HANCOCK — Houghton unloaded a barrage of three-point baskets on the Hancock Bulldogs Friday night in a Wing-Ding contest.

The end result was a 47-39 Gremlins victory in the first meeting of the two old rivals this winter.

“I thought we played decent defense again tonight,” Hancock coach Ramon Sague said. “But we didn’t get out on (Blake) Willey as much as we could have. He hurt us.”

Willey, a junior forward, netted 21 points to lead the Orange and Black.

He collected all of his points on seven long distance shots.

HHS coach Jared Lawson wasn’t surprised by Willey’s outside accuracy.

“He does it in practice,” Lawson said. “We knew the potential was there.”

The Gremlins (1-1) managed a 13-8 lead after one quarter, two treys by Willey the difference.

Hancock fought back in the second frame, slicing the margin to four at the break.

Senior Carson Chynoweth of Hancock (0-2) cashed in six free throws as it stood 21-17.

Neither side could find the basket in the third quarter, Hancock by a 26-21 margin at quarter’s end.

But after drawing to within 35-30 early in the final stanza, the Bulldogs were finally done in by three more triples by Willey.

Lawson said the play of freshman guard Kyle Primeau was a key.

“He (Primeau) handled the pressure real well, just as he did earlier this week against Escanaba,” Lawson said. “You don’t always expect that from a freshman.”

Primeau also added ten points and three assists in backing up Willey.

Chynoweth led all scorers with 24 markers. He netted five triples on the night

JL Sebbas was next in line for Hancock with six points and a team leading seven rebounds.

Houghton faces Class A Marquette next week, while Hancock hosts a tough Dollar Bay-Tamarack City team.

Houghton 13 8 9 18 — 47

Hancock 8 9 8 11 — 39

HOUGHTON (47): Dueweke 3, Willey 21, Ruotsala 3, Yoon 3, Kieranen 5, K. Primeau 10, Ryynanen 3, D. Primeau 2. Rebounds: 26 (Kieranen 4). F: 19 (Kieranen fouled out). 3PT: Willey 7, Kieranen 1, Yoon 1, Ruotsala 1, K. Primeau.

HANCOCK (39): Sebbas 6, Jaques 4, Chynoweth 24, Pietila 1, Smith 3, Galleto 1. Rebounds: 22 (Sebbas 7) Fouls: 12 (Smith fouled out). 3PT: Chynoweth 5, Sebbas 2.