Houghton, MI – February 7th, 2022 – The Negaunee Miners Boys Basketball hit the road in today’s match up against the Houghton Gremlins. The Miners close the game out in overtime as they fend off the Gremlins 60-52. Carl Leander Johnson had the call live on Sunny 101.9!
1st Quarter: Negaunee opens the game winning the tip-off and Gerald Johnson hitting a 3-pointer at the top of the court. Ty Jacobson flashed his skills early by driving in the lane, behind the back dribbling and hitting jump shot at the shoulder. Mason Sager would open up his scoring by picking up a steal with a fast break layup.
The Miners would go on to open the game on a 9-0 run before Houghton can get on the score board with a 3-pointer by Isaiah Lawson. After another two 3-pointers and a steal and layup by the Gremlins, the score would be 13-11 with under 1 minute to go. Houghton looked to start the second quarter with momentum on their side.
End of 1st: Negaunee 13, Houghton 11
2nd Quarter: The second period opened with Brody Bell driving into the lane and making a layup in traffic. Bell would make it a 6-point game when he takes an inbound pass under the basket and making it in. T. Jacobson would also continue his impressive freshman season by making a tough jump shot in traffic and bringing his tally to 8 points with 5 minutes to go in the quarter.
The Miners would get their momentum back from the start of the first quarter when they went on a 9-0 run. Sager and T. Jacobson leading the way on defense and offense respectively. Negaunee finished the period up by 11 points and head into halftime with the pieces in place to close the game out with a win.
End of 2nd: Negaunee 28, Houghton 17
3rd Quarter: Both teams would struggle after opening the second half with no points scored in the quarter first 3 minutes. Negaunee would break the scoreless streak when Gavin Downey would get a pass under the basket and scored. Both offenses operated in streaks during the game. The Gremlins would get the better of Negaunee early in the period as they went on a 8-0 run after being down 15 points at one point in the period.
Seeing their lead cut in half, Negaunee’s Johnson would hit a crucial 3-pointer in the corner with under a minute left in the third quarter. The period would end with the 10 point lead intact for the Miners.
End of 3rd: Negaunee 35, Houghton 25
4th Quarter: Houghton would stay red hot behind the 3-point line as they hit three in a row at the start of the fourth quarter. The 3-pointers would cut Negaunee’s lead to just 3 points and force Coach Waterman to take a timeout. Straight out of the timeout, Bell passes to Johnson in the corner to hit a 3-pointer and get a much needed breather for the Miners.
Negaunee would slow the tempo way down and force Houghton to start fouling. Houghton’s main guard, Dylan Primeau would foul out with 2 minutes to play. Houghton’s sub, Kyle Primeau, would pick up the slack as he gets a steal and make the fast break layup to cut the lead down to 3 points. Coach Waterman would again be forced to call another timeout to get the Miners on the same page. With 30 seconds to play, Houghton’s Lawson steals the ball and the Gremlins make an open 3-pointer, tying the game at 42. With 9.9 seconds left, Negaunee gets a golden opportunity when they get to inbound the ball under their own basket. Unfortunately they could not take a clear shot and the game would be forced to go into overtime.
End of 4th: Negaunee 42, Houghton 42
Overtime: Gavin Downey opens the overtime scoring with a clutch 3-pointer in the corner and making Houghton’s Coach Lawson to take a timeout to make sure the game doesn’t get away form them. Following the timeout, Houghton would then take their first lead of the game by making a tough layup in traffic and then a 3-pointer giving them a two point lead.
Johnson would answer immediately with a 3-pointer of his own giving the Miners a 1 point lead. After a Houghton offensive foul, Johnson would hit his second 3-pointer of the overtime period and giving Negaunee a chance to put the game away. Being in foul trouble, the Gremlins had to give Negaunee two bonus fouls, with the Miners getting 2 points and a 6 point lead with just 30 seconds left. Negaunee would avoid the comeback attempt by Houghton and close the game out with a win.
End of Game: Negaunee 60, Houghton 52
The Joe Boogren Player of the Game was awarded to Gerald Johnson.
Next Game: The Negaunee Miners host the Manistique Emeralds on Wednesday February 9th, with a scheduled tip-off at 6PM. Carl Leander Johnson will have the call live here on Sunny 101.9!
LISTEN TO THE FULL BROADCAST: NEGAUNEE MINERS VS HOUGHTON GREMLINS
