Ishpeming, MI – December 14, 2017 – The Ishpeming Hematites Girls faced off against the Escanaba Eskymos in Ishpeming this evening taking labored victory 60-47.
The Hematites Girls came in this game with a 4-0 record since the season began, with their last game vs Westwood coming to a nail biting finish when Chloe Sjoholm put in the shots to break a tie game in the closing seconds of the 4th. The girls looked to add the Eskymos to their win streak in hoped to finish out another step for the holidays undefeated.
The girls started fast in the first quarter, Coach Reichel said coming into the game Eskymos would be fast and scrappy. What the Eskymos lacked in skill they make up for in athleticism and determination, the team is not nearly as tall as they’ve seen in previous years and may play against them with the Hematites girls being such a large, skillful and opposing force. Hematites scored the first basket, and Chloe Sjoholm put the games first 3 pointer. Madigan Johns put up two free throws with 5 minutes in the quarter to go. The Hematites blew open the first frame with unanswered points, finishing out leading the Eskymos 23-7.
Escanaba Eskymos came back with a vengeance in the second frame, putting stops to the Hematites shots and picking the Ishpemings passes delivering answers to the Hematites dominating first frame to close the gap significantly despite some great defense by Chloe Sjoholm bringing their halftime score to 33-19 Hematites.
The third was a major loss of momentum for the Hematites at the hands of Escanaba. The girls failed to deliver the performance from the first frame and shot by shot the Eskymos closing the point gap and bringing the game back into the potential for an Escanaba victory 43-35 Hematites, although with thanks to Mariah Austin with a big 3 at the end of the quarter putting their lead a bit farther. The Hematites needed to rally coming into the 4th frame and put some distance between them and Escanaba.
In the early seconds of the final frame Madigan Johns buried a big 3 pointer. Katie Loman played an important role with rebounding and delivering the ball to the Hematites shooters, and together delivered a few baskets to push the lead over Escanaba. Loman did not stop delivering, stealing Eskymos ball and delivering it to Madigan Johns who delivered it to Chloe Sjoholm putting up a huge 3 pointer for the Hematites. The Ishpeming girls played it safe and ran the clock out in the final minutes of the game and claimed victory over the Eskymos 60-47.
The Hematites Girls take on Negaunee next Wednesday, December 20th here on 98.3 WRUP and streaming live on WRUP.com
LISTEN LIVE – ISHPEMING HEMATITES GIRLS DEFEAT ESCANABA ESKYMOS.mp3