Jeffers’ Levi Frahm, right, puts up a shot as Ewen-Trout Creek’s Jonah Nordine defends on Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2022, in Painesdale, Mich. (Eddie O’Neill/The Daily Mining Gazette)

PAINESDALE — It was standing room only at the Jeffers High School gym on Wednesday as the hometown team came though with a crowd-pleasing 70-59 victory over the Ewen-Trout Creek Panthers.

The Jets (11-1) avenged their only loss on the season from the team that gave it to them. On January 20, the Panthers (9-2) pulled off a 39-37 win against the Jets on their home court.

Both coaches agreed that the difference between January’s game and Wednesday’s match up was that shots fell for Jeffers, and they didn’t for E-TC.

“We came out strong and took it to them on the rim and off the glass,” said Jeffers’ head coach John Schutz. “We made our baskets, and that was the biggest thing.”

Lance Heinonen opened the scoring with a triple and the Jets were off and running. They pulled out to a 14-0 lead before the Panthers could find the net. At the 2:40 mark, E-TC’s Jaden Borseth finally turned his team’s goose egg into a three. The two teams would pull into a 20-8 Jets’ tilt after one.

“The looks we had were there, but the shots just would not go in,” said E-TC’s head coach Brad Besonen.

Key to the Jets’ first-quarter success was senior Isaiah Frahm. He had 11 points on the night, and six of them came in the first period. His jumper from the top of the key was nothing but net.

“He was crafty and dribbles well and gets off the ball,” said Besonen. “He had some baseline under- the-rim scores as well. He was tough to stop.”

Coach Schutz calls Frahm his secret weapon.

“He attacked the rim and made shots,” he said. “And that’s big for us as he plays tough when he is in there.”

For the Panthers the remaining three quarters didn’t get any better. The Jets led 37-19 at half time.

While the Panthers outscored the Jets 40-33 in the last two quarters, the writing was already on the wall from the first 14 minutes, and it was hard to erase.

“We dug a hole that was too deep to get out of,” Besonen said. “While we played better after halftime, you cannot spot them so many points and expect to come back.”

The closest the Panthers came to touching the Jets was a 43-30 score midway through the third. While they started to make a run of six or eight points here and there, the Jets continued to stay hot. They were patient and waited for the open shot or pass inside for the bucket off the glass.

Levi Frahm led the scoring for the Jets with 20. Johnny Schutz had 13, and Lance Heinonen sunk 12. For E-TC, Jaden Borseth sunk an impressive 27 points which included four three-pointers.

Coach Besonen summed up the night best by saying, “The Jets put in the hard work tonight. They were relentless on the boards and played with a lot of heart.”

E-TC 8 11 18 22 — 59

JHS 20 17 19 14 — 70

EWEN-TROUTCREEK (59): Ca. Besonen 7, Abramson 9, Jilek 6, orseth 27, Ch. Besonen 6, Polkky 4. 3- pointers: Abramson 3, Jilek 2, Borseth 4, Ch. Besonen 2. FT: 6-10.

JEFFERS (70): Kinnunen 9, L. Frahm 20, L. Heinonen 12, Kunishige 5, Schutz 13, I. Frahm 11. 3-pointers: Kinnunen 2, L. Heinonen 3, Kunishge 1, Schutz 2. FT 8-15.