Calumet's Bailey Strom splits a pair of Rochester Hills Lutheran Northwest defenders during Thursday's MHSAA Division 3 state semifinal at the Breslin Center in East Lansing. (Jason Juno/The Globe (Ironwood))

EAST LANSING — Calumet gave up just 13 points in a valiant second-half comeback attempt, but it wasn’t enough to overcome Rochester Hills Northwest Lutheran’s big first half in Thursday’s MHSAA Division 3 state semifinal.

The Copper Kings lost 43-38, their season ending at the Breslin Center with a 22-6 record.

They fell behind early on, struggling to rebound against a team with good length. Lutheran Northwest had also been here before and their players talked about how much more comfortable they were in the big game at Michigan State’s arena this time around.

All of that showed early on as Lutheran Northwest took a 13-4 lead into the second quarter. The Calumet deficit grew to 14, 25-11, late in the half, but Millie Loukus made a layup and Bailey Storm stuck a 3 to make it a nine-point game at 25-16 with 50 seconds to go.

Lutheran Northwest’s answer kept them in control of the game going into halftime. Paige Macavage hit a 3, then stole it and converted the layup on the other end. That put the lead back at 14, 30-16.

“That made a difference, just the mental part of that, being down by single digits or double digits sometimes comes into play,” Calumet coach Charlie Kemppainen said. “But we had been in that position before, not against a team as good as this. I really wasn’t afraid to be down that much, but we just didn’t respond quite quick enough to turn things around.”

The Crusaders  scored the first four points of the second half, but only nine the rest of the way. It took Calumet time to chip away at the lead, and that was the problem. It was 11, 37-26, going into the fourth, and it even grew to 13 again early on in the final period.

Loukus hit a 3 to make it a single-digit game, 42-33, for the first time since those late stages of the first half. The clock was their biggest enemy — there was 1:47 left in the game at that point.

Jackie Kiilunen completed a layup. Calumet forced a turnover and Loukus drilled a 3 to make it 42-38 with 42 seconds left. 

They fouled with 22 seconds left and Morgan Griswold made one to make it a five-point game. That proved to be the ballgame as Calumet didn’t get another shot off.

“Hard-fought game,” Crusaders coach James Mehlberg said. “We knew they were going to keep playing, that’s a very good team. I think nerves got to us a little bit at the end there.”

Calumet just dug too big of a hole in the first half. They shot just 6 of 26 from the field and got beat up on the glass, 26-12. The Crusaders had 13 offensive rebounds to Calumet’s 12 total.

The Copper Kings closed the rebounding gap to three, 37-34, by the end of the game; it’s no surprise the score got closer as well. 

Mehlberg was surprised to see that happen in the first half. All of the film he had watched on Calumet showed a good rebounding team.

“I thought early on their length kind of gave us some trouble,” Kemppainen said. “We adjusted a little bit too late to that. I think the later part, the fourth quarter, was a better indication of who we were all season long. But that’s a credit to them for taking us out of that.”

Lutheran Northwest lost to Ypsilanti Arbor Prep in last year’s semifinal. Calumet didn’t have all the players they have now and they lost in the districts. It helped being here before, Lutheran Northwest’s Charlotte Gramzow said.

“I really think that having that experience from last year, we knew what to expect. We knew how the day was going to run,” she said. “We warmed up really well, you could tell that we were ready to play.”

They will now play in  their first state championship game on Saturday.

“I’m just so happy for these girls, to get here is something special, especially for the first time in school history in basketball,” Mehlberg said. “So very excited for these girls.”

Calumet had a great season as well, returning to the Breslin Center for the first time since 2021.

“I attribute a lot of our success to the team chemistry,” Kemppainen said. “Every year is a different mix and it just built throughout the year.”

Jess Anderson led Calumet with 10 points. Kiilunen, a Dream Team selection in the West-PAC, had six of her eight points in the fourth quarter despite battling sickness.

“In regard to Jackie’s fight down the stretch, she’s just a tremendous, tremendous competitor,” Kemppainen said. “She’s been out sick for several days. We’ve been struggling with the idea of how much should we play her, should we play her at all. Just the type of kid that she is, she’s really tough and she probably would have smacked me around if I didn’t let her play. That’s just a credit to the type of athlete and competitor that she is.”

Macavage led all scorers with 14 points and Morgan Griswold had 12.