Ishpeming, Michigan – December 15, 2016 – The Ishpeming Hematites girls basketball team is a force to be reckoned with. They used a suffocating defense and an unstoppable offense to defeat the Escanaba Eskimos 66-39 on Thursday night in Ishpeming. It is the third straight victory to start the season for the Hematites.
The Hematites jumped on the Eskimos quickly to begin the game, forcing the visiting Eskimos hand. Ishpeming scored 5 quick points on a Khora Swanson layup, followed by a Madigan Johns 3-pointer. With getting out to an early lead and playing up tempo on missed Eskimos shots, it forced Escanaba to play Ishpeming’s style of basketball. With Swanson, Johns, and Marissa Maino carrying the offensive load, the Hematites closed the first quarter with a 16-6 lead.
The second quarter began, and the Hematites asserted their dominance. After giving up the opening basket, the Hematites responded with a 7-0 run. The run was powered by two consecutive 3-point plays. The first by Hannah Smith, followed by Chloe Sjoholm. After Escanaba responded with two straight baskets of their own, the Hematites went on a 9-0 run, all 9 points coming from 3-point baskets. This allowed the Hematites to take a 21 point lead into halftime.
The third quarter was back and forth, quite literally. Neither the Hematites or Eskimos were able to register consecutive, unanswered baskets.
The final frame also belonged to the home team Hematites. Ishpeming was running up and down the floor recording basket after basket. They scored 22 points in the final 8 minutes en route to their 27 point victory.
The Hematites improve to 3-0 on the young season with the victory. They will look to stay unbeaten when they host a good Calumet Copper Kings team on Tuesday, December 20th. Catch all the action here on 98.3 WRUP and WRUP.com.
LISTEN – FULL GAME – Ishpeming Hematites defeat Escanaba Eskimos 66-39
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