NEGAUNEE — Negaunee head coach Mike O’Donnell can work with a good half of play, especially when it’s the second half and particularly when it results in a win for his high school girls basketball team.

The Miners erased an 11-point halftime deficit to take a 44-43 victory over visiting Calumet at Lakeview Memorial Gymnasium in Negaunee on Tuesday night.

Despite the big comeback, Negaunee still needed a last-second shot to fall to earn the victory.

It came out of the hands of Cooper Atkins, who made it with less than a second remaining, according to O’Donnell.

“We didn’t execute with a lead the way we would have liked down the stretch and let a late lead slip away, but our effort enabled us to have one last shot at it,” the Negaunee coach said in emailed comments. “Cooper Atkins delivered a shot with 0.3 seconds left; she made a heck of a play to gather a pass and get it up before the buzzer.”

The Miners improved to 15-4 with their 12th win in a row by beating the Upper Peninsula’s No. 4 team in Divisions 1-3 that fell to 12-4.

“It was a tale of two halves,” O’Donnell said. “Calumet jumped all over us in the first half and completely outplayed us. We were dead in the water.

“We got after our girls at halftime and really challenged them. To their credit, they responded as we looked like a different team in the second half.”

Sophomore Aubrey Johnson led Negaunee scorers with 16 points, hitting at least one basket every quarter including a fourth-quarter 3-pointer.

“Aubrey Johnson also played a whale of a game for us on both sides of the ball,” O’Donnell said. “I want to make sure she gets some recognition as well.

“It’s a big win for us as we try to make up ground in the (state’s) power ratings.”

Regular leading scorer junior Ella Mason added 10 points to the winning cause, getting all her points in the first and fourth quarters, while Atkins finished with five points, her only other points on a triple in the third.

The Copper Kings’ Isabel Loukus led all scorers with 18 points, including three 3s as she made 3 of 3 free throws.

Negaunee, which won the JV game 30-22, finishes its regular season with three home games, the first against Ishpeming at 7:30 p.m. Friday.

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Westwood 46, Iron Mountain 38

On Tuesday at Westwood, junior Megan Marta led a trio of Patriots scoring in double figures with 16 points.

It allowed Westwood to break a five-game losing streak and improve to 4-12.

Sophomore teammates Lexi Olson and Isabelle Marta each made a pair of 3-pointers as Olson finished with 13 points and Isabelle Marta 12.

Anja Kleiman led the Mountaineers (2-13) with 12 points.

The Pats established a lead early and kept building upon it, taking a 13-6 advantage after one quarter before extending it to 25-18 at halftime and 37-28 after three quarters.

Westwood has its next two games at home before finishing the regular season with three road games in a row.

The Patriots’ next game is home against Manistique at 4:40 p.m. Friday.

Information compiled by Journal Sports Editor Steve Brownlee. His email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.