Eddie O’Neill/Daily Mining Gazette L’Anse coach Josh Eagle gives his girls a pep talk during a timeout in a Division 4 District 98 game against Lake Linden- Hubbell on Thursday in L’Anse.

L’ANSE — Thursday night’s MHSAA Division 4 District 98 semifinal game between the Lake Linden -Hubbell Lakes and the L’Anse Purple Hornets was the third meeting between these two teams. While the Lakes won the first two by a slim margin, this third game proved to be the charm for the Purple Hornets. They sunk their opponents 81-47 and will now face the Hancock Bulldogs in the district final.

“We were unselfish tonight, noted L’Anse coach Josh Eagle. “We moved the ball well, and the girls stepped up and played well.”

That unselfish style of play started from the opening tip as the Purple Hornets pushed out to a 25-10 advantage after one. The second quarter was much the same with the Purple Hornets outscoring the Lakes 24-13 and commanding a 49-23 lead at half time.

While the Lakes opened the third quarter with seven unanswered points, that was as good as it got. They could not get a stop on defense as they were out rebounded and turned the ball over one too many times.

“We picked a bad time to play our worst game,” noted Lakes’ coach Jack Kumpula. “We missed too many easy shots, and it just went downhill from there. L’Anse wore us down.”

The Purple Hornets outscored the Lakes 35-24 in the the third and fourth quarter combined to earn the win.

“Effort and intelligence are the driving force here,” Eagle added. ” We adapted. The seniors played their hearts out, and that is who should get the game ball. Those seniors included Mylee Londo who sunk a game high 31 points. Kwynn Voskuhl followed her with 19 and teammate Brooklyn Dompier finished with 13.

The silver lining for the Lakes (17-7) in this final game was the scoring prowess of senior Emily Jokela. She led the team with 24 points. Despite being double and even triple teamed at times, the Lakes all-time leading score hit the 2,000 point mark with a jumper in the second quarter. She concluded her high school career with 2010 points- a remarkable feat according to her coach.

“She deserves it,” stated Kumpula. “She works so hard and will be sorely missed by me and her teammates.”

Even coach Eagle noted Jokela’s historic feat.

“She is one of my favorite players, and I couldn’t be happier for her,” he stated.

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The Purple Hornets and the Hancock Bulldogs battled for the District 98 title on Friday.