Flivvers’ senior Anna Bortolini (23) drives in for a layup while West Iron’s Kaitlyn Smith (21) reaches to defend the shot on Tuesday in Kingsford. (Terry Raiche photo)

KINGSFORD — One strength of the 2024-25 Kingsford girls basketball team is its potential to have a strong four-guard rotation – potential being the operative word.

Coaches Ginger Moore and Chris Moore have not yet seen seniors Anna Bortolini and Abby Przeslakowski, sophomore Alyvia Kowalski, and their freshman daughter Aubrie available to play as a group much because of injuries suffered by each of the four along the way.

Tuesday night against visiting West Iron County, Kowalski was the one missing, out with a slightly sprained ankle. And while the Flivvers clearly missed Kowalski’s perimeter shooting ability, they did manage to hold off the Wykons 41-39 in a non-conference clash at Flivver Gym.

“It would really help when we can return to a full roster of guards,” assistant coach Chris Moore said. “We seem to be a bit shorthanded every night, but it’s a next-man-up philosophy. And West Iron is well coached, and you could tell that they knew what we were going to try to do.

“I felt we gutted out a tough win tonight.”

While Kingsford has capable interior players in Kailey Sundquist and Cassie Olson and experienced wings in Addisyn Kriegl and Taylor Olsen, the Flivvers are built around their speed and their guard play. So when one or more of the four guards are sitting out, Kingsford lacks its identity to an extent.

(Kowalski scored 22 points in the Flivvers’ 49-36 victory over WIC in the first meeting of the teams on Jan. 6).

West Iron took advantage of Kowalski’s absence in the first quarter as coach Eric Shamion positioned his team in a 2-3 zone to force Kingsford to come up with some perimeter offense while doubling down on Olson in the low block.

The Flivvers scuffled some with the defensive look and scored only one bucket over the final 3:36 of the first quarter and trailed 9-8 heading into the second.

“I think tonight we were missing a post game, and I think some of that was my fault,” Chris Moore said. “We didn’t get the ball inside enough.

“(But) Aubrie is a 15-year-old point guard learning the craft. And you could tell (Coach Shamion) was very well prepared for us tonight and he forced us to struggle on offense.”

Shamion did so using mainly a 2-3 zone defense, which he has implemented more and more as the season has progressed to compensate for a lack of lateral quickness among his guards after freshman point guard Bristol Shamion was lost to an injury three weeks ago.

“I thought the kids did a pretty good job in the 2-3 covering the court,” Coach Shamion said. “We explained to them where the shooters were going to be.

“I still think we lack good rebounding out of the zone, but I think we’re playing the zone better, we’re understanding where we need to be and we’re kind of working as a unit.”

What harmed the Wykons (2-13) in this game, and has all season, was their tendency to go without scoring for long periods of play. Against the Flivvers Tuesday night, the Wykons scored just three points over a 13-minute stretch bridging the second and third quarters to fall behind 27-12.

“We struggled against the 1-3-1,” Coach Shamion said, alluding to the Kingsford defensive set-up. “I think at times our decision-making was poor. We just have too many turnovers and we need to make better decisions in our half-court offense. But at the same time, our kids were trying to be aggressive.”

That aggressiveness eventually paid dividends as the Wykons went on an 11-3 run over the final three minutes of the third quarter to pull within 30-23 heading into the fourth.

Senior Hailey Murillo started the rally with a put-back. Sophomore Cami Alexa followed with a 3-pointer before Lacey Shamion sank three free throws.

Alexa then scored in transition, and just like that, West Iron scored 11 points in the span of three minutes after scoring only 12 over the first 16 minutes of the contest.

“Both of those kids have quickness and some toughness and that’s exactly what this team needs,” Coach Shamion said of Murillo and Alexa. “And we seemed to thrive on it tonight (as they) brought some energy to the whole team.”

Senior Julia Swenski helped West Iron chop Kingsford’s advantage to 33-28 with a pair of buckets as the Flivvers struggled to hold their lead to begin the fourth.

Chris Moore spoke of the Flivver staff’s efforts to help its young players gain some consistency within a game.

“We always joke that when two of your three starting guards (freshman Moore and sophomore Kowalski) need a ride home after the game, there’s going to be a learning curve,” he said. “And some of the people stepping into major minutes (after graduation losses) are not only young on the perimeter, they’re somewhat young in minutes.”

After slicing their deficit to 37-31 with 5:45 left, the Wykons seemed to tire and began committing ball-handling miscues. As the quarter melted away, Coach Moore decided to put his team into a delay game, which worked wonderfully as West Iron couldn’t keep up with the speed of Aubrie Moore and Bortolini.

Aubrie Moore sealed the victory with four consecutive free throws in the final 70 seconds as the Flivvers pulled back to .500 at 7-7 and sent the Wykons to their 10th straight defeat.

“Right now, this was a morale victory for West Iron basketball,” Coach Shamion said. “There were things that we can build on, and if my kids keep fighting like that, I’ll be happy.”

The Wykons aim to get back in the win column on Friday night when they travel to Crystal Falls to face Forest Park (7-9). West Iron’s last victory came over the Lady Trojans, a 55-33 verdict on Jan. 3.

The Wykons also hope to see the return of Bristol Shamion to the lineup. The first-year guard has missed the previous six games with an ankle sprain.

For the Flivvers, Tuesday’s win was another learning experience, Coach Moore said.

“We’re trying to talk about understanding our roles on the court. Who can rebound, who can be strong defensively and where should our shots be coming from. And I thought tonight was a small step forward.”

Kingsford will host Marquette (6-10) in a Great Northern Conference contest on Friday. The Sentinels defeated the Flivvers 46-39 in the first match-up on Jan. 3.

Both teams are .500 in the league and stand two games behind conference-leader Gladstone heading Friday night.

SCORING

WEST IRON – Smith 2 0-0 6, Fiszer 3 1-2 9, L. Shamion 1 7-11 10, Murillo 1 0-1 2, Alexa 2 0-0 5, Swenski 2 1-1 5, Storti 1 0-0 2. Totals: 12 9-15 39. Three-pointers: 6 (Smith 2, Fiszer 2, L. Shamion, Alexa). Turnovers: 19

KINGSFORD – Moore 3 5-5 12, Sundquist 3 0-0 6, Bortolini 4 4-7 12, Olsen 1 0-0 2, Kriegl 1 2-2 5, Olson 0 1-6 1, Przeslakowski 1 1-2 3. Totals: 13 13-22 41. Three-pointers: 2 (Moore, Kriegl). Turnovers: 11.