Houghton's Henry Lounibous looks to inbound the ball during a game Monday against Negaunee at the Houghton High School gym. (Eddie O’Neill/For the Gazette)

HOUGHTON — “Close but no cigar…,” seemed to be the phrase of the night for the Houghton Gremlins boys basketball team Monday. While they were down 20-7 after the first quarter, and came back to take brief leads in the third and fourth quarters, they could not outpace the Negaunee Miners. The Miners emerged with a three-point victory, 65-62.

“What I liked is that a lot of our players stepped up and came through when we needed them with big shots and big rebounds,” said Miners coach Bill Hill. “We made the plays to win the game.

“This was a good win for us as we have lost some close ones.”

In the first, the Miners were patient and worked the ball well. Inside baskets accounted for more than 10 points Back-to-back three-pointers by senior Ethan Gauthier earned the Miners points 16 and 19.

While Houghton won the second, they only moved a point closer to the Miners. It was a 33-21 Negaunee lead at half.

In the third, the Gremlins finally gained some ground. A 39-30 Miners’ lead was vanquished by a sharp-shooting Gremlins team. They poured in 10 unanswered points to take a late third-quarter lead, 40-39. Unfortunately, it was short-lived, as a 3-pointer by the Miners at the buzzer pushed them to a 45-43 lead with eight minutes to go.

In the fourth, the back-and-fourth battle continued. The Gremlins earned another lead at 46-45 only to have the game tied at 49, 52 and 57 with less than three minutes to go.

The Miners then won the race to the finish ahead by three at the end.

Negaunee’s Tristan Slater earned the game ball from his coach as he led the scoring with 15 points. Teammate Easton Guenette had 12 points and Brayden Gleason sunk 10.

Terrance Nolan sunk an impressive nine triples en route to a leading 41 points for the Gremlins. Alex Hebert backed him up with 10.

Up next

The Gremlins will face off against the Hancock Bulldogs for Wing Ding at home on Thursday at 5:45 p.m.