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Prep Basketball: Hancock girls beat Ontonagon, 57-24

Hancock’s Ellie Sturos dribbles against Ontonagon on Thursday, Feb. 27, 2020, in Hancock, Mich. (Eddie O’Neill/Daily Mining Gazette)

HANCOCK — The Hancock girls basketball team ended their regular season on a high note Thursday night with a a 57-24 victory over the Ontonagon Gladiators.

With the win, the Bulldogs ended the season at 10-9 overall.

Before the game the Bulldogs honored their five seniors. They included Taylor Sebbas, Ellie Sturos, D’Andra Kero, Jordan Pertile and Payton Dube. All five of them got plenty of playing time and did quite well according to their head coach Dan Pertile.

“It was nice to see our seniors gel and play well tonight,” he said. “It was great to see Ellie have a big night. It was fun as a coach to see her execute and play well tonight.”

Sturos had nine points on the night.

Both teams started slow in the offensive department but rather strong on defense. In the first quarter Ontonagon (13-7) had just two points while the Bulldogs put their first hoop in with just 1:28 left in the first quarter. The Bulldogs led 6-2 after one.

The two teams did a little better in the second. Hancock outscored Ontonagon 7-5 to take a 13-7 lead into the halftime locker room.

It was in the third quarter where the game was won for the Bulldogs. They turned on the heat and started to find the bottom of the net. D’Andra Kero led the charge with12 points and Isabella Hebert followed with 11. A six-point lead quickly turned into a 10-point edge thanks to the Bulldogs strong defense. Their cagey defense caused quite a few turnovers for the Gladiators.

“Our defense was locked in tonight,” Pertile said. “We want to stay solid on defense because we are not the most efficient team offensively. We want to keep opponents at mid 30s and we only gave up 24 tonight.”

The Bulldogs led by 16 by the end of the third.

“We were plagued with poor shooting and ball handling” said Gladiator head coach Tim Routheaux. “In the second half, we turned the ball over and they got their shots.”

In the fourth the Bulldogs outscored the Gladiators 19-9 for the win.

Ontonagon’s leading scorer was Nicole Lukkari. She had eight points.

The Bulldogs face Ironwood on Monday in district playoff action.

Ontonagon 2 5 9 8 — 24

Hancock 6 7 19 24 — 57

ONTONAGON (24): T. Menigoz 2, E. Menigoz 4, Fredrikson 4, McIntyre 2, Kolpack 2 Pollard 2, Lukkari 8. 3-point FG: 2 (Lukkari 2). F: 15. FT: 10-12.

HANCOCK (57): Sturos 9, M. Kero 4, Chynoweth 3, Sebbas 2, Brey 5, D. Kero 12, Salani 7, Driscoll 4, Hebert 11. 3-point FG: 5 ( Sturos 1, Chynoweth 1, Brey 1, D. Kero 1, Hebert 1). F: 15. FT: 10-14.

L’Anse 66, Jeffers 50

PAINESDALE — The L’Anse Purple Hornets averaged more than 16 points a quarter in their 66-50 win Thursday night over the Jeffers Jets.

Three Purple Hornets were in double figures. Among them were Addison Mattson with 14 points. Maija Rice had 17 and Kailyn Voskuhl poured in 13. As well the Purple Hornets were 15 of 19 on free throws.

For the Jets, Marissa Nordstrom and Dayna Johnson led the scoring with 11 points.

L’Anse 14 23 13 16 — 66

Jeffers 9 14 12 15 — 50

L’ANSE (66): Martinez 5, Mattson 14, Waara 7, Rice 17 Voskuhl 13, Swanson 2, Sanregret 8. 3-point FG: 1 (Mattson). F: 13. FT: 15-19.

JEFFERS (50): Hill 9, L. Heinonen 9, Nordstrom 11, Johnson 11, M. Heinonen 5, Pennala 5. 3-point FG: 6 (Hill 1, Nordstrom 2, Johnson 1, M. Heinonen 1, Pennala 1). F:15. FT: 8-10.

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