Eddie O’Neill/Daily Mining Gazette Hancock’s Brooke Koskela tries to work around Lake Linden-Hubbell ‘s Emily Jokela and Cleo Milkey (11) on Thursday in Lake Linden.

LAKE LINDEN- A strong second half proved to make the difference on the court for the Bulldogs’ girls Thursday night in Lake Linden. They outscored the Lake Linden-

Hubbell Lakes 24-10 in the final two periods and posted a 51-40 victory. It was their second win of the season against the Lakes.

“We just kept working and working and found the combination to win this one,” noted Hancock coach Ward Helakoski.

The first two quarters were an exciting back-and-forth battle. In the opening eight minutes, the Lakes pulled out to a 9-6 lead. Hancock’s Alice Larson hit two threes and this one was knotted at 14 after one.

The Lakes proved to be the better team in the second taking a lead at 22-21 and a 30-27 advantage into the half.

“I told the girls to keep plugging away,” noted Helakoski.

“What I like about this team is we have a kid that steps up each and every night.”

On Thursday night it was Brooke Koskela. She led the Bulldogs in scoring with 13 points and pulled in big rebounds on both ends of the court. According to coach Jack Kumpula, of the Lakes, she was deadly on on the glass.

“They worked harder than we did in that second half,” he added.

Koskela and her teammates seemingly stayed one step ahead of the Lakes. A 36-33 lead to start the third morphed into a 43-36 difference to start the fourth, and they showed no signs of stopping.

A seven-point lead turned into an 11-point lead thanks to good ball movement and making shots.

Helakoski was quite pleased as well with Alecia Aho who scored 11 points and helped secure the win.

Emily Jokela was the Lakes only player in double figures. She had 22 points.

“We just did not work the ball well enough in the second half,” noted Kumpula. “We were impatient and not able to run our offense.”

UP NEXT

The Bulldogs are on the road Monday against Houghton. The Lakes play that same night against the Dollar Bay-Tamarack City Blue Bolts.