Calumet’s Jana Loukus (10) dribbles against Iron Mountain’s Chloe Biano (42) on Thursday, Dec. 5, 2019, in Iron Mountain, Mich. (Theresa Proudfit/Iron Mountain Daily News)

IRON MOUNTAIN — Calumet cruised to a 75-49 win against Iron Mountain in West PAC conference play Thursday.

Both teams came out in man-to-man defense to begin the game, with Calumet using a 3/4 court press, to force IM turnovers to take a 22-13 lead at the end of the first quarter.

“Still being early in the season with our young team, we were a bit undisciplined to begin the game,” said Calumet head coach Matt Laho. “I told the girls they needed to get to their spots on the floor when we were pressing. Once they started switching and getting to their spots, the press worked great.”

The Mountaineers got the Calumet lead down to five points, with 3:06 left in the first half. Calumet took a 39-29 lead into the half. “Once the second half began, we went into a scoring slump,” Grenier said.

“It was a tale of two halves tonight, in the first quarter and most of the first half, offensively and defensively we played good.” said IM head coach Katelynn Grenier.

Mountaineer senior Reagan Lundholm, who led IM with 11 points on the night, hit a 3-pointer at the halftime buzzer. Chloe Bianco added 10 points for the Mountaineers.

“They (Calumet) started hitting three pointer after three pointer and our help defense wasn’t what it needed to be. Plus we were sagging off of their shooters to much, giving them room to shoot.” said Grenier.

Calumet (2-0, 1-0) was led in scoring by junior Elli Djerf who netted a game high 17 points, she grabbed eight rebounds as well. Sophomores Marybeth Halonen chipped in 14 points, and Jana Loukus had 10 points. The Copper Kings out-rebounded IM 28 to 21 on the evening, with Tori Sorensen grabbing eight rebounds to lead the Mountaineers.

Laho said Djerf stepped up on both offense and defense, also noting that he was pleased overall with his teams overall effort on the night. Calumet won its second straight game after defeating Ewen-Trout Creek on Tuesday in the season opener.

Iron Mountain (0-1) visits West Iron Tuesday night for another West PAC Conference game, while Calumet travels to non-conference foe Jeffers on the same night.

Calumet won the JV game 33-31.

CALUMET (75): Djerf 17, Holonen 14, Loukus 10, K. Anderson 8, Sturos 7, S. Anderson 5, Johnson 4, Torola 4, Strom 4, Giachino 2. FT: 6-14 F: 20. 3-point FG: Djerf (3), Halonen (2), Sturos, S. Anderson. FG shooting: 31-63. Rebounds: 28 (Djerf 8, Torola 8).

IRON MOUNTAIN (49): Lundholm 11, Runsat 5, Sardina 7, Powell 9, Bianco 10, Sorensen 7. FT: 9-19. F: 14. 3-point FG: Lundholm (2), Powell. Rebounds 21(Sorensen 8).