Lake Linden Hubbell’s Olivia Shank attempted a layup when Lance’s Kayleigh Lahti tried to slow down during a match at Lance’s Gym on Thursday. (Eddie O’Neill/Daily Mining Gazette)
L’ANSE — The Lake Linden-Hubbell Lakes women’s basketball team kicked off the season on the road on Thursday with a 46-35 victory over the L’Anse Purple Hornets.
It was a hugely won game in the second half as the Lakes outscored the Purple Hornets 25-17 in the final two quarters.
“For the most part, we did what we wanted.” Lakes first-year coach Jack Kumpra said. “We moved the ball well and played our game.”
The game started with tie scores of 2, 4 and 6. From there, the Lakes poured it in, outscoring the Purple Hornets 7-2 courtesy of freshman Cleo Milky. She scored two from the field and a three-pointer she sunk one from across her arc, putting her up 13-8 after the first quarter.
Her total score for the night is 7 out of 13. Emily Yokela led the Lakes in scoring with an impressive 24 points, including 5/7 from the free-throw line.
“Cleo had a great night as a freshman” Kumpra said. “And she only gets better with experience. Emily also had great speed and ball-handling abilities.”
The two teams played in a similar style in the second period, with the Purple Hornets able to cut the lead to just three at 21-18.
“We talked at halftime about tweaking the defense.” Kumpra said, and it seemed to work.
Lakes came out of the locker room and quickly scored eight unanswered points. They were able to move the ball inside and out and took advantage of Lance’s slow defense.
“We need to work on communication, especially on the defensive side of the court.” Purple Hornets coach Chad Rice said: “We were too late, gave up too many turnovers, and missed too many easy buckets.”
After three quarters, the Lakes were leading 35-22. The Hornets outscored the Lakes 13-11 in the fourth quarter, but it wasn’t enough as the Lakes had enough points to secure the win.
Miley Rondo led the Purple Hornets in scoring with 14, followed by Sophia Rice with eight.
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The Lakes head to Chassell on Monday, Dec. 5, to face the Panthers. The Purple He Hornets will travel to Houghton on Tuesday, Dec. 6, to face the Gremlins.
