DOLLAR BAY — The Chassell girls’ basketball team got back to .500 in style Monday night, winning the MHSAA Division 4 District 98 opener against Dollar Bay-Tamarack City, 58-39.

After opening the season 0-3 last month, the Panthers (8-8) are now riding a three-game winning streak.

“It really comes down to the girls just seeing the floor, all season long,” said Panther coach Rosalie Kangas after the final horn. “We don’t really have one dominant girl. And so what we really need to do is to get (the ball) to the open girls and tonight we really saw that.”

While most of the playoff opener against the Blue Bolts (4-10) consisted of trading baskets, small runs to open and close quarters powered Chassell to victory. DB-TC played hard thoughout and didn’t back down, but could not get enough shots to fall to make a difference in the second half. That offensive inconsistency by the Bolts, coupled with balanced Panther scoring yielded the somewhat-lopsided final result.

“We’re young and we make mistakes,” said Blue Bolt coach Steve Krahling post-game. “Trying to pass through arms instead of around them and (Chassell) played well. We made mistakes and you can’t live (to play another day) with mistakes. We have to get better.”

DB sophomore Ashlea Datto led all scorers with a more-than-respectable 21 points. But Chassell had points contributed by eight players, led by senior Alia Palosaari’s 12. Dollar Bay junior Maggie Gaunt (13) and Chassell senior Nora Huhta (10), also scored in double figures.

In the first quarter, Chasell opened up with the first four points, an omen of what was to come to start and end quarters in the game. DB-TC responded though and there were 3 ties in the opening frame at four, six and eight points apiece.

From there the Panthers put together their major run of the night, scoring 12 straight points to end the first and start the second quarter.

The game then lost its flow in the middle of the second quarter with both teams turning the ball over repeatedly.

Chassell awoke just before halftime though, with six straight points heading into the locker room, including a pair of made free throws by senior Maelene Warren with 1.3 seconds left. The Panthers led by 17 points after 16 minutes, 32-15.

Gaunt opened the second half scoring with a long jumper and DB made its best bid to close with Chassell by coming up with a 10-3 run to diminish the Panther lead to 10 points — at 35-25 — with just under two minutes remaining in the third quarter. DB then cut the Chassell lead to just eight points.

But yet again Chassell found a way to string some point together and a pair of scores to end the quarter – by junior Paris Olson and Palosaari – put CHS back in the drivers seat, 39-27.

Throughout the second half, DB had moments with steals, blocks, and some fast break conversions, but the Bolts were just not able to keep pace. The Panther lead ballooned up to 18 points after the blue-and-gold once again had a mini-run with the first six points of the fourth quarter.

Despite losing to end their season, Krahling was happy with his players’ efforts. Dollar Bay “learned to fight,” this season, he said.

“In a real season, where we don’t have to take 10 days off (due to COVID concerns), there would have been a lot more continuity. But we struggled and came back hard (in the game) so I’m proud of them.”

Chassell moves on to face district top-seed Ontonagon Wednesday at 7 p.m. in the Gladiators’ gym.

“We’re definitely gonna have to play tough defensively,” Kangas said. “It’ll be tough. We have to take away their outside game and still defend their inside game. And then, on our end, we just have to play and see if we can keep our balanced scoring and handle the pressure.”

CHS 12 20 7 19 — 58

DB-TC 8 7 12 12 — 39

CHASSELL (58): Palosaari 12, Nora Huhta 10, Olson 9, Pietila 8, Madisyn Holombo 7, Warren 6, Linnea Huhta 4, Megan Holombo 2. FT: 9-15. 3-point FG: Madisyn Holombo 1.

DOLLAR BAY-TAMARACK CITY (39): Ashlea Datto 21, Gaunt 13, Cavis 3, Aubrey Swain 2. FT: 3-5. 3-point FG: Ashlea Datto 1, Gaunt 1.