Negaunee High School girls basketball players celebrate their MHSAA Division 3 district tournament championship as head coach Mike O'Donnell, right, delivers the tourney trophy to them following a double-overtime victory at Hancock on Friday. (Houghton Daily Mining Gazette photo by Eddie O'Neill)

HANCOCK — Friday night’s MHSAA Division 3 girls basketball district tournament championship game had all the ups and downs of a roller coaster.

The back-and-forth battle between Negaunee and Hancock took two overtimes before the trophy could be raised.

At the end of it all, the Miners were the ones who emerged, celebrating a 47-44 district win.

“This one was an instant classic,” Miners coach Mike O’Donnell said. “It was a defensive chess game till the end.”

While the Bulldogs (19-2) had beaten the Miners earlier in the season, it was in December, when things were different and didn’t mean much, according to Bulldogs coach Ward Helakoski.

“We were both very different teams back then,” he said. “Hats off to Negaunee. They are a very good team that played well, and we didn’t.”

The Miners extended their winning streak to 18 games and improved their record to 21-4.

Hancock entered the game as the No. 1 team in Divisions 1-3 in the last Upper Peninsula Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association poll conducted a week ago. The Bulldogs were also top-10 ranked in the Division 3 state Associated Press poll.

“After our last stretch of close games it was hard to imagine finding a way to win in a more dramatic fashion,” O’Donnell said, alluding to a pair of buzzer-beating one-point victories just a few ago as the streak was reaching into double digits.

On Friday, the opening quarter was like a chess match as each possession was calculated and deliberate. The Bulldogs led after the first eight minutes 9-7. The second was much the same with the teams headed to the locker room with an 18-16 Bulldogs’ lead at half.

“I told the girls that I considered that first half a win,” O’Donnell said. “We were still very much in this one, and we just needed to step up our game in the second half.”

The Miners heeded the call as they allowed the Bulldogs just two points while they scored 12 and took a 28-20 lead into the final eight minutes.

“They came on strong, and we were a little timid in that second half,” Helakoski said. “We weren’t playing naturally. We missed way too many layup shots and free throws.”

However, they were able to bounce back in the fourth and tie it at 30 with 3:15 left. The Miners regained the lead at 35-33 with less than a minute to go in regulation.

The Bulldogs’ season was on the line and then came the dramatics.

With just seconds left, Hancock had the ball on an inbounds play. They needed a 3-pointer and got it with a desperation shot from far beyond the arc by Kaisa Salani. She tied it at 36 and was mobbed by her teammates after forcing overtime.

“I was worried when she (Salani) hit that one,” O’Donnell said. “My girls’ faces were flush and deflated. But I told them to keep their composure; we are just starting over, and they did.”

The first overtime, which was four minutes long, ended in both teams scoring just four points (40-40) to force another session.

In the second OT, the Miners scored seven and Hancock squad just four.

“That composure is what won it for us,” O’Donnell said. “They stayed with it until the end.”

Season-long leading scorer Ella Mason against led the Miners with 14 points, while Aubrey Johnson added 11 and Grace Nardi nine. Mason and Nardi each hit a pair of 3-pointers.

Despite the loss, Helakoski had nothing but accolades for his girls, who lost just one game during the regular season.

“I told them that there is nothing to be ashamed of,” he said. “Yes, this loss hurts, but look at all we accomplished this season. In the end, I am very, very proud of them.”