WATERSMEET — Kolin Conklin hit six baskets in the third quarter but it wasn’t enough to turn around the fortunes of the Republic-Michigamme boys basketball team in a 79-55 loss at Watersmeet on Thursday night.

Conklin finished with a team-high 19 points in this Copper Mountain Conference game, while teammate Eli Luokkala added 16 points and Logan Hanninen 11.

The Hawks trailed 38-23 at halftime before exploding for 22 points in the third quarter to narrow the gap to 55-45 entering the fourth quarter.

But R-M could only muster 10 more points the rest of the way.

The Nimrods’ Mitchell McGeshick led all scorers with 29 points.

The Hawks travel to Superior Central for a nonconference game on Monday.