spread the wealth tonight,” Hematites head coach Ryan Reichel said. “I thought the way the ball moved, everyone took the opportunity in their scoring slots.

“We didn’t have one girl in double figures, but we scored in the 50s and that shows how balanced it was. I was proud of the effort early on. We kind of set the tone with the way we were pressing, and credit to Manistique.

“They didn’t miss much in the first half, but they had a lot of turnovers. We were fortunate because of that. I thought they were shooting really well and they had an offensive swagger going into a half-court set, but our press was pretty effective at the beginning of that game.”

The Emeralds committed 31 turnovers, many of them early on, which allowed the Hematites to gain a bigger lead each possession and never look back.

Manistique head coach David Winkel spent a significant amount of time in the locker room after the season-ending loss, simply thanking his players for all they’ve done in a tough 2-18 season.

“It’s tough whenever the season comes to an end because you love this game, you love these girls, you love being out here and competing, and it’s hard to be done, man,” he said. “All their time and hard work that they put in for you, all you can do at the end of the day is thank them for what they gave.”

Winkel added while his team’s effort was definitely there all night, that effort may have gone a little over the top.

“We played hard,” he said. “We didn’t play well, but like I told them at the end of the game, at least a lot of our mistakes were because we were pushing. We were almost trying too hard.

“Late in the game we were kind of trying to force things a little bit too much and it cost us. We just got a little bit careless with the ball and that was pretty much the difference in the game.”

The Hematites took a 14-9 lead after one quarter before coming out with the first seven points of the second on a layup by sophomore guard Jocelynn Nyman and 2-pointer and 3-pointer from junior guard Kayla Koski.

After the Emeralds got its first point of the quarter nearly three minutes in at the free throw line from senior guard Sydny Peterson, Ishpeming junior guard Tia Mattila followed that up with a triple, her first of three on the evening.

The Hematites took a 31-16 lead at halftime, and continued to pour it on in the third, increasing that advantage to 22 points after three, 47-25.

The Emeralds managed to cut the lead to 15 points — 55-40 — in the fourth with a nine-point run that included baskets from Peterson, senior guard Joslyn Muth and sophomore forward Brooke Richey. There was just under a minute to play, though, not giving Manistique enough time to finish its comeback.

Ishpeming tossed up 72 shots in the game, going 21 of 72 from the field for 29.1 percent. Manistique shot 42.1 percent, going 16 of 38.

The Hematites were led by Nyman, Mattila and junior guard Emma Poirier with nine points each, while sophomore guard Madisyn Mead had eight to go with nine rebounds. Koski added seven points while senior guard Sophie Hooper scored five and senior guard Madison Pruett four.

Manistique was led by Muth with 15 points while sophomore guard Emma Swanson added eight and Peterson seven.

Muth and sophomore center Raya Twardokus each collected seven of the Emeralds’ 31 rebounds. Ishpeming had 41 caroms.

Looking ahead to Wednesday, Gwinn won a pair of close games against Ishpeming in the regular season, 50-45 and 40-39. Reichel said he’s ready for a challenging Modeltowners team once again.

“Gwinn’s a very good team, well coached and they’ve got some senior leadership,” he said. “We’ve got to get down to the drawing board and try to compete in that game.

“If we’re fortunate enough to come out with a win, it would be really nice to be hosting the district final again for two years in a row. We’re the defending champs and it would be nice to give ourselves an opportunity to try and defend that title again.”

Email Ryan Spitza at sports@miningjournal.net.