“Points were tough to come by all night,” he said as his Miners prevailed against visiting Gladstone, 30-19, at Lakeview Memorial Gymnasium.

Negaunee, still perfect with a 13-0 record, has been the unanimous No. 1 team in the weekly U.P. girls poll for Divisions 1-3 so far this season, with Gladstone (10-3) has been rated No. 2 in each one of them, too. The rankings are conducted by select members of the U.P. Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association.

O’Donnell has never been shy about stressing defense with teams that include one just a couple years ago reaching the MHSAA Division 2 state semifinals in East Lansing.

“It was a defensive struggle on both sides,” O’Donnell said in emailed comments detailing the result. “You have two teams who know each other extremely well and are both very good defensively.

Negaunee’s Gretel Johnson, front right, steals the ball, dribbles it up court and would lay it in for two points during a high school girls basketball game played against Gladstone at Lakeview Memorial Gymnasium in Negaunee on Tuesday. (Photo courtesy Cara Kamps)

“We missed some great looks early, then we struggled until the second half. I thought we played better down the stretch.

“Gretel Johnson really came alive for us in the second half and closed the game out with an offensive flurry.”

The scorebook pointed that out, showing Johnson scoring all 10 of Negaunee’s points in the fourth quarter and 14 of its 18 points in the second half.

She finished with 19 points, all on 2-pointers and a single free throw, while teammates Paige O’Donnell and Clare O’Donnell had the next most points with three apiece.

Gladstone, which had a seven-game winning streak snapped, was paced by Lillie Johnson with nine points, including a 3-pointer in the fourth quarter, while Eva Pankonien was next with five points.

The Miners led 6-5 after one quarter as Negaunee made just 2 of 7 free throws then and Gladstone was good on 1 of 3.

For the night, Negaunee made 6 of 13 free throws — not quite 50% — while the Braves were 2 of 5.

NHS opened up a 12-7 lead at halftime, Lillie Johnson getting a basket for Gladstone’s only points in the second period, before the Miners built a 20-12 lead entering the final quarter.

The Miners begin a four-game road trip with a 7 p.m. Friday contest at Escanaba, which includes two more games at Calumet and at Ishpeming next week, while the Braves host Calumet on Friday evening before taking on Ishpeming at home and Menominee on the road next week.

Negaunee 30, Gladstone 19

Tuesday at Negaunee

Summary (field goals, free throws, total points)

GLADSTONE — Blowers 1-0-2, Bracket 1-0-3, Pankonien 2-0-5, Johnson 3-2-9. Totals 7-2-19.

NEGAUNEE — P. O’Donnell 0-3-3, Johnson 9-1-19, Saunders 1-0-2, Waterman 1-0-2, Park 0-1-1, C. O’Donnell 1-1-3. Totals 12-6-30.

Score by quarters:

Gladstone 5 2 5 7 — 19

Negaunee 6 6 8 10 — 30

FG shooting: FT shooting: Gladstone 2 of 5 (40 percent), Gladstone 6 of 13 (46.2 percent)

Gwinn 50, Manistique 19

On Monday in Gwinn, the Modeltowners evened their record at 5-5 while stopping a three-game losing skid after coming up shorthanded with its roster for just about all of this month.

“We started (with a record of) 4-2 and fell to 4-5, so it was nice to get back in the win column,” Gwinn head coach Adam Ely said in emailed comments detailing the result. “We haven’t been whole since Christmas as illnesses have been slowly picking us off.

“We (would) have one or two (players) out, (then) just follow it with a different one or two. This one, we were missing a key player, and to our credit, everyone stepped up and it was a total team effort.

“We have had every varsity returner from last year start so far. I’ve been very proud of the way we can continuously just fill in for each other.”

On this night, Gwinn top scorer Makayla Delmont was among the players unavailable, so teammates Kadence Ruggerio and Daena DeMars picked up the scoring slack, Ruggerio pumping in 16 points and DeMars 14.

Between the two of them, they made three 3-pointers and were 7 of 8 at the free throw line.

Alexa Jakubowski was the next highest Modeltowners scorer with five points as eight Gwinn players reached the scoring column.

Makenna Davis paced the Emeralds (1-9) with six points on one 2-point shot in each of the first three quarters.

The Modeltowners took control from the outset, leading 16-4 after one quarter and 33-8 at halftime. Trailing 46-12 after three periods, Manistique outscored their hosts 8-4 in the final quarter.

After playing Ishpeming on Wednesday, Gwinn hosts Hancock at 6 p.m. Friday before playing three games next week — at Escanaba, home vs. Menominee and at Iron Mountain.

Manistique hosts IM at 7:15 p.m. today, then plays at St. Ignace and home vs. Westwood next week.

Gwinn 50, Manistique 19

Monday at Gwinn

Summary (field goals, free throws, total points)

MANISTIQUE — Kaiser 0-2-2, Kangas 2-0-5, M. Davis 3-0-6, B. Petrelius 1-1-3, A. Davis 1-0-2, Spettel 1-0-2. Totals 8-3-19.

GWINN — Malette 0-3-3, DeMars 5-2-14, Jakubowski 2-1-5, Derwin 1-0-2, Soyring 1-2-4, Ruggerio 5-5-16, Lehtomaki 1-0-3, Sorensen 1-1-3. Totals 16-14-50.

Score by quarters:

Manistique 4 4 4 8 — 19

Gwinn 16 17 13 4 — 50

FG shooting: FT shooting: Manistique 3 of 4 (75 percent), Gwinn 14 of 18 (77.8 percent)

Story contents based on email received from Negaunee head girls basketball coach Mike O’Donnell and Gwinn head girls basketball coach Adam Ely. Journal Sports Editor Steve Brownlee’s email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.