L’Anse’s Terry Reed scores a layup as Houghton’s Bruce Scott (22) defends and Elliott Majlessi looks on Thursday, in Houghton. (Eden Laase/Daily Mining Gazette)

HOUGHTON — In the beginning of a season, coaches talk a lot about growing pains. New players have to find their niches, and returners have to adjust to different roles. Offenses and defenses must be learned, and team chemistry must be developed.  

But the players aren’t the only ones developing, and after Houghton’s 54-45 home West-PAC victory over L’Anse on Thursday, Gremlins coach Jared Lawson was quick to admit that when it comes to his team, he’s the one who needs to do the most learning.  

“I always feel like it is a learning experience for me, every game is,” he said. “This is my sixth year coaching varsity and I still feel like I’m learning every single time I’m on the floor.” 

This time, Lawson and the Gremlins learned about discipline, something he said was lacking in the victory.  

The Gremlins had 17 turnovers in the game, similar to the 20 they recorded in their opening loss to Kingsford on Monday. 

“I told the guys that falls on my shoulders,” he said. “My frustration is more with me for not installing that discipline from the start of the season, so I felt that showed tonight, lots of turnovers, lots of miscommunications on defense.” 

Houghton opened the contest on a 6-0 run and then extended that to a 17-7 lead by applying defensive pressure and knocking down 3-pointers. Elliott Majlessi and George Butvilas both hit deep shots in the opening minutes to ignite the Houghton run, but the Gremlins couldn’t fend off the pesky Purple Hornets. They made a game of it in the first half and were only down 32-27 at the midway point.  

L’Anse started the game in a triangle-and-two defense, focusing on Butvilas and Brad Sirard. The unexpected pressure caught Houghton off guard, and the Gremlins had difficulties getting into their sets. Instead of setting up their offense, the Gremlins took quick shots after just one or two passes, something Lawson said he is looking to correct going forward.  

“I think we came into the year and we knew we had some players who could play,” Lawson said. “We felt like those guys could carry us, and we quickly found out tonight, when you see a kind of gimmick defense, that triangle-and-two, we struggled, and we couldn’t find that rhythm that we needed to get going.” 

Despite the discombobulation on offense, Butvilas was still able to score, and the 6-foot-1 junior had 13 first-half points.   

“Our objective was to keep Butvilas and Sirard under 30 points and, we did that,” L’Anse head coach Kyle Koski said after Butvilas had 21 and Sirard added seven. “But Butvilas got a little loose in the first half, so we tried to switch to man, but then our help defense wasn’t there.” 

Houghton played its best basketball in the third quarter, as the Gremlins relied on a trapping zone defense to speed up the inexperienced Purple Hornets — they start two sophomores, who are getting their first taste of varsity time. The Gremlins were able to build a 45-29 lead at the end of the quarter.  

“The trapping did have its effects at times,” Koski said. “We are young, and we were just a little bit too tentative tonight. We didn’t move the ball around enough.”

L’Anse was still able to stay within striking distance in the fourth, but Houghton hung on. Throughout the quarter, Lawson called several timeouts, in what he said was a semi-desperate effort to draw up a play to get his Gremlins going. Nothing ignited them to pull away, but they did string together a few plays to close out the game that had some of the discipline Lawson was looking for.  

As the clock dwindled under two minutes, Houghton pulled the ball out and settled into a stalling offensive set. The Gremlins were able to run time off the clock before getting three much-needed free throws from Majlessi to put the game away.  

“Elliott really stepped up as a senior with his free throws at the end,” Lawson said. “Those were critical free throws. You could feel the tension, more so on our side than L’Anse’s side, they were the ones attacking. Those free throws really helped give us a little cushion, which we needed in those last two minutes.” 

Majlessi was Houghton’s second-leading scorer with 13 points.  

For L’Anse, junior Alec Rajala had 12 points and sophomore Terry Reed chipped in 11.  

Next up the Gremlins take on Escanaba, on Tuesday at 7:20 p.m. in Escanaba. L’Anse is also on the road, playing West Iron County on Thursday at 6:15 p.m.  

– – –  

L’Anse 13 14 2 16 – 45

Houghton 19 13 13 9 – 54

L’Anse – Rajala 12, Reed 11, Lister-Jacobson 4, Waara 8, LaPlante 8, Niemi 2. F: 14; Fouled out: None; Free throws: 2-5; 3-point field goals: Rajala 2, Reed 3.

Houghton – Keskimaki 8, Butvilas 21, Majlessi 13, Scott 5, Sirad 7. F: 11; Fouled out: Sirad; Free throws: 11-16; 3-point field goals: Butvilas 2, Majlessi 2, Scott 1.