Case in point was the Negaunee High School girls basketball team on Friday night in its MHSAA Division 2 district championship game.

The Miners scored their fewest points all season — by more than 10 actually — but were still able to pull out a 38-21 victory at Sault Ste. Marie to capture the district title and advance to the regionals.

Negaunee, which improved to 23-1 after two district victories last week, finished the regular season as the No. 1 team among Divisions 1-3 girls in the weekly polls conducted by the Upper Peninsula Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association. The Soo (14-7) was No. 3 in the same poll.

The Miners now play Petoskey (13-10) in the regional semifinals at 7 p.m. today in Manistique, and with a win there, would advance to the regional championship game in Petoskey at 7 p.m. Wednesday against the winner of tonight’s other regional semifinal between Clare (19-5) and Ludington (18-7) being held in downstate Big Rapids.

The Negaunee High School girls basketball team poses for a team photo after winning its MHSAA Division 2 district tournament championship against Sault Ste. Marie on the Blue Devils' floor on Friday night. (Photo courtesy Mike O’Donnell)

“This was a defensive battle tonight and points were hard to come by both ways,” Miners head coach Mike O’Donnell said in an email detailing the result. “We knew going in and trying to win on the Sault home floor was going to be a big challenge.

“Our defensive effort was outstanding. To the girls’ credit, they digested a game plan in one night and executed it to a ‘T.’ We talk a lot of how defensive effort can be an every-night constant and tonight it got us through a rough shooting night.

“We didn’t have any offensive outbursts, but had a lot of big baskets from a lot of different girls. I’m proud of our effort and we’re excited to be moving on.”

Miners senior Ella Mason had what could only be considered an off-night offensively, scoring just eight points two days after putting in 16 points and breaking the old program record of 1,325 points.

But her eight points was the most scored by any player on either team, though three of her teammates and a Blue Devils player did put up seven.

Mason knocked down a 3-pointer in the opening quarter to keep Negaunee within 6-5 after one quarter, then scored the balance of her points in the third with two baskets and a free throw as the Miners began pulling away as much as a team could do that didn’t average 10 points per quarter.

Negaunee scored 14 points in quarter No. 2 to take a 19-11 halftime lead, then led by Mason, put in another 13 points in the third to take a tough-to-catch 32-16 advantage headed into the fourth.

The triumvirate scoring seven points for the Miners were juniors Aubrey Johnson and Theresa Anderson and freshman Keira Waterman. Freshman teammate Gretel Johnson, who had five points, joined Mason in making the only 3-pointers by any player on either team.

Audrey Smith lead the Soo with seven points as Ashtyn Bell had six.

The Miners’ previous low output this season was 49 points in a 13-point home win over Marquette in mid-December. Even in their four-point loss to Ishpeming in mid-January, both teams mustered more than 50.

Things in the regionals may not change a whole lot on the scoreboard — of the three other teams playing there, only one, Clare, scored more than Negaunee’s total in their own Friday night district finals. And the Pioneers only eclipsed the Miners by five points with their 43-31 win against Shepherd.

Petoskey edged Kingsley 31-27, while Ludington zipped past Reed City 36-23.

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