Ishpeming Hematites Girls lose to Negaunee Miners 46-60

Both Negaunee and Ishpeming entered this rivalry game undefeated, with Ishpeming managing 5-0 and Negaunee 4-0. Coach Ryan Reichel spoke with Mike and Bob about the girl’s chemistry on the court.

“So far, I’ve liked some of the chemistry, I think that we’ve had, and the way we push the ball up the floor. There is stuff you don’t get to see being a fan, things that we do. There is stuff in the huddle that we do. Before I used to try and facilitate the energy, pick each other up when someone isn’t playing as well, and the girls have taken it upon themselves and encouraging each other.”  Reichel said.

Of course, what we all know who have been following the Hematites girls this season so far is the incredible bond they share on the court, and each one of the girls have incredible athletic ability and have overcome several obstacles so far in the season on the claim to victory. The courage and determination could not be understated for the Hematites entering the court this evening, but because of a long break between their last game against the Escanaba Eskymos on December 14^th there was some concern the girls would be a bit sluggish coming into the game.

The first frame saw Negaunee sinking the first basket, but Mariah Austin of the Hematites answered back under-and-up for two. Five minutes into the frame the Hematites took the lead 5-4. Katie Loman put in a field goal pushing the Hematites score another step above Negaunee. Madison Pruett subbed in for Mariah Austin with three on the clock. With thanks to Madigan Johns putting up a big 3 and followed it up with a field goal the Hematites pushed far ahead of Negaunee 12-4. It appeared the Hematites might blow the game open and run away with the score by the end of the first. Negaunee managed to close the gap with Ishpeming slightly 14-7 at the end of the first.

The start of the second quarter saw a lot of back and forth between Negaunee and Ishpeming with no baskets for the first couple minutes. Hematites played a tight man-to-man, with Chloe Sjoholm coming back into the game for Ishpeming, followed by Madigan Johns with 4 minutes left in the frame. The silence was broken by Negaunee putting up a 3, blowing the Hematites momentum and closing the point gap 16-10, but Chloe Sjoholm stuffed a big three down division street into the face of Negaunee pushing the Hematites 19-10. Negaunee picked up their game and began putting in unanswered baskets with less than a minute to go answered 19-18, but Emma Poirier put up another 3 and immediately picks the ball from Negaunee and puts up another 2 stepping up big and was fouled by the Miners going to the line and sank her free throws, but Negaunee wasn’t finished and answered Emma with a 3 at the buzzer finishing into halftime 25-21 Hematites.

The second half started with Negaunee sinking a 3 in the opening seconds driving their score to a one possession game 25-23. With 6:15 left in the frame the Miners pulled ahead of Ishpeming 25-29 seeing the Hematites calling a timeout to regroup and gives the girls a breather and clear their heads after giving Negaunee two wide open shots, but it simply wasn’t enough time to disrupt Negaunee and they fired in a big 3 coming back from the timeout. Madison Pruett answered back another three for the Hematites keeping them in the game, and with 4:59 in the frame the Hematites called a full timeout. Despite strong efforts from Madison Pruett and Emma Poirier, the Hematites fell behind Negaunee and just became unable to close the gap, any baskets from Ishpeming were answered by Negaunee, but both teams played very strong and stayed evenly matched despite the Miners lead.

The final frame had the Hematites coming in trailing behind Negaunee 33-46. It was difficult to believe the Hematites were leading the game 19-10 at one point, the hopes of victory seemed distant but the Hematites girls stayed positive and took the court in force. Madigan Johns put in an immediate 2 for Ishpeming closing the point gap another basket. The Hematites made a lot of subsequent quick shots not seeing any points and were not pulling offensive rebounds either. Negaunee leads 49-37 with only 5 minutes left in the frame and it was not looking possible for a Hematites comeback despite the girls ferociously pressing the Miners. It was clear both teams were fairly evenly matched, it was just unfortunate the Hematites were not sinking critical baskets. Clara Johnson of Negaunee put up another 3 pushing the Miners total 3-point baskets to 10 total successful shots. If there was a force on the Negaunee team this was going to be Clara Johnson and the Hematites would need to shut her down and close the gap, but just could not deliver.

Negaunee Miners closed the final frame leading the Hematites 46-60 and taking a hard-fought victory.

The Ishpeming Hematites Girls will be back in action after the holidays on January 2^nd in Calumet to take on the Calumet Copper Kings. Listen to the game on 98.3 WRUP and online at WRUP.com. Tip-off is at 7:30 and the pregame starts at 7:00.

LISTEN LIVE – NEGAUNEE MINERS DEFEAT ISHPEMING HEMATITES 46-60.mp3