FELCH TOWNSHIP — The New Year started on the right foot for the North Dickinson girls varsity basketball team when they welcomed North Central (0-5, 0-1) to town on Friday for a Skyline Central Conference-Small School Division clash.

The Nordics (4-2, 1-1) pounced on the Jets immediately and rolled to a 62-21 win.

“I think we’re coming along pretty well,” ND head coach Kirk Mattson said. “I think we’re starting to see our potential. We’re a small team. We have to team rebound because that’s kind of our bugaboo. But we can get in the open court, we can do some nice things. And I think we’re starting to gel a little bit here. Our defense has been pretty good. The offense is getting better and better each game, and I think the girls are playing with a lot of confidence right now. That’s been nice to see.”

North Dickinson opened the first quarter with a vengeance. Alyson Steinbrecher led the way with eight first-quarter points, Lauren Jungwirth pitched in five, and the Nordics took a 20-5 advantage into the second. Dalyn Otradovec scored all five points for North Central in the first frame.

The onslaught continued in the second as Steinbrecher scored 10 points and Raina Ledzian connected on two 3-pointers. North Dickinson scored 19 in the frame and extended its lead to 39-8 at the break. Kate Linder connected on a 3-pointer in the second quarter for the Jets.

In the third, Jungwirth led the way with five points. Steinbrecher added four points and Ava Oman scored two as the lead grew to 50-16 entering the fourth. Maycee Murray had six points for North Central in the third, while Linder had two.

Ledzian and Hailee Siegler connected on a 3-pointer in the fourth quarter as the Nordics secured an SCC win.

Steinbrecher led all scorers in the contest with 22 points.

“She works so hard and has such potential that we’ve been waiting for her to have a breakout game,” Mattson said. “The last three games, she’s really started to get more comfortable and more confident. She came out of the gates (against North Central), just flying.

“She had a hot hand, and her teammates recognized that. They did a good job finding her when she was open and getting the ball to her.”

The Nordics also received contributions from Jessica Harwath (3 points), Ledzian (11 points), Siegler (3 points), Oman (6 points), Jungwirth (12 points), Aubrey Applekamp (1 point) and Aunika Lindholm (4 points).

North Central received contributions from Linder (5 points), Otradovic (7 points), Murray (7 points) and Natalie Willa (2 points).

North Dickinson welcomes L’Anse (5-1) to town at 6:45 p.m. today while the Jets are headed to Cooks to face Big Bay de Noc (7-1).

“They’re gonna be a handful for us, they got some size,” Mattson said. “Our defense is our strong suit right now. So we’re going to really have to bear down and continue that defense. But we are looking forward to this challenge because it’s going to be a good measuring stick for us to see where we’re at.”

SENTINELS 46, FLIVVERS 39

MARQUETTE — It was a battle from the opening tip in Marquette on Friday as the Kingsford girls varsity basketball team faced off with the Sentinels in a Great Northern U.P. Conference clash.

Although the Flivvers (3-4, 1-2) put up a fight, Marquette (3-5, 1-1) caught fire from 3-point land in the fourth and held on for the 46-39 win.

The Sentinels opened the game with three 3-pointers in the first quarter. Kingsford senior Anna Bortolini scored six points in the frame, Cassie Olson added four and Marquette took a 13-10 lead into the second.

The Flivvers went to work in the second quarter and cut Marquette’s lead to one point, 23-22, at halftime. Senior Kailey Sundquist scored five points in the frame, Bortolini pitched in three, while Aubrie Moore and Taylor Olsen each scored two for Kingsford.

The Sentinels outscored the Flivvers 9-7 in the third, setting up a race to the finish in the fourth quarter.

Kingsford got a 3-pointer from Moore and Olson in the frame as it tallied 10 points. However, Marquette’s Addi Kramer made 4 3-point shots in the quarter, which pushed the team to the 46-39 win.

Bortolini led the Flivvers with nine points.

Kingsford also received contributions from Moore (8 points), Alyvia Kowalski (4 points), Sundquist (7 points), T. Olsen (5 points) and C. Olson (6 points).

The Flivvers are back in action today in Iron River against West Iron County.

MINERS 50, MOUNTAINEERS 29

NEGAUNEE — Senior Macy Linsenbigler led the Iron Mountain girls varsity basketball team with 14 points on Friday. However, it wasn’t enough to push the Mountaineers (3-5, 1-1) over the top in the West PAC-East clash as they fell to the Miners, 50-29, in Negaunee.

Iron Mountain struggled to score in the first half. It racked up five points in the first quarter and three in the second. Negaunee (9-0, 3-0) was rolling and scored 28 points during that span. The Miners held a 28-8 lead at halftime.

The Mountaineers figured things out in the break, tallying 11 points in the third quarter. It held Negaunee to 10 points in the quarter. Linsenbigler and Gerilis Sampoll-Torres each scored three points in the frame, while Bella Pickett and Alysia Wood each added two.

Linsenbigler scored six points in the fourth, while Sampoll-Torres added three. However, the Miners’ lead was too much to overcome, and they locked up the win.

Linsenbigler led the Mountaineers at the charity stripe, going 6 for 10.

Iron Mountain also received contributions from Pickett (2 points), Wood (4 points), Bella Person (2 points) and Sampoll-Torres (7 points).

LADYCATS 33, BLUEJAYS 29

FLORENCE, Wis. — The Florence girls varsity basketball team snuck past Three Lakes (4-5, 0-2) for a 33-29 Northern Lakes Conference win on Friday in Florence, Wis.

The LadyCats are now 6-4 on the season and 2-1 in NLC action.

Without Kamdan Johnson, Florence leaned on CeCe Mills and Bryn Sullivan in the first half. Sullivan connected on two 3-pointers in the opening frame, while Mills added six points.

Miley VanDenHeuvel also pitched in six points, and the LadyCats took a 19-10 lead into halftime.

The Bluejays found their offensive rhythm in the second half. They scored 19 points in the frame while holding Florence to 10 points. However, they couldn’t overcome the slow start as the LadyCats locked up the win.

Florence went 7 for 20 from the free throw line, while Three Lakes went 6 for 17.

Sullivan led all scorers in the contest with 11 points.

Florence also received contributions from Mills (8 points), Naomi Millan (2 points), VanDenHeuvel (7 points) and Kelsi Chrisman (4 points).

The LadyCats are back in action on Friday in Crystal Falls against the Lady Trojans (3-4) at 6:30 p.m.