Negaunee, MI – March 1st, 2022 – The Negaunee Miners boys basketball team look to close out the regular season this week, they started with a contest against the Calumet Copper Kings. The game was broadcasted on Sunny 101.9.
1Q: The Miners won the tip to begin the ball game as Gerald Johnson wasted no time to get his team on the board, a wide open three pointer would give the Miners a quick 3-0 lead. After a nice block on the defensive side of the ball, Brody Bell scored another two for the Miners. The Copper Kings were pressed to begin the ball game as they scored their first points of the game successfully beating it, with just under 6:00 to play in the opening quarter, the Miners led 7-2. The Copper Kings cut the deficit to three as they had a promising run, but it quickly diminished. The Miners went on to score nine straight points to lead 16-4 but Calumet returned the favor, cutting the deficit back to five to end the first quarter. It was Negaunee 16 Calumet 11.
2Q: The second quarter began with a triple for the Miners, expanding the lead to eight. The Copper kings turned the ball over on their first two possessions out of the quarter, but they were eventually able to find the bottom of the net, cutting the deficit back to five. Negaunee was very inconsistent in the first half, allowing the Copper Kings to go on offensive runs, and going on runs of their own. It was known early that if the Miners played just enough defense, they’d walk out with a win. With just under 4:30 remaining in the second quarter, the Miners led 24-15. The game got pretty physical later into the quarter as bodies started to fly all over the place, but the Miners were able to control play and head into the locker room with a 30-15 lead.
3Q: The Miners began the third quarter with three straight buckets, to take a 36-15 lead. The Copper Kings started the quarter very cold, as they missed some open shots and struggled getting rebounds. With just under 4:00 to play in the quarter, the Miners led 40-16 as the game began to blow open. Brody Bell, Ty Jacobson and Gerald Johnson were leading the Miners in the blow out as they began to score at will. Calumet scored their first field goal of the third with :40 seconds remaining in the quarter. After another dominate eight minutes, the Miners led 44-23 heading into the final quarter of play.
4Q: With a twenty-one point lead heading into the final quarter of play, the Miners came out a little cold, if it wasn’t for that big lead they may have been in trouble. Eventually they were able to control the basketball and waste time to secure the win. The game did get physical again towards the end of the game as we all know, these two teams are big rivals in football, and it showed on the court tonight. The Miners were able to close out the game with a 53-31 win, as they defeated the Copper Kings for the second time this year. Brody Bell won the player of the game, leading all scorers with seventeen, but four Miners scored in double figures as what was a great team victory.
Final: Negaunee 53 Calumet 31
The Miners will officially end the regular season on Thursday, as they travel to Iron Mountain to face off against the Mountaineers. The ball will tip at 7:30 as you can hear the broadcast on Sunny 101.9.