Hancock's Emery Chynoweth is all defense against Negaunee in a game Friday at the Hancock gym. (Eddie O’Neill/For the Gazette)

HANCOCK — After an easy win over the Dollar Bay-Tamarack City Blue Bolts earlier in their season opener, the Hancock Bulldogs girls basketball team closed out their first week on Friday with a strong game against the Negaunee Miners (2-0). While the Miners won 61-45, Bulldogs coach Carsen Chynoweth liked the strong competition.

“They (Negaunee) are a good team,” he said. “They are very methodical in what they do, including their use of the inside game. We knew we had a mismatch in that area, but our shooting was not good, and our boxing out was not good.”

The Bulldogs (1-1) pushed out to a 10-8 lead, and closed out the first with a 19-18 advantage. However, the Miners outscored the Bulldogs 8-1 in the second, and took a 26-20 lead into the half.

“We got the ball inside, and we rebounded well on both ends of the floor,” said Negaunee coach Mike O’Donnell. I told them at half to just keep pushing. We did well with the rebounding, and we were patient.”

While the Bulldogs came within two at 36-34 in the third, that is as close as they got. The Miners led by nine after three.

It was a 10-point difference with 3:45 minutes to go in the game, and that morphed into a 16-point victory.

With four girls in double figures, Mike O’Donnell said this was very much a team win. Leading the scoring for the Miners was Paige O’Donnell with 17 points. She was followed by Gretel Johnson with 12. Keira Waterman poured in 11, and Clare O’Donnell sunk 10.

For the Bulldogs, Emery Chynoweth led with 12 points. Teammate Romey Koskela followed with 11.

Up next

The Bulldogs head to Ontonagon on Tuesday for a 7 p.m. tip.