Calumet senior forward Dean Loukus (12) controls the puck between Jeffers senior forward Kyler Hillstrom (17) and senior defenseman Milo Kangas (19) during a MHSAA Division 3 Region 17 semifinal on Tuesday, March 16, 2021, in Houghton, Mich. (Adam Niemi/The Daily Mining Gazette)

HOUGHTON — Calumet scored early and often in a 10-2 win against Jeffers in the MHSAA Division 3 Region 17 semifinal Tuesday.

The Copper Kings (14-0-1) scored just 38 seconds into the game and applied pressure all night in the win at the John MacInnes Student Ice Arena.

Calumet led 5-0 after the first period and outshot Jeffers 31-8 on the night.

“I thought we played really well in the first period,” Calumet head coach Dan Giachino said. “We came out with a purpose and we worked hard.”

The Copper Kings advance to the regional championship at 1 p.m. Saturday at the Mac. They’ll play either Houghton or Hancock, a game that didn’t end before press time.

Dean Loukus led the Copper Kings attack with three goals and two assists. Nolan Sturos scored two goals and two assists. Jackson Rilei had a goal and two assists. Caden Lehto scored two goals.

Brok Holombo scored for Jeffers in the second period. Caden Hillstrom scored two minutes into the third.

Giachino said the Copper Kings came out a little flat in the second and Jeffers scored its first goal by sophomore defenseman Brok Holombo.

“Our puck movement out of our defensive zone wasn’t the best, especially in the second period,” Giachino said. “I thought we fought the puck a little bit at times. We were a little lackadaisical with the puck at times. We’ll work on that over the week and hopefully clean that up and get ready for Saturday.”

For the Jets (2-12), their goals came too little too late.

“I think we weren’t mentally prepared. We played them last week and played way better,” Jeffers head coach Pat Nettell said. “I don’t know what happened from there to here. But we never gave up. But it’s ocne again, we didn’t start the period right — five goals in the first period is no way to start a game. That’s the bottom line. You’ve got to come swinging right away.”

Aksel Loukus made six saves for Calumet.

Senior goaltender Evan Pietila made 22 saves in his final game for the Jets. Simon Rajala played the third and made nine saves.

JHS 0 1 1 — 2

CHS 5 2 3 — 10

First Period–Scoring–1, CHS, N. Sturos, (Erkkila, Dean Loukus), 0:38. 2, CHS, Dean Loukus, 9:07. 3, CHS, Lehto, 10:16. 4, CHS, Rilei, (Erkkila, Dean Loukus), 12:53. 5, CHS, Larson, (N. Sturos, Rilei), 16:03. Penalties–JHS, Osterman, (interference), 7:55. JHS, C. Hillstrom, (roughing), 11:54.

Second Period–Scoring–6, CHS, N. Sturos, (Williams, Pfau), 8:34. 7, JHS, Holombo, (Burkman), 13:21. 8, CHS, Dean Loukus, (N. Sturos, Jurmu), 13:45. Penalties–CHS, P. Sturos, (tripping), 8:39.

Third Period–Scoring–9, JHS, C. Hillstrom, 2:19. 10, CHS, Lehto, (Larson), 3:41. 11, CHS, Kariniemi, (P. Sturos), 4:32. 12, CHS, Dean Loukus, (Rilei, Erkkila), 9:55. Penalties–JHS, Heinonen, (holding), 2:28. CHS, Erkkila, (cross-checking), 5:29. JHS, C. Hillstrom, (roughing), 8:57. JHS, Heinonen, (tripping), 9:46.