Dollar Bay defeats Ontonagon 56-55

DOLLAR BAY — The visiting Ontonagon Gladiators scored 26 points in the first half and added 29 more in the second, but despite that offensive success, the visitors could not stop Davin Hill and the Dollar Bay-Tamarack City Blue Bolts, as the hosts earned a 56-55 win.

Dollar Bay held a lead with seconds remaining when Ed Polakowski had a shot at the buzzer to give the Gladiators the win. His shot rolled off the front of the rim.

“(It was a) crazy game tonight with lots of lead changes,” said Blue Bolts coach Jesse Kentala. “We did enough to win. (This was) a good effort for both teams.”

Ontonagon held an 11-5 lead at the end of the first quarter with Polakowski, who scored a team-high 20 points, with six in the first eight minutes.

Dollar Bay cut that lead down to one, 26-25, by halftime thanks to six points from Connor LeClaire and six more from Davin Hill. Hill then exploded in the third, racking up three three’s as part of an 11-point quarter for him and a 19-point quarter for the team.

“Davin Hill played really well on both ends of the floor,” said Kentala.

Hill finished with a game-high 21 points.

The Blue Bolts added 13 more points in the fourth quarter to give themselves a chance to win.

Kentala was disappointed with his team’s defensive effort, but felt that his team is continuing to grow.

“(We had) lots of deficiencies still with areas of our game,” he said. “I’m proud of our guys for continuing to improve and grind.”

Ontonagon 11 15 14 15 – 55

Dollar Bay 5 19 19 13 – 56

ONT: Latvis 11, Polakowki 20, Soumis 4, Buzza 8, Walters 4, Menigoz 3, LaBine 4, Lukkari 1; Fouls: 14; Fouled out: none; 3-point field goals: Latvis 1, Walters 1

DBTC: Schmitz 3, B. LeClaire 10, Janke 8, C. LeClaire 12, Hill 21, Karainen 2; Fouls: 13; Fouled out: none; 3-point field goals: Hill 4, Schmitz 1

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Calumet outguns Lakes 69-35

CALUMET — The Calumet Copper Kings held the visiting Lake Linden-Hubbell Lakes to just three points in the opening eight minutes of play. From there, the Copper Kings were able to play strong enough defensively to keep the Lakes from catching back up as Calumet earned a 69-35.

Matt Ojala led the Copper Kings’ offense with 27 points, including seven in the first quarter and six more in the third. He finished his night with a triple-double thanks to 11 rebounds and 10 assists as well.

“He had it going pretty good, especially in that first half,” said Copper Kings coach Mike Ojala. “He finished with a triple-double. He’s really been playing pretty well. He’s been frustrated a little bit with not finishing around the basket as much as he would like.”

With Matt Ojala’s game working as well as it was, the Copper Kings were able to free up space for Brandon Antilla, who hit four threes on the night from the outside.

“(Matt) was pretty good from the perimeter tonight,” said Mike Ojala. “The whole team was pretty solid on both ends.

“We can consistently have four or five shooters on that court. Really, it’s Matt’s penetration and his ability to get into the paint and create shots for the other guys that has been good.”

The Lakes fought back hard in the second quarter, getting two threes from William Lyons and one each from Cole Gregoire and Ben Wilson.

From there, Carter Crouch had the remaining three three’s the Lakes had on the night. Antilla hit two of his four in the third quarter to keep the Copper Kings well in control.

Coach Ojala was extremely pleased with his team’s defensive effort throughout the night.

“One of the big things I was pleased with was how we played defensively in that first quarter, holding them to three points,” he said “We had a pretty good energy to us on that end of the court. Lake Linden is not an easy team to guard. They have some good athletes.”

The Copper Kings have two more games next week before they are off on Christmas break.

Lake Linden 3 13 10 8 – 35

Calumet

LLH: Wickstrom-Huuki 2, Crouch 12, Lyons 11, Co. Gregoire 3, Wilson 5, Hill 2; Fouls: 11; Fouled out: none; 3-point field goals: Crouch 3, Lyons 3

CLK: Bra. Anttila 12, Haapala 2, M. Ojala 27, Bre. Antilla 5, T. Ojala 7, McParlan 6, Twardzik 3, Torola 7; Fouls: 15; Fouled out: none; 3-point field goals: Bra. Antilla 4, M. Ojala 1, Bre. Antilla 1, T. Ojala 1, Twardzik 1, Torola 1

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Chassell tops Jeffers 62-43

CHASSELL — Chassell defeated Jeffers 62-43. Details on the game were not available at time of printing.

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Wykons hold off Purple Hornets in overtime

L’ANSE — The West Iron County Wykons earned a 59-52 victory over the L’Anse Purple Hornets in overtime Thursday. Details on the game were not available at time of printing.