HOUGHTON — Both teams struggled out of the gates, but in the end the Houghton Gremlins boys basketball team emerged victorious with a 53-38 win Monday in the opening game of the Copper Country Classic Holiday Tournament at the SDC Gym.

The Jets led 4-0 through the first four minutes of the game before the Gremlins finally broke the ice. Gremlins coach Jared Lawson joked that his team might have still been sleeping during the first quarter.

“Iit really felt like one of those November tournaments where there’s college teams, you’re in Maui, and no one’s watching you,” Lawson said. “It was kind of a dead arena, new arena, and then you’re playing in the middle of the day on a typical school day. You can’t just ignore those things.

“Those are part of the game, and that’s going to affect guys. Did they sleep until 12:30 (p.m.) and then roll out of bed? So, tomorrow we’re going to go at 9 a.m., and make sure that’s going to be taken care of.”

By the end of the eight-minute span, however, sophomore Terrence Nolan had seven points, as Houghton held a 13-8 edge. He finished with 29 for the game to lead all scorers.

Lawson feels his team is still young in terms of varsity experience and that youth showed in the opening frame.

“We kind of felt the same way after the Ironwood game, but we didn’t shoot very well,” he said. “That’s a credit to Jeffers’ defense, and, probably, our guys not being ready to answer the bell. I think, at the beginning of the game, we continued to struggle with layups, which you think wouldn’t be an issue, but I think it’s a lot of guys that haven’t played major varsity minutes (who) are now playing them, and there’s a learning curve that comes with that. You just don’t jump into it and all of a sudden, you’re ready to go.

“The guys responded well. Our goal was to come out and try to win this thing, and we’re one step closer.”

On the other side of the court, Mike Saari had a lot to be proud of in the way the Jets defended the Gremlins, especially Nolan.

“Much better,” said Saari. “A few of the games recently, we’ve come out and not played to our potential. When I see, day in and day out, we do it in practice, against alumni, this, that and whatever it may be, when we’re doing schemes and stuff. When I don’t see it in games, I get frustrated. Today I’ve seen a lot of stuff that (is) very positive.

“Yeah, we didn’t end up scoring more points than them, but at the end of the day, improvement was there. That’s all I can ask.”

In the second quarter, Nolan started to find time and space, which led to an early jumper, a 3-pointer off a rebound with 3:48 in the quarter, a layup, and a jumper just before the end of the first half to answer an Evan Heltunen 3-pointer.

Lawson is happy with how hard Nolan is working to break from tight defense from opponents.

“As a sophomore, I think, basketball people don’t understand, he’s a sophomore, and he’s starting to play. After our Lake Linden game, he just has a different, I guess, perception, the way he’s approaching the game,” Lawson said. “He’s got, I don’t say a chip on his shoulder, but he really understands, and believes all that time you’re putting in is going to pay off. But, you have to be aggressive, you have to attack, because teams are going to be sending two, sometimes three guys at him.

“They’re going to be bumping him and grabbing him in the middle of the stuff to try to slow him down. We’ve seen that in all three games in a row. He’s responding well.”

The Gremlins led 30-18 at half.

If the second quarter was a big one for the Gremlins, the third was a key moment for the Jets, who shaved their 12-point deficit down to five in just under four minutes.

The comeback started with Houghton actually up by 15 thanks to a 3-pointer from junior Alex Hebert. Senior Landon Larson made a short jumper and then got another two and a half minutes later, and it was a 13-point deficit, 35-22, at that point. Larson then picked up his own rebound and made a layup off the glass.

Despite a Houghton timeout, Jeffers continued to put the pressure on. Heltunen, a sophomore, made a layup. Larson followed with a layup after driving the baseline, and then Heltunen struck again and suddenly Jeffers trailed 35-30.

“I think we were just, finally, all clicking at once, all five people on the court,” Saari said. “It was the first time, first, maybe second time this year, I sat back and I was like, ‘All five are doing what they’re supposed to do this entire quarter.’

“That’s what we’re capable of, and I think that’s why we showed that we can close the gap, keep it close, with really good teams. It’s a blessing to see those little moments within games where you’re like, ‘Hey, see, that’s what we’re capable of.’ That’s what we’re going to strive for from now on.”

For Houghton, surviving that push proved important.

“We called the timeout,” said Lawson. “We have these categories that takes no talent, effort, energy, communication, hustle. Are you winning any of these right now? And no, we were not. Those are pillars of our program. You have to win those, and I think they went out and they definitely tried to tackle, and start to win, those categories.”

Taking a nine-point advantage, 43-34, into the fourth quarter, Houghton got a quick boost from senior Mason Mayo, who drained a 3-pointer from the right side.

Nolan added two more 3-pointers in the quarter to finish with four for the game. The Jets got a pair of layups from Heltunen, but could not solve Houghton’s defense beyond that.