Negaunee, MI – March 19th, 2021 – The Negaunee Miners came up clutch to defeat the Westwood Patriots 58-41. Jesse Anderson had the call on Sunny 101.9.
Listen to the full game here. (107 min.)
1st Quarter
It was a solid first quarter for the Miners. The Patriots were up by three in the first few minutes, but Negaunee answered with a 9-0 run midway through the quarter, including seven unanswered points by Gerald Johnson. Although Negaunee took the lead, the Patriots got a few baskets after this run. Garrett Sundberg got an and one that gave Westwood some momentum, but it was quickly answered with an and one by Negaunee’s Will Luke. The Miners led after the first 16-10.
2nd Quarter
The Miners scored the first basket of the second half to go up by eight. It looked like Negaunee would continue to expand their lead, but Westwood started a late-quarter comeback. Westwood went on an 8-0 run to get back to within a single point. This was led by Zach Carlson, who scored four straight points. The Patriots’ interior defense was impressive, as Negaunee starting forward Eli Luokkala was held scoreless in the first half. Nonetheless, Will Luke hit a jumper at the buzzer to give Negaunee a 23-20 lead at halftime.
3rd Quarter
The third quarter started off slowly for both offenses. In the first four minutes, the Miners were held scoreless, and the Patriots were only able to put up two points that cut the lead back down to one. The stalemate was broken by Mason Sager, who hit a three, and then stole the ball and got fouled. He hit one free throw to put the Miners up by five. After the teams traded a few baskets, Westwood hit a three with less than a minute left. However, this was answered by Negaunee’s Jackson Gladwell, who hit a three at the buzzer to put the Miners up 36-32 at the end of the third.
4th Quarter
The Miners used their momentum from Gladwell’s buzzer-beating three, and went on to crush the Patriots in the fourth quarter. The game really went Negaunee’s way when Gerald Johnson missed a second free throw in a one-and-one, but Eli Luokkala got an and-one putback off of the miss. This play put Negaunee up twelve, and they wouldn’t look back. Johnson scored eight key points in the final quarter to end the night with an impressive 19. Although Westwood’s Zach Carlson would also finish with 19 points, It wasn’t enough to stay in the game. Negaunee would continue to put points on the board, and come out on top 58-41.
Final: 58-41
NEXT GAME: March 25th at home against the Kingsford Flivvers. Tune in for the Elder Agency Pregame Show with Jesse Anderson at 7pm on Sunny 101.9.
