Daver Karnosky/Daily Mining Gazette Houghton’s Luke Hill attempts to steal the ball from Negaunee’s Holden Meyer during a game Thursday at the Houghton Gym.

HOUGHTON — Sometimes the game of basketball can go like this, especially when it involves high school kids, according to Houghton Gremlins boys basketball coach Jared Lawson.

The Gremlins trailed by four after the first quarter Thursday, led by three at halftime, trailed again by four after the third, and ultimately lost by six, 57-51, to the Negaunee Miners at the Houghton Gym.

After outscoring the Miners 14-6 in the second quarter, Houghton felt good about where things were at heading into the second half. However, a 19-point third quarter followed a 16-point fourth put the game too far out of reach, even though the Gremlins cut the lead down to two, 51-49, with just 2:04 left in the contest.

“I told the guys, at the end, it really came down to a three-minute stretch in the fourth quarter,” said Jared. “We kind of lost them on defense. We gave up some easy cuts or layups, and then (on) the easy cuts, we overcompensated, and they got an easy three.

“You can’t do that against an athletic, good school.”

Trailing by 10, 49-39, after a Gavin Saunders layup after he grabbed an offensive rebound, the Gremlins got a key layup from junior Lathan Salmi that sparked a 10-2 run that was capped off by a huge three from junior Tim Brown.

“I give my guys credit,” Jared said. “They clawed right back in, and, again, we just made some kind of mistakes at the end then, too. We got it to 51-49.”

Negaunee stormed back, taking advantage of miscues by the Gremlins, and were back up by eight, 57-49, with 1:03 to play after a layup by Kyle Waterman.

“It was that quick,” said Jared. “They got two, and I guess our guys were still in that pressing mindset. So, they’re overcompensating after they miss the shot, and that’s how they got those two easy layups. They just threw it down and got them. We’re talking under a minute. That’s tough to do.”

For Brad Nelson, coach of the Miners, he expected his team to start the game sluggishly, but he challenged his team to get its act together during a timeout in the opening minutes. While it took some time for his words to sink in, he was proud of the way his team adjusted in the second half.

“Considering, the tripleheader, leaving school at 1:30, (I) kind of knew that the first quarter was going to be kind of clunky,” he said. “That’s why (we took the) early timeout. We had to change a few things that we game plan for. Houghton gave us a few different looks defensively. It was kind of a feeling-out period. But, as far as how they responded in the second, third, and fourth quarters, that was a really good win against a really good opponent.”

Nelson had his team focus on freeing up the ball and getting some pressure away from Saunder, who led all scorers with 25 points, and Jordan Guenette, who scored 11. Once they created time and space for both shooters, things continued to remain open for more Miners to chip in.

“We made a few adjustments to try to free up the ball pressure,” said Nelson. “They were really pressuring Jordan and Gavin out on top. So, we made it a point to take our wings and try to free it up by using some ball screens and punch the gaps. (We) were able to do that way better in the second half, as well as moving without the ball.

“Those are the two primary things we addressed at halftime, and we made enough plays to win, like I said, against a really good Houghton team.”

Houghton had three players finish in double figures in scoring with juniors Lane Laux and Luke Hill, who scored 11 each. Junior Isaiah Lawson also had a good night with 10 points.

However, Saunders just found ways to be effective, especially in the fourth quarter, where he scored nine points.

“He has faced Houghton twice,” Nelson said. “He’s faced this defense twice. He knows what he needs to do to get open. He knows what he needs to do to get other people open. He was the spark plug.

“I thought our younger guys, the rest of our juniors, saw what he was doing and realized, ‘Hey, I have to move without the ball to have a chance.’ That’s what a senior captain does. He’s one of the best players in the U.P., and he showed it tonight.”

UP NEXT

Houghton will be back in action Tuesday, when they host Gwinn at 7:15 p.m.