HOUGHTON — For the first time since Dec. 10, 2012, the Houghton Gremlins defeated the Escanaba Eskymos. Houghton scored a 60-56 nonconference win over No. 4 Escanaba Friday in Houghton, snapping a nine-game losing streak.

Houghton’s Brad Sirard scored a game-high 27 points while George Butvilas added 21 for the Gremlins (7-9).

“It’s a good win for our guys to see the process of what we’re trying to do in terms of offensively and defensively in the systems we’ve been working on together,” Houghton coach Jared Lawson said. “To get a big win like this against a great team, you want to continue this. Hopefully they can bottle this energy up and carry that over the next couple weeks.”

Houghton’s upset bid did not get off to a good start as Escanaba jumped out to a 21-7 lead midway through the second quarter. Then Lawson switched Butvilas to the top of the offense while allowing Sirard to come off screens.

“We started getting open looks for Brad then,” Lawson said.

Trailing 48-41 entering the fourth quarter, Houghton outscored Escanaba 19-8 to win 60-56. Lawson credits the interior defense of Sam Keskimaki for Houghton’s comeback.

“Sam was unbelievable on defense,” Lawson said. “He did a phenomenal job down low. We don’t win this game without the job Sam Keskimaki did on defense tonight.”

For the game, Houghton shot 17 of 37 from the field and held a 26-21 advantage on the boards. Esky (13-4) shot 22 of 40 overall and was led by Ryan Robinette, who finished with 17 points.

Next, Houghton hosts Lake Linden-Hubbell on Tuesday.

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Escanaba 14 19 15 8 — 56

Houghton 5 16 20 19 — 60

Escanaba — Robinette 17, Fedell 3, Kamin 3, Nash 14, Willette 12, Hudson 7. F: 17; Fouled out: None; Free throws: 6-10; 3-point field goals: Robinette 3, Fedell, Kamin, Hudson.

Houghton — Butvilas 21, Majlessi 11, Sirard 27, Hyslop 1. F: 13; Fouled out: None; Free throws: 15-20; 3-point field goals: Sirard 5, Butvilas 2, Majlessi 2.

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DOLLAR BAY — No. 1 Dollar Bay (16-0, 12-0) had four players in double figures as the Blue Bolts cruised to a 69-35 senior night win over Republic-Michigamme (5-11, 3-10) Friday.

Devin Schmitz had 17 points, Jaden Janke scored 15 and Jacob Iacono and Brandon Thompson each added 12.

“It was a solid effort on senior night for the Bolts,” coach Jesse Kentala said. “Our first half focus and intensity was where it needed to be … We will keep focusing on improving each game with March coming quickly.”

R-M was led by River Shumate with 13 points.

Next, Dollar Bay heads to Hancock on Tuesday.

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R-M 6 4 11 14 — 35

Dollar Bay 22 16 16 15 — 69

R-M — Shumate 13, Ball 12, Carlson 7, Conklin 3. F: 8. Fouled out: None. Free throws: 9-14. 3-point field goals: Ball, Carlson.

Dollar Bay — LeClaire 2, Ashtin Janke 2, Thompson 12, Schmitz 17, Jaden Janke 15, Iacono 12, Nelson 5, Hosking 4. F: 11. Fouled out: Thompson. Free throws: 3-5. 3-point field goals: Thompson 4, Schmitz 3, Jaden Janke.

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EWEN — Ewen-Trout Creek jumped out to a 22-0 first-quarter lead on its way to a dominating 66-24 Copper Mountain Conference win over Baraga Friday night.

The Panthers started fast and rolled to a win over Republic-Michigamme Tuesday night. They didn’t play down to the level of either team, both at the bottom of the conference standings.

“That’s easy for a team to do, for a young team to play to the level of competition you’re playing, which is nice the nights you’re playing good competition,” E-TC coach Brad Besonen said. “But these guys, the games quote, unquote, you’re supposed to win, they’ve come out and had their foot on the gas right from the get-go. So it’s been pretty enjoyable.”

Jake Witt had 25 points, 11 rebounds and six blocks. He had 21 points in the first half and only played a couple of minutes in the second half. Jaden Borseth scored 14 points and Eli Nordine had 11.

“Our full-court D with Eli, Tommy (Cousineau) and Cole (Borseth) spun them in circles to start the game,” Besonen said. “Jaden did a good job jumping the passing lanes as well. He’s really starting to anticipate better defensively.

“They really struggled to get into a shot in the first quarter. When they did get by any pressure, Jake did a good job of stepping up and blocking shots.”

E-TC (15-1, 9-1) hosts Watersmeet Monday and then goes to Nimrod Nation Tuesday. Baraga welcomes Chassell on the same day.

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Baraga 0 7 5 12 — 24

E-TC 22 20 16 8 — 66

Baraga — C. Lindemann 4, Ripley 4, Rasanen 3, Gleason 3, Koskinen 4, Waranka 3, Jondreau 3. F: 7; Fouled out: None; Free throws: 0-6; 3-point field goals: Waranka, Jondreau, Rasanen, Gleason.

E-TC — Cousineau 4, Eli Nordine 11, Cole Borseth 4, Driesenga 8, Jaden Borseth 14, Witt 25. FTs: 5-10. Fouls: 9. Fouled out: None. 3-pointers: Borseth 2, Cousineau 1, Nordine 1, Witt 1.

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LAKE LINDEN — David Jukkala had 18 points as Jeffers defeated Lake Linden-Hubbell 56-42 in Copper Mountain Conference play Friday in Lake Linden.

LL-H (4-13, 4-10) only trailed by four points at the half, but the Jets (10-7, 7-6) slowly built their lead in the second half.

Carson Turner scored 13 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for a double-double, while Christian Hocking came off the bench and scored 15 points.

For LL-H, Caleb Gregoire and Ben Wilson each scored 10 points.

Next up, Jeffers hosts L’Anse on Friday at 7:15 p.m., and LL-H travels to Houghton on Tuesday at 7:15 p.m.

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Jeffers 16 10 15 14 — 56

LL-H 8 14 13 7 — 42

Jeffers — Kinnunen 3, Ruhonen 1, Wakeham 5, Heinonen 8, Mattilla 2, Hill 6, Turner 13, Jukkala 18, Hocking 15. Free throws: 4-8. 3-point field goals: Kinnunen, Wakeham, Heinonen, Turner 3.

LL-H — Crouch 8, Caleb Gregoire 10, Cole Gregoire 5, Hill 2, Simpson 7, Wilson 10. Free throws: 10-12. 3-point field goals: Crouch, Caleb Gregoire 2, Simpson.

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IRON RIVER — Despite a solid start, the L’Anse Purple Hornets dropped a 51-29 decision to the West Iron County Wykons (9-7, 6-0) Friday in a West-PAC matchup in Iron River.

“We came out playing man-to-man the whole game and finally played with some energy,” L’Anse coach Kyle Koski said.

L’Anse trailed 14-8 following the first quarter. The Purple Hornets remained in the game despite shooting 3 of 16 from the field to start.

“Our defense is starting to show as we go down the stretch, you can see improvement every game,” Koski said. “Kids gave it their all tonight. We just couldn’t throw it in the ocean if we were on a boat.”

L’Anse finished 12 of 45 from the field. Alex Kissell led the Purple Hornets with six points.

Next, L’Anse (4-12, 0-6) hosts Ontonagon on Tuesday.

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L’Anse 8 8 4 7 — 29

WIC 14 12 6 20 — 51

L’Anse — Rajala 4, Reed 5, Jacobson 4, Waara 3, Sanregret 3, Kissel 6, Crawford 2, LaPlante 2. F: 14; Fouled out: None; Free throws: 1-4; 3-point field goals: Kissel 2, Sanregret, Reed.

WIC — Thomson 2, Pellizzer 7, Swanson 6, Nelson 12, Tomasoki 6, Williams 5, Forte 2, Henschel 6, Nelson 5. F: 9; Fouled out: None; Free throws: 5-10; 3-point field goals: Williams, Pellizzer.

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ONTONAGON — Ontonagon picked up an easy nonconference win, 77-28, over Hancock Friday night.

“First relaxing win we’ve had in a long time,” Ontonagon coach Andy Borseth said. “We worked our offense really well, played good team defense and it was Homecoming night for the boys, so they had a little extra spark tonight. It was a fun night for everybody.”

Tanner Balcomb led the Gladiators with 21 points and also had a good night on defense and the glass, Borseth said. Dawson Pollard and Ed Polakowski both scored 12 points and Micah Blake had 10. Brendan Buzzo had seven assists.

Ontonagon (6-10) goes to L’Anse for another nonconference game Tuesday. Hancock (2-13) hosts Dollar Bay on the same day.

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Hancock 11 10 5 2 — 28

Ontonagon 22 16 23 16 — 77

Hancock — Watson 10, P. Anderson 3, Chynoweth 8, C. Anderson 2, Raasio 5. FTs: 2-2. Fouls: 6. Fouled out: None. 3-pointers: Watson 2, Chynoweth 2, P. Anderson 1, Raasio 1.

Ontonagon — Ed Polakowski 12, Dawson Pollard 12, James Domitrovich 6, Brendan Buzzo 4, Kaleb Kemppainen 2, Henry Menigoz 8, Rory LaBine 2, Micah Blake 10, Tanner Balcomb 21. FTs: 0-0. Fouls: 13. Fouled out: None. 3-pointers: Pollard 4, Balcomb 3, Menigoz 2.