Eddie O’Neill/Daily Mining Gazette Calumet’s Kiirsi Johnson (12) drives to the hoop as Houghton’s Ellie Hainault tries to stop her on Tuesday at the Houghton High School gym.

By Eddie O’Neill

eoneill@mininggazette.com

HOUGHTON- While the Houghton Gremlins outscored the Calumet Copper Kings 18-2 in the third quarter, they could not maintain the momentum in the fourth on Monday. The Copper Kings rallied back for 21 points in the final eight minutes for a 48-41 win.

“We knocked down some shots when we needed to,” noted coach Charlie Kemppainen, of Calumet. “We showed a lot of character by having a big lead and giving it up and still fighting through that. I was very happy with the girls. They looked good tonight.”

The first quarter proved to be a defensive battle with the Copper Kings coming out on top 10-6. They pushed that four-point lead to 10 points in the second thanks to good ball handling. They worked the ball inside and caught the Gremlins out of position for a number of buckets off the glass. They now led 25-15 at half, and momentum was on their side.

However, a different Gremlins team showed up in the third. They whittled down the lead one possession at a time and a three pointer by Houghton’s Ellie Hainault tied this one at 27. Teammate Eva Gerard followed suit with a three of her own, and the Gremlins pulled into the fourth up with a 33-27 lead. However, it was a short-lived lead.

The Copper Kings (5-3) put in six to knot it at 33. It was tied again at 37 and 40 before they pulled away for the 48-41 lead.

Julie Filpus, coach of the Gremlins, summed up her team’s performance best -disappointing.

“We were flat footed in the first half. We were not ready to go,” she said. “While we battled back in the third and the fourth, they won this one in the first. We must expect more out of ourselves.”

The Copper Kings were led in scoring by Kiirsi Johnson with 16 points. Jackie Kiilunen followed with 14 and Bailey Strom sunk 11.

The Gremlins had two in double figures. Gerard led with 14 and Ruby Zawada had 13.

UP NEXT

The Gremlins are at home on Thursday with a game against West Iron County. The Copper Kings will travel to Ishpeming to face the Hematites on Friday.