MENOMINEE — Fans of back-and-forth basketball had plenty to savor on Friday, as the Menominee girls picked up a 52-44 non-conference victory over Ewen-Trout Creek.
Friday’s matchup saw the lead change hands seven times in the first half alone as neither team was able to build more than a four-point cushion.
Menominee (4-4 Great Northern Conference, 11-10 overall) took control in the third quarter, outscoring the Panthers by a 14-to-5 margin to take a 10-point lead entering the fourth quarter.
Ewen-Trout Creek (8-2 Copper Mountain Conference, 16-4 overall) managed to pull within eight late before Anna Axtell sank a pair of free throws to put the game on ice for the Maroons with 64 seconds left to play.
“We knew coming in that their guards (Emma and Bree Besonen) were very good and they have a very good post player (Irelynd McGeshick) as well, which makes us have to guard the entire floor, and that’s the type of opponent that we want to play going into the playoffs,” Menominee coach Lucas Chouinard said.
Both teams jockeyed for position to begin the game before Kam Olson converted an and-1 play to put Menominee on top 7-4.
Menominee’s lead hovered at three before back-to-back buckets, including a buzzer-beating 3-pointer by Emma Besonen, nudged the Panthers ahead 15-14.
Menominee and E-TC traded the lead throughout the second quarter until a second-chance bucket from McGeshick and a triple courtesy of Emma Besonen made it a four-point game in favor of the Panthers with just under three minutes remaining in the first half.
Momentum swung back in favor of the Maroons after Lexi Marineau knocked down a triple of her own before Gianna Coduti tacked on a pair of free throws to give Menominee a 27-26 lead at halftime.
Emma Besonen led E-TC with 15 points, including four 3-pointers, three of which came in the first half.
While the Panthers were able to burn Menominee from deep with four triples in the first half, the Maroons cut that number in half and allowed just six field goals over the course of the entire second half.
“In the first half, we did not do a very good job of checking their shooters. Emma is a good shooter and she got away from us a little bit, but in the second half we made her dribble-drive much more often, which helped us get the lead that we did,” Chouinard said.
Emma Besonen’s fourth trey of the night tied matters up at 29-29 earlier in the third quarter before the Maroons closed the frame on a 12-2 run to make it a 41-31 game.
Coduti scored as the Maroons opened up their biggest lead of the night at 12 points, but the Panthers managed to trim their deficit to single digits thanks to a combined eight points from Emma Besonen and McGeshick.
“We were more patient offensively. We put them into multiple actions and forced Ewen-Trout Creek to guard us a little bit more,” Chouinard said. “We let the game come to us, and I’m proud of the girls for making that adjustment in the second half.”
Axtell was Menominee’s leading scorer with 12 points. Axtell is 22 points away from becoming just the fourth Maroon girl to score 1,000 career points.
Marineau and Olson backed up Axtell with 10-point outings. Ella Barker collected eight, Coduti and Mady Barker both pitched in four, while Ava Chouinard and Alexa Axtell each chipped in two.
McGeshick contributed 14 points to the Panthers’ cause. Bree Besonen finished with 10 and Leona Schutz added two.
Up nextMenominee: The Maroons wrap up the regular season at Carney-Nadeau (6-2 Skyline Central Conference, 15-5 overall) on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m.
Menominee 52, Ewen-Trout Creek 44Menominee 14 13 14 11 — 52
Ewen-Trout Creek 15 11 5 13 — 44
Menominee: An. Axtell 12, Marineau 10, Olson 10, E. Barker 8, M. Barker 4, Coduti 4, A. Chouinard 2, Al. Axtell 2; FTs: 9-11
Ewen-Trout Creek: E. Besonen 15, McGeshick 14, B. Besonen 13, Schutz 2; FTs: 6-10
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