Dollar Bay-Tamarack City’s Will Beaudoin lines up to shoot a free throw during a game Tuesday against Lake Linden-Hubbell at the Dollar Bay Gym. (Eddie O’Neill/Daily Mining Gazette)

DOLLAR BAY — It wasn’t the prettiest of games for the Lake Linden-Hubbell Lakes boys basketball team Tuesday, but in the end, they tallied a 65-59 victory over the Dollar Bay- Tamarack City Blue Bolts. An older, bigger and stronger Lakes’ squad proved to be one step ahead of a pesky Dollar Bay team.

“Yes we won, but we did not execute offensively and did not play defense well,” said Lakes coach Brett Poissant. “It was somewhat of a poor game for us. The intensity was there, and perhaps that was the deciding factor.”

The Blue Bolts (2-4) first and only lead in the game came in the opening minutes. The Lakes tied it at five apiece and just kept widening the gap. They led 15-11 after the first.

The second is where the Lakes showed their dominance in terms of senior leadership and dominance on the floor, according to Blue Bolts’ coach Jesse Kentala.

“We had a lull there where shots were not going in, and they stepped up and played their game,” he said.

The Lakes (5-1) showed maturity on the floor.

“They are a good team – senior led,” added Kentala. “They are collected on the floor, and not rattled by mistakes like us. We are young, and it shows.”

The Lakes led 31-20 at half. They won the third quarter by a score of 14-19 and at the end of the fourth they cinched a 65-59 victory.

“We dug a hole that we couldn’t get out of,” noted Kentala.

Danny Marcotte led the scoring for the Lakes with 20. Matthew Jokela followed with 18 points.

Liam Tourtillott was once again the scoring force for the Blue Bolts as he had 29 points – 21 of which came from beyond the three-point arc. Caleb Kentala followed him with 10 points.

While he was happy to come away with the win, Poissant knows there is still plenty of work to be done with his team.

“We need to work on rebounding and passing if we want to win games,” said Possaint.

UP NEXT

The Blue Bolts will close out 2023 with a trip to Stephenson on Thursday. That same night the Lakes travel to Painesdale to take on the Jeffers Jets.