Houghton’s Ruby Zawada (5) tries to get past Hancock’s Emily L’Esperance (12) during a game Monday at the Houghton High School Gym. (Eddie O’Neill/Daily Mining Gazette)

HOUGHTON — It was Wing Ding 2.0 on the basketball court on Monday at the Houghton gym. Just like the first one, it was the home team that took home the victory. Earlier this month the Bulldogs won a close one, 44-41, at their place. Ten days later, the Gremlins took advantage of their home crowd and earned a 48-29 win.

“This was a big win,” noted Gremlins coach Julie Filpus. “We played much better defense tonight. We studied what did not work in that first game and learned from our mistakes.”

So much so that the Gremlins shut out the Bulldogs 16-0 in the first eight minutes.

“We played poorly, and Houghton played well in that first quarter,” said Ward Helakoski, coach of the Bulldogs, “and they didn’t let up.

“We had a nice run of nine wins headed into this one, and you are due to hit a flat spot. I think some of that is what happened tonight.”

The Bulldogs finally got on the board in the second, but it was a 25-10 Houghton lead at half.

“I told the girls to just keep doing what they were doing,” added Filpus. “We made good shots off of good assists. The girls in that way really fed off each other throughout the game.”

While the Bulldogs won the third quarter, 12-10, the Gremlins outscored them 13-7 in the fourth for the 19-point win.

“This was a team win,” Filpus said. “We had two losses last week – one to Calumet and another to Westwood. So, to come back out tonight, and win this one like we did, showed a lot of character and effort as a team.”

Just one player on both teams scored in double figures, and that was Eva Gerard. She had 17 points for the Gremlins.

UP NEXT

The Bulldogs will take on the L’Anse Purple Hornets on Thursday at home. The Gremlins meanwhile will welcome Marquette to their gym on Friday.