HOUGHTON — The Negaunee boys basketball team was in a tight battle for the first half Thursday night at Houghton.

Then in the third quarter, the Miners outscored the Gremlins 22-5 to break the game open on their way to a 49-32 win.

Drew Lindberg led Negaunee with 13 points.

Negaunee held a 12-9 lead after the first quarter and 24-20 at halftime before exploding offensively in the third and cruising.

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Superior Central 52, Big Bay de Noc 20

At Garden Corners, the Cougars picked up their first win of the season by jumping out to a 15-4 lead at the end of the first quarter and leading 32-9 at the half.

“We’re just going to struggle all year,” Black Bears coach Brad McPhee said. “We got a really really young team with two eighth-graders. We’re just struggling with learning how to play a team game. We showed a little bit more patience tonight than what we’ve shown, but we still have a lot of work to put in.”

Lucas Kanerva led the Cougars (1-3) with 10 points. Brayden Willour led Big Bay (0-4) with 10 points.

The Black Bears struggled taking care of the ball, committing 26 turnovers.

“I thought we played some decent defense at times, but our guys were really undisciplined,” McPhee said.

The Cougars visit Mid Peninsula Monday.

Information compiled by Journal Sports Editor Steve Brownlee with contributions from the Escanaba Daily Press. Email Brownlee at sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.