Ishpeming's Mariah Austin, top, and Negaunee's Clara Johnson fall to the floor going after a loose ball during the fourth quarter of their high school girls basketball game held at the Hematites' gym on Saturday, Feb. 10, 2018. (Photo courtesy Daryl T. Jarvinen)

By Journal Sports Staff

ISHPEMING — Senior Natalie Bartle broke loose in the second half for 18 of her game-high 21 points, making 10 of 11 free throws after halftime, to lead Negaunee to a 55-48 high school girls basketball victory at Ishpeming on Saturday afternoon.

The Miners improved to 17-0 overall and 10-0 in the Mid-Peninsula Conference, securing the outright title in the league after Ishpeming fell to 13-3 and 8-3. Westwood is even with the Hematites in the loss column at 7-3 in M-PC games.

“We tried to do a better job of containing (Bartle), which I thought we did until (Ishpeming’s) Katie Loman got her fourth foul in the third quarter,” IHS coach Ryan Reichel said. “At that point we had contained Bartle to three points and she then got hot on us. That’s what great players do during a game — they give 32 minutes and she was able to continue to grind away until she got hot.”

Negaunee coach Brandon Sager said he wanted Bartle to work inside, since she could get close looks at the basket or go to the free-throw line, where she’s making 91 percent this season. On Saturday, she was 11 of 13 for the entire game there.

“She pounded it inside,” Sager said about Bartle, who added seven rebounds, six steals and two assists to Saturday’s effort. “She got isolation and penetrated and got to the line.

“It came right down to the end. It was a back-and-forth game for just about all of the second half. We made a bit of a surge early in the third, then they came back.”

Reichel agreed.

“Both teams battled extremely hard,” the Ishpeming coach said. “I thought it was a great display of basketball.”

Bartle had to counteract the production of the Hematites’ Madigan Johns, who actually matched Bartle in scoring with 21 points. Her big quarter was the third, when she went 5 for 5 on free throws to finish with 12 points in that period.

Ishpeming teammate Mariah Austin added 10 points, including a pair of 3-pointers, while for Negaunee, Clara Johnson scored 19 points as she sank a trio of triples.

The teams were tied 11-11 after one quarter before Ishpeming took a narrow 21-19 halftime lead. Ishpeming’s late third-quarter comeback pulled the Hematites within 38-35 entering the final quarter.

Negaunee won the JV game 38-34, which Sager believed also clinched the M-PC title for those Miners.

Ishpeming plays at L’Anse on Monday, while the Miners are at Gwinn on Tuesday.

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