Panthers lose battle of unbeatens in good game at Division 2 Negaunee

By JASON JUNO

sports@yourdailyglobe.com

NEGAUNEE - As far as girls basketball goes in the Upper Peninsula, it doesn't get much better than Negaunee. The Miners are a mainstay in the big school top five and they made it to the state semifinal last season - in Division 2, the second biggest of the four groupings in Michigan.

Ewen-Trout Creek, with 58 students in their high school compared to Negaunee's 433, wasn't deterred by any of that. The Panthers went into Lakeview Gym Friday night and made a game of it until the Miners wore them down in the second half for a 47-30 victory.

It was at Negaunee's holiday tournament, which had three Division 2 teams and little E-TC, which is hoping to improve on last year's run to the Division 4 regional final.

"It speaks volumes as to what they're doing, what kind of team they think they have and what they're trying to do in March," Negaunee coach Mike O'Donnell said. "You want to set yourself up and play good teams."

The teams scrimmaged in the preseason and the Panthers held their own, winning a quarter and coming close in others. That may have helped the task seem less daunting.

"I think they knew that they could hang with them," E-TC coach Jacky Besonen said. "But just that competitiveness, they don't like to lose, so I don't think they care who they play, they want to win."

The Panthers did hang with the Miners in a battle of early-season unbeatens. They trailed by only one point, 22-21, at the half, but just couldn't keep it going offensively against the more physical Miners.

"We knew Ewen is good," O'Donnell said. "It doesn't matter what class or what division you're in - good players are good players. That's why we wanted to invite them here. We scrimmaged them this year and got a great thing out of the scrimmage. But for them, they really beefed up their schedule, they're playing Houghton, I know, big schools. That's only going to benefit you come March when you're in these tight games, these battles. You reap the dividends in March. They'll definitely be better for it."

It was a grind just to stay in this one.

The Miners scored the first five points before Emma Besonen stopped the bleeding with a long 3. She hit another that made it 9-6 and her sister Bree Besonen converted a three-point play to tie the game at 9. Irelynd McGeshick scored inside to give the Panthers an 11-9 advantage.

Negaunee built the lead as high as seven in the second quarter. With the defense collapsing on her, McGeshick found Emma for another 3 to cut it to four, 22-18. E-TC got a free throw and Emma made a layup off a steal by Bree to cut it to 22-21, the halftime score.

Coach Besonen watched the Miners' game against Calumet earlier this season and she saw this one unfold much the same way - a close game at halftime and a double-digit final score.

The Panthers struggled to score in the second half. They weren't able to create much with their defense - Negaunee handled the press well the first time they saw one this year - and E-TC, like Calumet, wore down.

"Second half, their physicality really took a toll," coach Besonen said. "I think that was the major difference. This is a good team. They're athletic. They're strong. I knew that going in, we were going to have to be good at handling that pressure."

Negaunee, with their mostly older, more physical players, was a bit better at it. E-TC turned it over often as they got tired in the second half. And they couldn't force turnovers to get some easy offense with Negaunee so solid against the press. That hurt because the Miners' half-court defense was so stingy.

"We talk about making sure we're owning the ball, and the nuances of breaking the press - making sure people are in the right spots, counteracting where they're trying to make their pinch points and not going to those pinch points," O'Donnell said. "I think (it was) making the right decisions and then having people that are confident with the ball and can handle that little bit of pressure."

Emma's 16 points off four 3s led all scorers; eleven of them came in the first half, though. Those long 3s became more difficult to make as the game wore on.

"We pushed them away from the 3-point line," O'Donnell said. "A lot of those attempts were maybe 2-3 feet behind it and those are tough shots, especially when you get a little tired. That was a focus for us."

The Besonen guards were a focus for their defense.

"We know a lot goes through the Besonens," he said. "We knew you have to always be on guard, you have to always know where they are on the floor. Not just the girl guarding them, but they're setting a lot of ball screens and a lot of off-ball screens, so other people need to be paying attention where they're at and making sure we're hedging.

"We knew to be successful we couldn't let them go crazy and I thought we did a good job of containing them."

He said having McGeshick as an effective scorer in the post helps make them a tough guard.

Negaunee is in a bit of a rebuilding mode now that last year's U.P. Player of the Year, Ella Mason, is at Michigan Tech, but it seems to be going pretty well as they're undefeated. Aubrey Johnson, an All-U.P. First Team selection last year, led the Miners with 14 points Friday night.

"Anytime you lose a player like that, it's a rebuild in terms of people figuring out their roles and who's going to be our go-to people," O'Donnell said. "We had a lot of girls on that team last year, so a lot of experience. We're still trying to piece things together, understand our roles and how to play together. Seven games in, it's going to be a process."

The Panthers aren't rebuilding. Everyone's back from last year. They're just trying to get even better and this was a good start.

"I was proud of the girls," Besonen said. "They came out and played a really good team, a Division 2 team, and worked hard the whole time.

"Even though it's not fun to lose by 17, it's very good experience for them."

E-TC - Bree Besonen 6, Leona Schutz 2, Emma Besonen 16, Irelynd McGeshick 6. FTs: 2-5. Fouls: 5. Fouled out: None. 3-pointers: E. Besonen 4.

Negaunee - Paige O'Donnell 4, Aubrey Johnson 14, Gretel Johnson 8, Keira Waterman 8, Aleana Park 7, Clare O'Donnell 4, Madison Pekrul 2. FTs: 3-6. Fouls: 8. Fouled out: None. 3-pointers: G. Johnson 2, A. Johnson 1, Park 1.

E-TC 11 21 26 30

Negaunee 11 22 34 47

- - -

Ewen-Trout Creek went home with one victory, a 55-26 triumph over Kingsford (3-3), also a Division 2 team.

The Panthers found more offense in Saturday's consolation game. Three players finished in double figures - Emma Besonen had 15, Irelynd McGeshick 14 and Bree Besonen 12. Bree also had five assists and four steals.

"Bree had a nice game," E-TC coach Jacky Besonen said. "Hannah Ferguson had an excellent hustle game with 11 boards and four steals."

Kingsford is an even bigger Division 2 school than Negaunee with 587 students.

Negaunee beat Ludington (5-3) 50-41 in the championship game on Saturday to improve to 8-0.

E-TC (7-1) goes to Hancock on Jan. 7.

E-TC - Bree Besonen 12, Emma Besonen 15, MaKayla Basel 8, Irelynd McGeshick 14, Leona Schutz 6. FTs: 12-14. Fouls: 6. Fouled out: None. 3-pointers: E. Besonen 3.

Kingsford - Kriegel 3, Moore 6, Kowalski 3, Sundquist 6, Bortolini 3, Shaughnessy 2, Olson 3. FTs: 4-10. Fouls: 9. Fouled out: None. 3-pointers: None.

E-TC 15 25 35 55

Kingsford 3 10 20 26