HOUGHTON (AP) — Ella Mason and Meghan Trewhella squared off in a classic scoring duel during the Negaunee at Houghton High School girls’ basketball game Friday night.
While the Miners’ Mason won the individual duel, scoring 37 points to 29 for the Gremlins senior, it was Houghton who came out on top where he counted on the scoreboard for a 68-50 victory.
“I thought our girls competed very hard against one of the best teams in the Upper Peninsula.” NHS head coach Mike O’Donnell said in an email. “I am proud of your effort.
“We had a few chances down the stretch on the road; that’s what you want as the underdog. Ultimately, Houghton’s experience won out down the stretch.
“Ella Mason had one of the best performances I’ve ever seen on the girls’ side and we think she could have broken the single-game scoring mark for Negaunee High School.
“She scored in almost every way possible. Seeing her and Trewhella go head to head with each other was worth the price of admission for the fans.”
Mason, a junior, made 8 of 8 at the free throw line along with three 3-pointers. After just five points in the first quarter, Mason scored 15 in the second, hitting a 3-pointer, four 2-pointers and four free throws.
He then added four more baskets in the third, one of which was a nine-point 3 in that period, before finishing with eight points in the fourth, including four free throws.
Trewhella, for his part, made 8 of 10 free throws and a 3-pointer in his fourth scoring that ranged from five points in the first to nine in both the third and fourth.
And it was the fourth quarter that turned out to be the undoing of the Miners.
After a 17-17 deadlock late in the first period, the Negaunee established a 37-30 halftime lead. Houghton began to come back in the third, though the Miners still held on to a 50-48 lead going into the fourth quarter, when the Gremlins outscored NHS 18-8.
The only other Negaunee player to score more than four points was senior Cooper Atkins with 11 that included a trio of 3-pointers, all in the first half.
Trewhella had a little more scoring help, as Stella Wickstrom and Annika Peterson each scored 12 points and Gwen Markham had nine for the Gremlins.
While field goal numbers weren’t available, both teams smashed the nets firing their free kicks. Negaunee was 10 of 11 for 91 percent, while Houghton was good on 21 of 25, or 84 percent.
Information compiled by Journal Sports editor Steve Brownlee. His email address is [email protected]
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