HOUGHTON — After a difficult game full of mistakes at Baraga Friday, coach Frank Bonacorsi wanted a better effort defensively Monday from his Calumet Copper Kings boys basketball team, and he got it. The Copper Kings held the Hancock Bulldogs to just 25 points in a 41-25 win in the second semifinal of the Copper Country Classic Holiday Tournament at the SDC Gym.

Bonacorsi was all smiles after the game, excited by how hard his team worked to show their coach their ears were open.

“Friday night against Baraga wasn’t a good showing, and I was just telling them after the game (Monday), proud of the quick turnaround, and (for them) to bring the intensity on the defensive end, which we lacked against Baraga,” he said. “They turned the switch on tonight, and made things difficult for Hancock. So, very proud of them with that turnaround.”

The Copper Kings held the Bulldogs to just five points in the first quarter and 12 in the first half.

At the same time, junior Andrew Junttila hit a pair of 3-pointers in the first 3:36, and the Copper Kings emerged from the first quarter with a 9-5 lead.

From there, senior Peter Torola took the Copper Kings on his back. He racked up eight of his game-high 17 points in the second quarter and helped drive a 16-point stretch that helped Calumet carry a 25-12 lead into half time.

“He’s our leader,” said Bonacorsi. “He’s our leader in terms of skill set, and how much time he’s put in. He’s our vocal leader. When we need a basket, or tonight in that first half, the offensive rebounds, (he is always) just bringing that intensity and setting the stage for the younger guys.

“It’s invaluable. He’s such a pivotal part to this team.”

Torola’s hard work inside helped create time and space for Junttila to hit his third 3-pointer of the night from the left corner. Junttila finished his night with 12 points.

Junior Owen Peterson sank a 3-pointer of his own at the buzzer to send the Copper Kings into the locker room with the 13-point advantage.

For the Bulldogs, who are still a work in progress, first-year coach Jay Caserio liked a lot of what he saw, despite his team’s struggle to make shots.

“We are young, but at the same time, I don’t want to use that as a crutch or an excuse,” he said. “I’m sick of the kids hearing that, because that’s who we are. For us to be good, it takes a level of effort, whether you’re a ninth-grader or a senior. With that being said, we got punched in the mouth really early on by Westwood, came back and played Dollar Bay, pretty tough, down by three at Baraga at halftime, got punched in the mouth in the second half, came back and beat Chassell. Held them to 20 points.

“I’ve seen some big improvements by our guys. Everything from buying-in to actual learning of what we’re trying to do. The first couple weeks, we couldn’t even catch the ball. We were just working on catching drills, so we’re way behind as far as things that I would like for us to be able to execute right now.”

Caserio believes in his group and their ability to learn.

“Man, they’re making, I think, tremendous (progress),” he said. “If you watched us in practice in the first week, you would have been like, what in the world’s going on here? So, we’ve made up a lot of ground, for sure.”

The key to that improvement has been the play of sophomore Isaac Wanhala, who finished with a team-high 11 points.

“He’s been good,” said Caserio. “He’s gotten a lot better. He had a really nice game against Chassell, and his confidence is going through the roof. At the beginning of the year, his confidence wasn’t very good, so I think it’s improving quite a bit.”

Calumet outscored the Bulldogs 11-9 in the third quarter, as Wanhala racked up five points and sophomore Gage Chynoweth, who finished with seven points, added four.

In the fourth, neither team found much in the way of open space to work. Torola took advantage of the one clear look he had, and sank a 3-pointer in the process.

Chynoweth hit a 3-pointer of his own, but the Bulldogs could not find the basket again after, save for one free throw from Wanhala.