L'Anse's Princess Pierre (11) and Dalanna Connor (2) sandwich Ewen-Trout Creek's Irelynd McGeshick (44) during a free throw Monday in a Division 3 Region 25 semifinal matchup at the Houghton gym. (Eddie O’Neill/For the Gazette)

HOUGHTON — Fresh out of districts, the Ewen-Trout Creek Panthers and L’Anse Purple Hornets girls basketball teams met on neutral ground Monday night for a Division 3 Region 25 semifinal game. The Panthers came out on top, 53-36.

When asked what was the key to victory, Ewen-Trout Creek coach Jacky Besonen was quick to answer.
”Defense,” she exclaimed. “We did a much better job tonight of stopping easy layups and easy points from when we first played them.”

That “first time” was in January when the Purple Hornets beat the Panthers, 57-45. That loss was one of only three for the Ewen-Trout Creek (22-3) squad during the regular season.

They made sure Monday night was different.

The Panthers pushed out to a 11-8 lead after one. That morphed into a 21-14 lead at half.

Jacky Besonen’s message in the locker room at half was a simple one – keep doing what you are doing.

“I liked how we were focused and helped each other more,” she said. “Offensively, we were patient and strong, and I told them to be smart and maintain.”

She added that L’Anse (20-4) is known to come out and pop some big points, and they did. The third was the Purple Hornets’ best quarter with 15 points.

However, the Panthers held them to just seven in the fourth for a 17-point win.

“This was a team win,” said Jacky Besonen. “The girls did so well working together.”

Senior Emma Besonen led the scoring for the Panthers with 24. Bree Besonen had 16. In addition, the girls in black were an impressive 15-for-20 from the line.

“Give credit to Ewen,” said Purple Hornets coach Josh Eagle. “They hit some big shots. We were timid to shoot the ball in the first two quarters, and that hurt us.”

Dalanna Conner and Breyelle Bowers both had 10 points for the Purple Hornets.

Up next

With the win, the Panthers head to the Region 25 finals against Ishpeming Wednesday at the Westwood gym.