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Baraga boys win Battle of the Bay defeat L’Anse 57-52

Eddie O’Neill/Daily Mining Gazette Baraga's Landon Smith (14), center, and L'Anse's Sam Lee (2) battle for a rebound on Friday in L'Anse. In on the play are Baraga's Nolan Hendrickson (10), as well as Lanse's Talan Larson (1) and Keegan Davidson (20).

L’ANSE – The Baraga boys went the distance on Thursday night in L’Anse as they defeated the Purple Hornets 57-52 in the Battle of the Bay.

According to the Vikings’ basketball coach Jon Boever, the key to victory was perseverance.

“I am so proud of these guys,” he said. “I think the key though was controlling the rebounds. We got a ton of rebounds that saved us.”

The rivals shot out to an 11-11 tie after one. It was then tied at 17 in the second before Baraga’s Landon Smith sunk two triples to put the Vikings up 27-25 at halftime.

“At halftime, I told them to stick to the plan,” said Boever, “and they did just that. They rose to the occasion and really worked the ball well.”

The Vikings (12-4) had a little more pep in their step and made their shots, while L’Anse were seemingly one and done on their end. The Vikings biggest lead was 46-36 with little time left in the third.

It was a lead that couldn’t be mounted by the Purple Hornets (8-6) in the fourth and they fell to a five-point loss.

“Daniel Connor and Jamie Denomie both get bame balls,” said the Baraga coach. “Connor for his rebounding and scoring down low (16 points) and Jamie for his all around hustle and heads-up play.”

Smith led the scoring for Baraga with 17 and Nolan Hendrickson poured in 10.

Despite the loss, L’Anse’s coach Rob Potter was pleased with the effort.

“We are young and still learning,” he said. “We were a little too hasty in our shooting and missed some because of that, but that is okay. We have come a long way and still have work to do.”

The Purple Hornets had two players in double figures. They were Talan Larson with 12 and Keegan Davidson with 10.

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The Purple Hornets are at Calumet on Monday. The Vikings will travel to Wakefield-Marenisco to face the Cardinals on Tuesday.

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