Paul Peterson photo Addison Mattson of L'Anse evades Lake Linden-Hubbell's Erin Seppala in Thursday night's game in Lake Linden. L'Anse scored a 66-22 win.

LAKE LINDEN — A switch in defense helped L’Anse notch an easy 66-22 win over Lake Linden-Hubbell in girls basketball play Thursday night.

“We were struggling with our man-to-man early in the first quarter,” L’Anse coach Scott Lloyd noted afterward. “But we went to a zone after that, and that switched things all around.”

The Purple Hornets were holding a slim 10-9 lead late in the opening frame when they went zone.

A 9-1 run to end the quarter lifted L’Anse into a 19-10 advantage they never relinquished.

A spate of Lakes turnovers led to a comfortable 32-14 halftime lead for the Hornets.

“We were doing all right in the first quarter,” Lakes’ coach Maureen Schick said. ” But then we started turning the ball over and they (Hornets) took off.”

Lloyd, whose team shocked highly-regarded Chassell two nights earlier, forced LL-H (1-1) into a whopping 41 turnovers on the evening.

“I think they (Lakes) might have done us a favor when they tried to run with us after the turnovers,” Lloyd said. “We talked about it before the game and at halftime. We want to dictate how the game is going to be played and uptempo is how we like to do it.”

Whatever the case was, the Keweenaw Bay crew was in total command in the second half as Lloyd used his seven-girl rotation.

“We were able to use our 3-2 zone to good effect,” the L’Anse skipper said. “We have three different zone defenses that we like to run, and the 3-2 seemed to work well tonight.”

Addison Mattson had a big night for the 2-0 winners with a game-best 20 points. She also made nine steals.

“She (Mattson) was very active in this game,” her coach said. “But we had good scoring balance again and that’s always nice to see.”

Kailyn Voskuhl was next in line with 10 points, while Taylor Brown had nine points and made 14 steals. Maija Rice and Haley Nankervis each had eight points.

Kierstyn Codere topped the Lakes with 10 points and blocked a handful of shots.

Schick, whose 1-1 team hosts Watersmeet on Tuesday, said she would like to see her players increase the tempo.

“I tried to emphasize that tonight, but it didn’t get through,” she commented. “We have work to do.”

L’Anse travels to Houghton on Tuesday.

“We know that will be a much different kind of game,” Lloyd said. “We know much emphasis Houghton puts on defense.”

– – –

L’Anse 19 13 25 9 – 66

LL-H 10 4 4 4 – 22

L’ANSE — Brown 9, Dix 7, Mattson 20, Josie Rice 4, Voskuhl 10, Nankervis 8, Maija Rice 8. FT: 8-14; Rebounds: 47 (J. Rice 10); Fouls: 10; Fouled out: None; 3-point FG: Mattson 2.

LL-HUBBELL — Corrigan 2, Palosaari 2, K. Codere 10, Lyons 4, Keranen 2. FT: 8-13; Rebounds: NA; Fouls: 9; Fouled out: None; 3-point FG None.