In the fourth, Bortolini missed six free throws, yet she still managed to score half of her team’s 22 points as Kingsford completed the comeback, winning 42-35, and advancing to face Negaunee Wednesday.

All smiles after his team completed the unlikely victory two hours away from home, Flivvers coach John Lorenzoni could not help but joke about where his team was after 24 minutes.

“We had them right where we wanted them,” he said. “No, you know, I mean it got to the point where points were such at a premium that nine points, to me, going into the fourth quarter, where we’re sitting at 20 for the entire three quarters, I’m not going to lie, it didn’t look good.”

He was not wrong. After the first quarter, Houghton, who could only manage four points in the first, opened the speed of the game and for the next 16 minutes, they controlled the floor the way they wanted to.

Houghton’s Eliie Hainault scans for a teammate to pass to during the first quarter of a Division 2 District 33 quarterfinal game against Kingsford Monday at the Houghton Gym. (Daver Karnosky/Daily Mining Gazette)

A big reason for that push by the Gremlins was the play of senior Danica Ryynanen, who had two quick layups in the second quarter, which helped her team score 11 points and take a three-point lead into the half, 15-12. In the third, junior Eva Gerard steamrolled her way to 13 of her team-high 16 points.

It did not help the Flivvers that both Bortolini and senior Mia Counter were glued to their seats on the sidelines with three fouls each.

“For me to be sitting Counter and Bortolini, with a generous portion of time in the second period was very telling to us,” said Lorenzoni. “I think we had a 12-5 lead when those two girls came out, and all of a sudden it was game on.”

However, once that third quarter ended, so did the Gremlins’ offense, leaving coach Julie Filpus stunned.

“I don’t know,” she said. “We struggled the whole game, and it’s hard to actually even speculate what was in our kids’ heads. It was just very odd, very strange, and it’s kind of what happens when you don’t show up.

“I wish I knew the answer. I really feel bad for our kids, because I thought we had a really nice season and the opponent, I felt like, had a little more energy, a little more just grit and fight to win.”

While Bortolini was scoring her 11 fourth-quarter points to will the Flivvers to victory, junior Abby Przeslakowski caught fire, scoring eight points down the stretch as well, giving Kingsford multiple threats when they needed it most.

“For them to dig deep,” Lorenzoni said, “I thought like Anna Bortolini, I thought Abby Przeslekowski, my junior, Abby Przeslekowski, made some big plays.

“I’m just so happy for my kids. I really am. I’m really happy. It’s been an up and down year, so for it to be more on the upside now towards the end of the year, I love them.”

Both coaches agreed the game really turned on a sequence with about 3:34 left to play. The Flivvers, who had struggled to combat Gerard on rebounds for three quarters, finally got into an opportunity where they came up with three or four straight offensive rebounds in quick succession, with the last one leading to a layup by Bortolini to make it 33-31.

“I think it was in the fourth quarter, there was a possession where I think they got four offensive rebounds,” said Filpus. “Then, I think, a couple of possessions after that, weren’t matched up in transition.

“That wasn’t us.”

While Gerard gave the Gremlins a chance to fight back until the final seconds, Filpus felt that the rest of the team could not find the shots necessary to close out the Flivvers when they needed to.

“To open things up for Eva, we need to knock down a few threes,” she said. “Actually, hats off, I mean, I thought Kingsford, their zone was tough today. It was very active and it extended us. Wwe just didn’t work the ball around very well.”

For Houghton, Filpus hopes the loss will be a learning experience for much of her young squad.

“I feel bad for our seniors,” she said. “We have a lot of younger kids on the team, and hopefully they learn from this, kind of get after it, and make it so that this doesn’t happen. But, our seniors did a heck of a job all year.”