Houghton’s Lane Laux (23) battles for a rebound against Hancock’s Jayden Nuttall (34) during a game Wednesday at the Houghton High School gym. (Eddie O’Neill/Daily Mining Gazette)

HOUGHTON — For the second game in a row, the Houghton Gremlins boys basketball team had an easy game. On Monday, they defeated Lake Linden-Hubbell, 91-20, and on Wednesday, they put the Hancock Bulldogs down, 77-19.

Over the course of those two games, they outscored their opponents 168-39. While that is impressive, Gremlins’ coach Jared Lawson is very aware that not every game this season will be a mismatch.

“It is young in the season, and we still have work to do,” he stated. “We had a great defensive effort tonight. We are working on some rotation in our half-court and full courts sets and the guys put in the effort.”

The Gremlins jumped out to a 37-9 lead after one. That morphed into a 60-11 lead at halftime. In short, the Gremlins size and experience was a big difference-maker. With a starting lineup of four freshmen, the Bulldogs were outsized in many ways from the start against a senior-led Houghton squad.

With a nearly 50-point lead, and the clock running to start the third, Lawson was able to play much of his bench for the remainder of the game, and according to him, they didn’t disappoint.

“Those guys put in a solid effort the whole way through, and I was very pleased with that,” he said. “I was proud of them.”

For the second game in a row, the Gremlins sunk 13 triples. Leading the charge with the three pointer was Terry Nolan with five. He led the scoring for the Gremlins as well with 22 points. Luke Hill followed with 14 points. Lane Laux had 10.

“I was happy with our shooting,” Lawson added. “It is something we work on, and I liked the fact that they set screens for each other when they saw that a teammate had the hot hand.”

Despite the mismatch, not all was lost according to Bulldogs’ coach Zach Ohtonen.

“I saw a lot of confidence from the freshmen,” he stated. “We handled the press and traps well for a young team.”

UP NEXT

The Gremlins will welcome Calumet to the Houghton gym on Monday. The Bulldogs, meanwhile, will travel to Chassell on Tuesday. Tip off for both games is set for 7:15 p.m.