Negaunee, MI – December 20, 2021 – The Negaunee Lady Miners hosted the Calumet Copper Kings in a varsity basketball match-up on Monday. Carl Leander-Johnson was on the call live on Sunny 101.9!
1st QTR: The Negaunee Miners had a tough time to start the game. Calumet were able to put up six points in just over a minute of play. Negaunee’s Lilly Nelson was able to cut the lead in half however with a wide-open three pointer for the Miner’s first points.
Calumet would keep their foot on the gas and the pace of play fast. The Copper Kings were able to get a steal from the Miners and turn it into points. Negaunee would answer however via an Alyssa Hill bucket to bring the score to 10-5.
Emily Gauthier and Summer Dudo played strong defense for the Miners in the opening quarter. Each of the teams were racking up the turnovers, but neither team would really capitalize on the opportunities.
Negaunee 9, Calumet 15
2nd QTR: The Miners came out of the break swinging with Lilly Nelson opening it up with a three pointer. That was quickly followed up with a defensive rebound leading to a Summer Dudo three pointer. That would bring Negaunee within two of Calumet, 17-15.
Calumet would add another bucket to try to maintain their lead. Negaunee’s Ella Mason would contribute to the scoring with a three point shot that landed to bring the Miner’s within one.
Both teams would play fast offense and find themselves tied at 20 a piece. Calumet would not fall behind and build a four point lead. Neguanee would try to work the ball down low, but the Calumet defense would prove tough by causing turnovers and blocked shots.
The Copper Kings would add on to their lead to keep in the closing minutes of the half. After an Isabelle Loukus put back bucket, Calumet would go up 30-20. Turnovers would plague the Miners as the half continued. The Miners would try to bring Calumet’s lead to single digits for the final shot but it wouldn’t find it’s mark.
HALF: Negaunee 20, Calumet 20
3rd QTR: Negaunee wouldn’t start the second half how they would have liked. Being down by 10, turnovers would be a killer for the Miners. Calumet would quickly go up by 18 after causing turnovers with their full court press.
The Copper King’s Lizzie Torola would put up a two-pointer and Calumet would steal the ball back on the following Miner possession. Alexis Strong would take the steal to the net and would be fouled and make one of two free throws. Negaunee trailed Calumet 41-22.
Negaunee would put together a couple buckets and cap it off with a three-point shot by Emily Gauthier. It would close the gap to 12, 41-29 in favor of Calumet. The Copper King defense still played tough, but a lay up and free throws from Alyssa Hill would make it an eight point game.
The Miner’s defense would step it up in the final minutes of the quarter. Summer Dudo would cause a turnover out of bounds, and Alyssa Hill would put it in for two to end the quarter.
Negaunee 35, Calumet 41
4th QTR: Negaunee would keep chipping away at the Calumet lead to start the final quarter of play. After finding the solution to the full court press, they would string together some buckets to bring it within five. Miner Ella Mason would make things very interesting after splashing a three-pointer to make it a one point game, 41-40.
The Miners would finally take their first lead of the game after a Lilly Nelson three. Calumet would race back down to try to regain the lead by drawing the foul. The free-throws were unsuccessful to keep the lead with Negaunee. Nelson would keep the throttle and gain three more points the long way and give Negaunee the three point lead with just over four minutes to play.
The Copper Kings would battle back to bring things back to a one point game, but the Miners still held the lead. Negaunee’s Lilly Nelson would once again find herself in the lane to put up two plus a foul, but couldn’t convert the three-point play.
Calumet would take the lead back after a Marybeth Halonen lay-up making the score 49-48. Negaunee’s Alyssa Hill would be fouled and brought to the line for a one-and-one. The first free throw would fall to tie it up, and the second would hang with suspense before falling to give the lead back to the Miners.
Negaunee caught a break after a pair of missed free throws by the Copper Kings kept the lead in the Miner’s favor. Calumet would take the lead back with a Torola bucket with :25 seconds left to play. Negaunee would find themselves trapped by the press, but able to call timeout to gather themselves for potentially the final play of the game. The Miner’s wouldn’t be able to get their shot to land and the ball would be rebounded by Calumet to close the game.
FINAL: Negaunee 50, Calumet 51
Player of the Game: Lilly Nelson, Negaunee
LISTEN TO THE FULL BROADCAST HERE
The Lady Miners are back in action on December 28th against Westwood. You can listen to that game live on Sunny 101.9!
