Panthers advance in regionals with victory over Lakes

By JASON JUNO

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HOUGHTON --- Lake Linden-Hubbell has two of the best scorers in the Upper Peninsula in Emily Jokela and Cleo Milkey. The Lakes' 1-2 punch led them to a top-five ranking in the U.P. all season and to a 23-win campaign.

Ewen-Trout Creek, though, counters with more scoring options, three players who've been scoring consistently all season. All three, plus a fourth, MaKayla Basel, hit double figures in Monday's MHSAA Division 4 regional semifinal against the Lakes.

E-TC used that balanced attack to defeat the Lakes 51-44 and move on to the regional final against Ishpeming, which was scheduled for Wednesday night, March 13.

The young Panthers, who don't have a junior or senior on the team, won a competitive district and bounced the Lakes, who were ranked third in the U.P. and fifth in the final state poll.

McGeshick, E-TC's 5-10 force in the middle, led the Panthers with 17 points and 12 rebounds. Emma and Bree Besonen both had 11 points off three 3s apiece and Basel scored an important 10 points.

The Lakes had trouble accounting for all of E-TC's scoring options and then they couldn't put enough attention on McGeshick.

"We just have so many problems with her, she's tough," LL-H coach Jack Kumpula said. "And when you're helping on the Besonens, and you leave her 1-on-1, they go to her. It's difficult. They have one more scorer basically."

For the Lakes offensively, most of their scoring came from Jokela, the MVP of the Copper Mountain Conference, with 20 points, and Milkey, who had 14. But no one else scored more than five.

E-TC coach Jacky Besonen said they knew they wouldn't be able to stop them, but they wanted to be able to contain them. They were able to do that after giving up a combined 51 points to them In their last matchup.

LL-H had open players underneath the basket, but they didn't go to them. They weren't Milkey or Jokela, either, though.

"Those aren't the people that normally score, so we don't really look for them," Kumpula said. "They did a really good job on Cleo and Emily."

The Panthers lost that first matchup against the Lakes in January. They couldn't stop Jokela and Milkey and their pressure defense wore them out late in the game, as LL-H was able to come back from 18 points down in the second half to win in overtime.

E-TC never had that big of a lead this time, but it didn't matter.

They really only trailed once, 17-11, when Bree Besonen hit back-to-back 3s to tie the game. Basel's shot at the buzzer put the Panthers up 28-24 going into halftime.

The Lakes tied the game at 35 late in the third quarter and E-TC held a slim 39-38 lead going into the fourth.

LL-H got within a point three times, but the Panthers, much like they did against Ironwood in Friday's district final, always had an answer. Basel scored the first two times, and Emma Besonen the third.

Her free throws made it 45-42 E-TC. The Lakes missed a wide-open 3, E-TC got it to McGeshick inside for a bucket and the Panthers closed it out from there. They were 6 of 6 at the foul line down the stretch.

That was something they didn't do in the regular-season game against the Lakes - they ran out of gas and gave up that big lead.

"They didn't lose that energy," coach Besonen said. "Maybe it helps being in the regional semifinal - 'I'm so excited,' right - because we got beat down at home. When that brain gets tired, we really started making some bad mistakes. Maybe they learned from that game. It was a good game to have, they knew it was coming."

The Panthers handled the pressure defense from LL-H, they didn't turn it over and they were able to move the ball and get it inside when they had a chance to.

They also did a better job defending Jokela and Milkey.

"You're not going to keep Jokela from scoring, and Milkey, but try to help and contain as much as you can because they're both very good offensively," Besonen said. "We made (Jokela) work, she hit very tough shots, but she had to work for them."

She said the keys to their defense were help and McGeshick protecting the rim.

"We didn't want her to go out if she didn't have to - we just said stay under that rim; if they get drives, she's hard to score on. You be there for help. And you others, help a ton because Jokela and Milkey are tough. We knew if we had 1-on-1, they were gonna be able to score on us, so we made sure we were there to help."

The Panthers had the balance to make it hard on LL-H's defense. And Basel's 10 points were a big bonus.

"Just good balance when you've got four in double digits," Besonen said. "Bree, Emma and Irelynd are known to score, so they pressure them. MaKayla hit some big shots."

McGeshick, Emma Besonen and Hannah Ferguson are all sophomores and have all won two district titles. Bree Besonen and Basel are eighth graders. They don't play like it; the big moments didn't seem to bother them again Monday night in front of a big crowd at Houghton.

"I think just because they're competitive and they want to win," coach Besonen said. "They've played enough games. I try to hammer home - 'Just go play. This is fun. This is an opportunity. You made it this far, some teams aren't here, go and play, have fun.' I think Friday we showed a little more nerves than tonight."

LL-H ended its season at 23-2 and Jokela and Milkey both return. The Panthers improved to 20-5.

LL-H --- Olivia Shank 3, Cleo Milkey 14, Emily Jokela 20, Payton Goldsworthy 5, Rebecca Lyons 2. FTs: 4-5. Fouls: 16. Fouled out: None. 3-pointers: Milkey 2, Goldsworthy 1, Shank 1.

E-TC --- Bree Besonen 11, Emma Besonen 11, Hannah Ferguson 2, MaKayla Basel 10, Irelynd McGeshick 17. FTs: 11-13. Fouls: 8. Fouled out: None. 3-pointers: B. Besonen 3, E. Besonen 3.

LL-H 11 24 38 44

E-TC 11 28 39 51