Iron Mountain senior Gerilis Sampoll Torres (22) extends for a layup as Ishpeming junior Jenessa Eagle (3) tries to block her shot on Monday in Mountaineer Gym. (Terry Raiche photo)

IRON MOUNTAIN — Despite holding a lead in the second quarter over Ishpeming (9-3, 7-1), the Iron Mountain girls varsity basketball team couldn’t snap its losing streak on Monday in Mountaineer Gym.

The Mountaineers (3-11, 1-6) ended up falling to the Hematites, 54-42, in a West PAC-East clash.

“We started off slow again,” IM head coach Chad Lindeman said. “(We were) missing layups and that’s been our Mo all year. We start out slow, then we fight back and then we slow down. It’s been a yo-yo year. The girls play hard the whole time, I will say that every single interview.

“The girls just play hard all the time. They don’t quit.”

Entering the game, Iron Mountain knew it had to stop Ishpeming junior Janessa Eagle.

“If Janessa goes off, she’s going for 30-to-35 points,” Lindeman said.

“If you can keep her under 20, that’s a win.”

To slow her down, Lindeman employed senior Bella Pickett.

“We focused on man-to-man, but playing help defense all week and shutting down Janessa (Eagle) because she’s such a talented player,” Lindeman said. “That’s two games in a row that Bella (Pickett) has played fantastic against her. She still scores, but (Bella) locked her down pretty well.

“Everybody helped out extremely well on defense. There was a lot of talking going on. It was a good overall team effort. Offensively, we’ve got to get better.”

The Mountaineers struggled to score in the first quarter and the Hematites opened a 5-1 lead. Ava Marttila stopped the run with a layup.

She led IM with four points in the frame while Gerilis Sampoll Torres added three points. However, they entered the second trailing 12-8.

Baskets were at a premium in the second quarter. Neither team would score in the first two minutes as turnovers ran rampant.

“The girls know our weaknesses,” Lindeman said. “They know that turning the ball over is one of our weaknesses. Until we remedy that, I can’t handle the ball for the girls. That’s on the girls, they have to learn to handle that pressure and deal with it.

“It’s coming around. We’re slowly getting better as the year goes on.”

Alysia Wood connected on a floater to stop the drought. Pickett followed that with a mid-range jumper and the game was tied at 12.

A Macy Linsenbigler rebound and layup gave the Mountaineers a two-point lead. It was their first of the game.

“We’ve been focusing on defense, because our offense has been so stagnant,” Lindeman said. “We’ve been concentrating on trying to keep teams in check and play good defense.”‘

After nearly six-scoreless minutes, Ishpeming recorded five quick points to retake the lead. It led 19-15 at halftime.

Linsenbigler led the way for Iron Mountain in the third quarter with six points.

However, the Hematites were rolling after the break. Eagle scored six points and senior Peyton Kakkuri added nine. Entering the fourth quarter, they held a 36-25 advantage.

The Mountaineers stayed step-for-step with Ishpeming in the final frame, but the gap was too big to overcome and the Hematites improved their win streak to five games.

Linsenbigler led the Mountaineers 14 points.

Iron Mountain also received contributions from Pickett (5 points), Olivia Geneva (4 points), Marttila (4 points), Wood (7 points) and Sampoll Torres (7 points).

Kakkuri led all scorers in the contest with 26 points. Eagle added 17.

Iron Mountain is back home on Thursday against Manistique. Lindeman only wants to see one thing from his team against the Emeralds.

“Offense,” Lindeman said.

NORDICS 62, COUGARS 26

FELCH TOWNSHIP — Freshman Lauren Jungwirth led the way with 17 points, junior Raina Ledzian added 14 and the North Dickinson girls varsity basketball team picked up a 62-26 non-conference win over Superior Central (8-6, 2-1) on Monday.

The Nordics (9-4, 2-1) leaned on its defense in the first half. It came through, stifling the Cougars’ attack and holding them to 10 first-half points.

Jungwirth scored nine points for North Dickinson in the first quarter. By halftime, it led 34-10.

The Nordics picked up where they left off in the third. Jungwirth scored six points and fellow-freshman Alyson Steinbrecher added five.

They led 50-12 after three.

North Dickinson also received contributions from Jessica Harwath (6 points), Hailee Siegler (3 points), Steinbrecher (5 points), Ava Oman (6 points), Aspen Anderson (7 points), Aubrey Applekamp (2 points) and Aunika Lindholm (2 points).

The Nordics return to play on Thursday at home against Bark River-Harris. They beat the Broncos, 51-37, on Dec. 6.

WILDCATS 46, LADY BADGERS 28

LENA, Wis. — Looking to topple the No. 1 team in the Marinette & Oconto Conference, the Niagara girls varsity basketball team took its talents on the road on Monday to face Lena.

The Lady Badgers (8-9, 4-7) made things interesting late, but ended up falling to the Wildcats (14-2, 9-1), 46-28.

Alivia Kleikamp led Niagara’s offensive attack in the first half with four points. Mallory Sanicki and Bristol Sanicki each added three points. The Lady Badgers went into halftime trailing 21-13.

Niagara had success from the 3-point line in the second half, hitting three. However, it couldn’t slow down the Lena attack.

The Wildcats racked up 25 points in the frame while holding the Lady Badgers to 15. Lena shot 4-for-10 from the free throw line, Niagara was 9-for-18.

Senior Mallory Sanicki led the Lady Badgers with eight points.

Niagara also received contributions from Bristol Sanicki (6 points), Marley Jones (2 points), Peyton Neuens-Allred (2 points), Sydney Swanson (5 points) and Kleikamp (5 points).

The Lady Badgers are back home on Thursday against Coleman.

LADY TROJANS 68, WOLVES 29

CRYSTAL FALLS — If you hold a team scoreless in a quarter, you’re most likely going to win the game.

At least, that was the case on Monday as the Forest Park girls varsity basketball team faced off with Carney-Nadeau in Crystal Falls.

The Wolves (6-6, 1-1) didn’t score in the first quarter and the Lady Trojans (7-7, 2-1) easily picked up a 68-29 Skyline Central Conference-Small School win.

“Our defense was great, we had a lot of takeaways,” Forest Park head coach Kim Bjork said. “Our transition offense was probably the best we’ve done so far. Once again a lot of girls scored.

“All of our energy is focused on being a better team and building confidence.”

Forest Park has won three games in a row while Carney-Nadeau has dropped back-to-back games.

The Wolves couldn’t score in the first quarter and they couldn’t stop the Lady Trojans. Forest Park scored 15 points in the frame and took a 15-0 lead into the second.

The Lady Trojans didn’t let up in the next quarter, scoring 21 points.

Carney-Nadeau scored nine in the frame and it trailed 36-9 at halftime.

Forest Park racked up 23 points in the third quarter and it was over from there.

Junior Elsie Williams led the Lady Trojans with 23 points. She also tallied five assists, eight rebounds and seven steals

Forest Park also received contributions from Harper Anderson (5 points, 1 assist, 2 rebounds), Kaidince Woollard (5 points, 3 assists, 3 rebounds, 3 steals), Audrey Williams (13 points, 1 assist, 3 rebounds, 6 steals), Evie Anderson (5 points, 1 assist, 7 rebounds), Lily Sarder (5 points, 2 assists, 3 rebounds), Khali Woollard (7 points, 1 rebound, 2 steals), Aubrey Waara-Shamion (4 points, 1 assist, 2 rebounds), Dani Alquist (1 point, 3 rebounds) and Dalaney Wagner (1 rebound, 1 steal).

The Lady Trojans welcome Kingsford to town on Thursday.