Midgettes, Tigers lose

EAGLE RIVER, Wis. — A strong, lanky Northland Pines team defeated the Hurley Midgettes 52-34 in non-conference action on Monday night.

Hurley coach Steve Lombardo was happy to see his team get off to a good start and and take an early 11-7 lead.

"But then we went into a lull," Lombardo said. "We got out of rhythm and tried to force the action. We wound up with 23 turnovers."

Lombardo said Northland Pines is a real good basketball team with plenty of height. Pines' best player is 5-11 sophomore Jacqueline Smith.

"She is a tremendous player who can really shoot and play inside," Lombardo said. "She had 23 points and we had no answer for her."

Hurley (1-2, 1-1) hosts Drummond in an Indianhead Conference game on Friday night at 7:15 p.m.

Hurley — Tori Anderson 9, Brianna Saari 4, Mariah Sejbl 2, Ally Rye 7, Brooke Olson 2, Hailey Edyvean 2, Aiyana Nickel 8. FT's: 10-14, Fouls: 11, Fouled out: none, 3-pointers: none.

Northland Pines — Peyton Calix 1, Kirsten Lindeman 6, Theresa Kopanski 7, Brooke Kowalski 4, Jacqueline Smith 23, Hadley Kruz 6, Taylor Aolaloth 3, Cassie Gauthier 2. FT's: 7-12, Fouls: 15, Fouled out: none, 3-pointers: Jacqueline Smith 1.

Hurley 17 34

Northland Pines 28 52

—Pat Krause

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MERCER, Wis. — Mellen shot well and went home from Mercer with a 54-46 Indianhead Conference girls basketball win Monday night.

“To their credit, their shots tonight were all on,” Mercer coach Shannon Hiller said. “Every girl was hitting. They shot a real high percentage.”

Gwen Allen led Mercer with 16 points.

“I know we’re going to struggle at times to score,” Hiller said. “We missed a bunch of easy shots around the basket again. It is what it is. We’re going to keep working hard. That’s why we need to do all the other things right. We can’t make mistakes in a lot of other areas. We have to keep games low scoring so we have a chance. We can’t get into a 50-point game right now.”

Meg Ellias led Mellen with 21 points.

Mercer (1-2, 0-1) hosts Bayfield, a favorite in the Indianhead, Thursday night.

Mellen — A. Jokinen 10, J. Majeski 4, Kretzschmar 17, Ellias 21, Geissler 2. FTs: 5-9. Fouls: 6. Fouled out: None. 3-pointers: Kretzschmar 3, Ellias 1, Jokinen 1.

Mercer — Ava Barton 2, Ella Torkelson 9, Gwen Allen 16, Molly Hohner 2, Bailey Thompson 2, Zoe Botes 6, Aubrey Schoeneman 9. FTs: 1-5. Fouls: 14. Fouled out: Torkelson, Allen. 3-pointers: Torkelson 3, Allen 2.

Mellen 32 54

Mercer 14 46