ESCANABA — Having lost to Escanaba by 22 points on their home court in mid-December, the West Iron County Wykons looked to engage the Eskymos in a tougher battle when the two teams met again on Thursday night in Escanaba.

For one half, West Iron did just that, trailing by only six points at the break. But a poor third quarter left the Wykons down 20 entering the fourth quarter and the Eskymos went on to a 52-33 victory.

“We competed well in the first half,” WIC coach Eric Shamion said.

“I thought we played tough man-to-man defense and we rebounded pretty well. There were still too many turnovers (16), but I was happy at halftime.

“In the third quarter, the bottom kind of fell out. We just couldn’t score.”

Which has been a problem for West Iron (2-9) all year, especially during its current six-game losing streak. The Wykons are averaging 38 points per game on the season, and during the recent skid, that output has fallen to 35 points per game.

Escanaba (7-5) grabbed a 12-8 lead after the first quarter, led by senior Grayson LaMarche’s seven points.

Both teams held each other in check in the second, with the Eskymos out scoring West Iron 10-8.

Wykon senior Rowyn Fiszer led West Iron with five points in the first half, while Lacey Shamion added four, Katelyn Smith sank a triple and Sidney Storti and Lily De Sousa chipped in with a bucket each.

The Wykons’ 16 first-half points kept them in the fray, but Escanaba came out in the third quarter with a 21-7 blitz that put the game out of reach for West Iron.

While the Wykons managed just two field goals and three free throws in the quarter, the Eskymos recorded seven buckets and five free throws.

Emerson Salo knocked down two 3-pointers during the run, while LaMarche equaled her teammate with six points.

With Escanaba up 43-23 after three quarters, the fourth was basically a stalemate with the outcome already decided.

Coach Shamion pointed to his team’s offensive struggle afterwards.

“I liked our physicality, but we just have to be able to generate some offense,” he said. “The girls understand that and they’re frustrated. We work on it in practice, but you can’t win many basketball games scoring 38 points a game.”

Lacey Shamion was the lone double-digit scorer for West Iron, finishing with 11 points.

Junior post Laurel Johnson provided a bit of a spark for the Wykons in the second half with two buckets and a free throw.

LaMarche led all scorers with 19, while Katey Lamb chipped in with 12.

The Wykons were scheduled to travel to Gwinn (1-10) on Friday.

They return home to face Menominee on Thursday, Jan. 30.

SCORING

WEST IRON COUNTY – De Sousa 1 0-0 2, Swenski 0 2-2 2, Fiszer 2 1-4 5, Smith 2 0-0 6, L. Shamion 4 2-6 11, Johnson 2 1-2 5, Storti 1 0-0 2. Totals 12 6-14 33. Three-pointers: 3 (Smith 2, L. Shamion)

ESCANABA – Salo 2 0-0 6, Engebretson 0 1-4 1, LaMarche 7 4-4 19, Braun 1 5-7 7, Stalboerger 2 0-0 5, Lamb 3 6-7 12, Bray 1 0-0 2. Totals 16 16-22 52. Three-pointers: 4 (Salo 2, LaMarche, Stalboerger).