Jeffers’ Brooke Heinonen shoots a layup as Dollar Bay’s Arizona Gilles defends Tuesday, in Dollar Bay. (Eden Laase/Daily Mining Gazette)

DOLLAR BAY — It wasn’t supposed to be much of a game. 

Jeffers head coach Joe Romano didn’t expect it. Neither did Dollar Bay’s coach, Steve Krahling. 

But nobody told the Blue Bolts they weren’t supposed to stick with the Jets, and with 2:49 left to play, it was a one-point contest. 

Then Jeffers erupted for a 10-point scoring burst to end the fourth quarter and defeat Dollar Bay 46-35 in a Copper Country conference game Tuesday in Dollar Bay. 

“We were lucky to come out of there with a win,” Romano said. “They are a good basketball team, they keep their heads and they are well coached.”

Jeffers started the fourth quarter leading 32-22 and added two more points on the first possession when sophomore Marissa Nordstrom turned on the gas for a breakaway layup. 

But just when it looked like the Blue Bolts were ready to fold, they began to chip away. 

With 6:20 left to play, Dollar Bay senior point guard Bailey Poyhonen made things interesting when she knocked down her fourth 3-pointer of the night, cutting the lead to 36-30 and forcing a Jeffers timeout. Poyhonen finished as the Blue Bolts’ leading scorer with 16 points.

“Bailey is the leader of the team,” Krahling said. “Where she goes, we go. Bailey is the one running things, and tonight she did a great job.”

A few turnovers, a 3-pointer from Paige Isaacson and a Bobbi Jo Caskey putback later, and the Blue Bolts found themselves trailing just 36-35. 

Then, Nordstrom decided enough was enough.

The sophomore had 18 points, with nine coming in the fourth quarter, but no shot was bigger than the one she hit with 2:40 left to play.

After Caskey’s layup, Nordstrom answered with a 3-pointer from the right wing, extending the lead back to four. 

“That took the momentum right back to us,” Romano said. “You could see the momentum leave them and come back to us.”

She hit two more two-point shots as the quarter wound down to put the game out of reach. Nordstrom also added nine boards and helped the Jets outrebound Dollar Bay 47 to 19. 

“She is a clutch player,” Romano said of his sophomore guard. “I was really impressed with her. I knew she was going to be good, but I just didn’t know she was going to be this good this early.”

Nordstrom was aided by the Jeffers defense, which proved to be too much for the Blue Bolts. The Jets played most of the game in a 2-3 zone, daring Dollar Bay to shoot the ball. It worked in the first half, but as the Blue Bolts began to heat up, hitting five 3-pointers in the second half, Jeffers needed to make a change. 

The Jets went to man and applied pressure in the half-court setting. Dollar Bay wasn’t ready for the switch, and the Jets were able to ride their defense to victory. 

“Their pressure made the difference,” Krahling said. “We just didn’t handle the pressure well for the last few minutes of the game.”

For Romano, he hopes the game serves as more than just a victory for the Jets and a loss for the Blue Bolts. After scrapping it out through four quarters of tight basketball, Romano wants people to take notice.

“We are going to learn the hard way it looks like, but we are going to be OK,” he said. “I’m impressed with this group. Everybody is acting like there are three or four good teams in our area and we aren’t one of them, but I don’t think anyone should bypass a Baraga, or a Jeffers, or a Dollar Bay or a Lake Linden. I think we can all play.”

Next up the Jets (2-1, 2-0) host Calumet at 2 p.m. on Saturday. The game is a makeup for one scheduled on Dec. 5 when play was canceled due to weather. Dollar Bay (0-3, 0-1) heads to Ontonagon on Friday at 7:15 p.m. 

– – –

Jeffers 11 6 15 14 — 46

Dollar Bay 4 6 12 13 — 35

Jeffers — Heinonen 3, Klemett 4, Stevens 5, Asiala 6, Nordstrom 18, Johnson 4, Kinnunen 2, Pennala 4. F: 8; Fouled out: None. Free throws: 5-16; 3-point field goals: Heinonen, Stevens, Nordstrom. 

Dollar Bay — Stout 7, Poyhonen 16, Isaacson 6, Iacono 1, Caskey 5. F: 14; Fouled out: None. Free throws: 2-6; 3-point field goals: Stout, Poyhonen 4, Isaacson 2.