Iron Mountain senior Macy Linsenbigler (24) drives to the basket and puts up a shot over Gwinn’s Alayna Soyring (12) on Tuesday in Mountaineer Gym. (Terry Raiche photo)

IRON MOUNTAIN — All season, the Iron Mountain girls varsity team has felt like it was on the cusp of breaking through.

On Tuesday, that was the case again as the Mountaineers welcomed Gwinn to town for a West PAC-East skirmish.

Iron Mountain (6-14, 1-10) had the Modeltowners (4-15, 2-9) on the ropes but couldn’t finish things out and it ultimately fell, 44-37 in Mountaineer Gym.

“I thought it was going to be a close game,” Mountaineers head coach Chad Lindeman said. “Hats off to Gwinn, they played excellent tonight. They came to play, had some shots go their way and we had some shots not go our way. That was the ball game.”

Sophomore Alysia Wood opened the scoring at the free-throw line in the first quarter. She made one-of-two shots, but the Modeltowners immediately responded.

They leaned on sophomore Makayla Delmont in the post. She recorded back-to-back layups, giving Gwinn a lead.

Wood buried a mid-range jumper and senior Macy Linsenbigler added two free throw, putting IM back ahead.

However, senior Gerilis Sampoll-Torres picked up two quick fouls and the Modeltowners began to rally.

“We’ve just got to play through it,” Lindeman said.

The Mountaineers did just that, maintaining a one-point advantage entering the second.

Delmont had six points in the paint during the opening eight minutes. Lindeman made an adjustment and Iron Mountain stopped Delmont’s interior dominance.

“We told the girls to pinch down on her,” Lindeman said. “Bella Pickett did a good job of guarding (Makayla Delmont). She just got the ball in the post and unfortunately some things didn’t go our way on that.”

Lindeman took a timeout partway through the second, and focused his message on defense. He subbed in freshman Olivia Geneva and the Mountaineers took control.

“They never like when I get upset, that’s just how they are, they respond well to that,” Lindeman said. “Olivia Geneva is a little spark plug when she comes in on defense. She plays hard all the time. Being a freshman, she’s not afraid to take contact and play hard. There’s no big secret, you’ve got to want it. When you’re playing defense, it’s a game of will.”

The lead changed hands two times through the first four minutes of the second quarter, But Gwinn went on a 6-1 run and took a 23-19 lead into halftime.

During the break, Lindeman kept his message simple.

“I just told them, ‘To get out hard and play tight, try not to turn the ball over,'” Lindeman said. “We still turned the ball over a few times, but we can’t miss open shots. We’ve got to be better on our shooting.”

Iron Mountain cut the lead to three points twice in the third quarter, but it couldn’t stop the Modeltowners’ offense. They extended their lead to nine points with two minutes left in the quarter. The Mountaineers cut it down to four entering the fourth.

The fourth quarter was a free throw battle as Iron Mountain tried to claw back in front. It only managed to cut the lead down to three points.

Linsenbigler led the Mountaineers with 14 points.

Iron Mountain also received contributions from Pickett (2 points), Geneva (2 points), Ava Marttila (6 points), Wood (7 points) and Sampoll-Torres (6 points).

The Mountaineers welcome Gladstone to Mountaineer Gym today.

BRAVES 63, FLIVVERS 18

GLADSTONE — After narrowly falling to its rival last week, the Kingsford girls basketball team had its work cut out for it on Tuesday.

The Flivvers (8-10, 3-4) made the trip to Gladstone to face the No. 2-ranked Braves (18-1, 8-0) in a Great Northern U.P. Conference clash. In the end, Gladstone was too much for the Flivvers to handle, and it picked up the 63-18 win.

Braves’ senior Lillie Johnson led all scorers in the contest with 26 points.

Kingsford leaned on junior Cassie Olson in the post to start the game. She tallied six points in the first quarter, but Gladstone was rolling. The Flivvers trailed 15-7 entering the second.

Over the next three quarters, Kingsford recorded 11 points.

Olson led the Flivvers with eight points.

Kingsford also received contributions from Abby Przeslakowski (1 point), Aubrie Moore (2 points), Alyvia Kowalski (1 point), Kailey Sundquist (4 points) and Anna Bortolini (2 points).

The Flivvers head to Menominee (6-13, 1-6) today for a GNC matchup.

KNIGHTS 43, COUGARS 12

EBEN JUNCTION — The Norway girls varsity basketball team’s winning streak is now at three games.

On Tuesday, the Knights (11-9, 5-2) easily dispatched Superior Central (8-11, 1-0), 43-12, in a non conference game.

Junior Lauren Adams led all scorers in the contest with 21 points.

Norway dominated the Cougars in the first half, holding them scoreless. Adams racked up eight points in the first eight minutes and then added eight in the second. Kara Stanchina scored six points in the first half, while Jessa Rossler added two.

The Knights led 24-0 at halftime.

Lila Kleikamp and Adams led Norway’s attack in the third, each scoring five points. Anna Falk also scored two in the quarter.

Payton Paquette and Jordyn Moln both tallied three points in the fourth and the Knights took home the win.

Norway received offensive contributions from Ella Wojtowicz (1 point), Falk (2 points), Rossler (2 points), Stanchina (6 points), Kleikamp (5 points), Paquette (3 points) and Moln (3 points).

The Knights are back home on Friday against Rapid River.

PATRIOTS 62, WYKONS 28

IRON RIVER — The Westwood Patriots sank five 3-pointers in the first quarter and finished with nine overall to shoot past West Iron County 62-28 in a West Pac Conference matchup at Charles Greenlund Gymnasium.

Isabelle Marta and Lexi Olson hit two triples each and sophomore Eliisa Doney added another as the Patriots (9-9) sprung out to a 17-7 lead after the first quarter and never looked back.

Marta finished with five 3-pointers and 21 points overall to lead Westwood. Olson wound up with three triples and 20 points for the game.

Westwood held a 34-15 lead at halftime and increased that to 50-19 after three quarters.

The Wykons (3-17) suffered through two long scoreless stretches in the game. The first lasted 3½ minutes to begin the second quarter and then the second went for just over six minutes to start the third quarter.

Kaitlyn Smith led West Iron with nine points. Sidney Storti and Lacey Shamion recorded five points each while Laurel Johnson added four.

Julia Swenski and Lily De Sousa finished with two each and Hailey Murillo added one free throw.

The Wykons will host Ironwood (9-8) on Thursday.

Jerry DeRoche contributed to this report.