Houghton’s Josef Eich (21) drives past Lake Linden-Hubbell’s Blake Lebo (22) on Monday at the Lake Linden-Hubbell High School gym. Gremlins’ teammate Henry Lounibos (11) follows the action. (Eddie O’Neill/Daily Mining Gazette)

LAKE LINDEN — Monday night’s boys’ basketball matchup between the Houghton Gremlins and the Lake Linden-Hubbell Lakes was a mismatch from the start. It was very much a varsity Houghton squad versus a junior varsity Lake Linden team – not by design, but rather by necessity.

The Lakes are a young roster full of underclassmen, and the Gremlins are a mature and experienced lineup. Because of that, Monday night played out as one expects. The Gremlins (2-1) won 91-20. They were up 25-4 after the first quarter and led 57-11 at half. With a rolling clock now in effect in the third and fourth quarters, Houghton outscored the Lakes 34-10.

While it was an easy win for the Gremlins, there is still work to do according to their coach, Jared Lawson.

“I was happy with the energy,” he said. “We hadn’t played for a week because of the snow days (last week). But I am nitpicking things we need to work on now because not every game is going to be easy. We want to get better now and not have little things bite us down the road.”

Luke Hill led the scoring for the Gremlins with an impressive 37 points, including nine 3-pointers. The team had 13 triples on the night. Also in double-digit scoring was Isaiah Lawson and Lane Laux with 10 each.

“Luke is a shooter,” said his coach. “I want to give the game ball, though, to our defense. They were tenacious and forced a lot of turnovers, and that is good to see.”

He added that he was pleased to get everybody in off the bench. “Those guys work hard at practice and deserve to get some playing time,” noted Lawson.

Josh Daavettila led the scoring for the Lakes with 12 points.

Despite the lopsided score, not all was lost according to Lakes coach Brett Poissant.

“We are young, and their pressure got to us and our youth showed,” he said. “I liked how our guys battled, and you can’t be angry with that.”

UP NEXT

The Gremlins face the Hancock Bulldogs at home on Wednesday. The Lakes travel to Calumet on Thursday. Both games tip off at 7:15 p.m.