Houghton’s Stella Wickstrom, right, puts up a shot against L’Anse’s Elli Kromer during a game Tuesday night at the Houghton High School gym. (Eddie O’Neill/Daily Mining Gazette)

HOUGHTON – The Houghton Gremlins girls’ basketball team proved to be too much on the hardwood for the L’Anse Purple Hornets on Tuesday, as they won 76-35. It was the Gremlins’ second win (2-0 overall) on the season and the Purple Hornets’ second loss (0-2).

Julie Filpus, coach of the Gremlins, was pleased with the way her girls moved the ball.

“My biggest takeaway from tonight was how well we pushed the ball down the floor,” she said. “We are going to be a fast-break team and we showed that tonight.”

The Gremlins finished the first period up 16-7. They improved that to 35-16 by the half. The last two quarters were much the same with the Gremlins outscoring their opponent 41-19.

The Houghton girls outsized the Purple Hornets both in height and width as they grabbed rebounds and created a forest of arms for their opponents to shoot through.

“Stella (Wickstrom) did a great job under the rim getting deflections and just having her arms in the way,” said Filpus.

Coach Chad Larson of the Purple Hornets stated much the same.

“They are big,” he said. “Their size just dominated us. They have a bunch of seniors who can play basketball and we don’t. That all makes a difference.”

Annika Peterson led the scoring for the Gremlins with 19 points. Fifteen of those came from three-pointers.

“That was huge and good to see,” Filpus added. “It is something she has been working on.”

Meghan Trewhella followed with 16 and Wickstrom sunk 12 points.

“It was good to see this balance in the scoring tonight,” said Filpus.

Brooklyn Dompier was the lone double-figure scorer for the Purple Hornets with 12 points

Despite the loss, Rice said there were some positives seen in this second game of the season.

“We moved the ball better, but we need to get better with our passing,” he said. “Our rebounding was better than it was in our first game, and all and all it was a step forward.”

Up next

The Purple Hornets take on Calumet at home on Thursday, Dec. 8. The Gremlins stay at home to face Negaunee on Friday, Dec. 9.