Ishpeming, Gwinn both win in local girls games
ISHPEMING — The Ishpeming varsity girls basketball team picked up an important win in the stretch run of the season on Tuesday night, narrowly defeating Gladstone 48-46 at home.
The Hematites improved to 5-11 behind double-digit nights from Emma Poirier and Kayla Koski. Poirier led with 19 points to Koski’s 14.
The game was a back and forth barnburner against a talented Gladstone team who’s better than its record shows.
“We would go on a run, they would go on a run,” Ishpeming head coach Ryan Reichel said. “We dug ourselves into a hole but we clawed back. It was a much-needed win at this point in the season against a good team.”
Reichel also commented on the officiating, but not for the reasons you may think. One of the officials was Jackson Ingalls, a high school student from St. Ignace who made the drive to officiate the game between the Braves and Hematites.
Reichel praised Ingalls for his dedication and hopes he can serve as an inspiration for more young officials or aspiring officials in the MHSAA.
“It was very awesome seeing Jackson, a high school kid from St. Ignace, drive up to ref our game,” he said. “We need good, young officials to get involved and having Adam Karki take him in for this game, it was great to see that good mentorship.”
The Hematites led 8-4 after a low-scoring first quarter before falling into a small 21-17 deficit at halftime. The four-point margin remained the same after three quarters with the Braves going up 37-33 going into the final frame.
Ishpeming rose to the occasion in the fourth, outscoring the Braves 15-9 to collect the narrow victory. Poirier drained two triples in the fourth while Koski added one to help spark the comeback.
Ishpeming visits Lake Linden-Hubbell (4-10) on Saturday.
Gwinn 42, Hancock 27
At Gwinn, the Modeltowners have now won four of their last five games and improved to 10-4 on the season thanks to a strong defensive performance in the first half.
“It was a very physical game and we were able to hold (Hancock) to two first half points, but we were only able to score 16 ourselves,” Gwinn head coach Ben Olsen said. “Marissa Delmont did a really good job running the offense. She didn’t get the looks she normally gets with only five shots, but she did a good job of distributing the ball with six assists.
“Emily Curtice and Megan Ruokolainen did a great job and were the recipient of all the attention Marissa got. Defensive rebounding was much better. We’ve done a great job for the most part taking care of the ball, but these last two games we’ve struggled. Calumet and Hancock do a very good job of pressing.”
Curtice paced the Modeltowners with 19 points to Ruokolainen’s 10.
After the 16-2 halftime lead, Gwinn remained in control for the remainder of the evening and held on for the victory over the Bulldogs (8-8)
Gwinn went 13 of 30 from the field for 43 percent to Hancock’s dismal 9 of 50 for just 18 percent. The Modeltowners collected 27 rebounds with Ruokolainen getting eight.
Gwinn hosts Gladstone on Thursday.
Calumet 59, Negaunee 55 (OT)
At Calumet, the No. 4-ranked Miners dropped an overtime heartbreaker, snapping a three-game win streak and falling to 12-4 on the year. The Copper Kings (12-3) avenged a loss to Negaunee from earlier this season.
Down 38-31 at halftime, the Miners cut that lead to three after the third quarter and managed to knot things up in the fourth, sending the game to overtime at 55-55.
Calumet held Negaunee off the scoreboard in the extra session to hold on for a four-point win.
Alyssa Hill led Negaunee with 19 points while Breanne Giotto added 14. Lilly Nelson finished with 10.
Negaunee visits Iron Mountain (1-14) on Thursday.
Westwood 73, Iron Mountain 44
At Iron Mountain, the No. 2-ranked Patriots bumped their win streak to 12 games on Tuesday night thanks to three players in double figures.
“Iron Mountain was able to keep it close early on with some hot shooting and poor decisions on our part,” Westwood head coach Kurt Corcoran said. “Ellie Miller really gave us a spark with a couple of open-court steals for layups. We were getting good looks against their zone, but we couldn’t get a shot to fall if our lives depended on it.
“After we calmed down a little, we went on a 16-1 run to end the second quarter and a 10-0 run to start the third.”
Westwood (14-1) led 16-13 after one and 35-21 at halftime. Tessa Leece and Karlie Patron tallied 17 points apiece while Madi Koski added 14. Miller and Jillian Koski each chipped in seven.
The Patriots shot 28 of 62 from the field for 45 percent and picked up 35 rebounds. Natalie Prophet grabbed nine of those and finished with six points.
Westwood visits Manistique (6-11) on Friday.
Marquette 85, Houghton 54
At Marquette, the Redettes snapped a four-game skid thanks in part to Maria Millado’s 20-point performance. Aspen Michelin added 16 while Maddie Carter had 15.
“It was nice to break a four-game skid,” MSHS head coach Ben Smith said. “It was a very solid team effort and we used our defense to set up our offense. We hope to build on this effort as we host Kingsford on Friday.”
The Redettes shot exactly 50 percent from the field going 36 of 72 and were also 10 of 16 at the free throw line. MSHS picked up 40 rebounds with Millado getting 10.
Marquette hosts Kingsford (7-8) on Friday.
Forest Park 56, Munising 32
At Crystal Falls, senior all-up center Mercedes Simmons had big game tonight with a stat line of 28 points, 13 rebounds, eight blocks and five steals to lead Forest Park past Munising Tuesday night inside the Eddie Chambers Memorial Gymnasium. Lea LaChapelle added 12 points and Sydney Honkala chipped in 10 for the Trojans.
Megan Matson led the Mustangs with 16 points in the Skyline Central Conference loss.
“We created some turnovers in the first quarter that allowed us to jump out to an early lead,” said Forest Park head coach Kim Bjork. “We had foul trouble in the second half but we managed to keep everyone on the floor. It’s nice to get a win especially when everyone on the team contributes in some way.
The Trojans, who improve to 5-10 on the season, remain home and welcome their cross county rival West Iron to town on Thursday night for a non-conference game.
Munising won the JV game 33-17.
Information compiled by Journal Sports Writer Ryan Spitza and the Iron Mountain Daily News. Email Spitza at sports@miningjournal.net.
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