Calumet’s Bailey Strom drives around a Hancock defender during the second semifinal game of the inaugural Copper Country Classic Holiday Tournament Monday at the SDC Gym in Houghton. (David Archambeau/For the Gazette)

HOUGTON — Four local high school girls basketball teams opened the inaugural Copper Country Classic Holiday Tournament at the SDC Gym on the campus of Michigan Tech Monday.

Coming out on top were the Houghton Gremlins with a 38-33 win over the Jeffers Jets and the Calumet Copper Kings. They downed the Hancock Bulldogs, 35-24. These two winners battled it out Tuesday for the tournament title. Jeffers and Hancock played in the consolation game beforehand.

Gremlins 38, Jets 33

The opener Monday placed the Jets against the Gremlins. The Jets led portions of the game, but an impressive fourth-quarter comeback gave the Gremlins the win.

The two teams opened the first with a 7-7 tie after eight minutes. However, the Jets outscored the Gremlins 13-5 in the second. This included eight-unanswered points to open the second.

The Gremlins did not score until Ellie Hainault hit a triple at the 2:30 mark of the second. The Gremlins only scored two more and trailed the Jets by eight at half, 20-12.

The table was reversed in the third, however, with Gremlins outscoring the Jets 12-6. The Jets now led by just two at 26-24 with the fourth quarter to go.

The lead was short-lived.

The Gremlins tied it at 26 and again at 28 courtesy of a jumper by Ruby Zawada. They took their first lead with an Hainault free throw and never looked back. In short, Jets baskets were not falling and Gremlins baskets were in that final frame.

The Gremlins outpaced the Jets 9-5 in the waning minutes of the game to get the win.

Hainault led the Gremlins in scoring with 12. Leading the scoring for the Jets was Mia Nordstrom with 15.

Copper Kings 35, Bulldogs 24

The second girls’ game was a low-scoring defensive battle between the Bulldogs and the Copper Kings. The Copper Kings played a complete game, and downed the Bulldogs, 35-24. Copper Kings coach Charlie Kemppainen summed it up best.

“Hancock is a good team,” he said, “and to keep them to just 24 points says a lot about how our girls played today.”

The Bulldogs had early leads of 5-4 and 7-6 before the Copper Kings’ offense clicked and they finished the first quarter with a 10-7 lead.

That lead morphed into a 17-12 advantage for the Copper Kings at half.

In the third, the Bulldogs outscored the Copper Kings 10-6 and cut the lead to just one at 23-22. However, the fourth belonged to the Copper Kings. They capitalized on a number of turnovers, and kept their opponent to just two points, while they sunk 12.

Kyla Strom was the driving force for the Copper Kings with 12 points.

Emery Chynoweth led the Bulldogs with nine.

“We did not score a lot, but we had several girls step up and score when we needed it,” said Kemppainen. “This is a big win for us. Game ball goes to the team.”

Hancock’s Lucy Biekkola extends to attempt a layup during the second semifinal game of the inaugural Copper Country Classic Holiday Tournament Monday at the SDC Gym in Houghton. (David Archambeau/For the Gazette)

Jeffers’ Mia Nordstrom lines up a free throw Monday in the first semifinal of the inaugural Copper Country Classic Holiday Tournament against Houghton at the SDC Gym in Houghton. (Eddie O’Neill/For the Gazette)