Negaunee, MI – December 17, 2019 – In a hard fought battle, the Negaunee Miners Girls Basketball team lost 35-32 in the closing minute against arch-rival Marquette. The game was back and forth throughout, with neither team holding a lead of more than six points. Jesse Anderson had the call from Negaunee’s Lakeview Memorial Gymnasium on Sunny 101.9.
1st Half:
Marquette’s half-court trap zone defense gave Negaunee major problems to start the game, and the Redettes took advantage with a 5-2 lead. The Miners responded after a couple of lackluster possessions with a fast break jumper by Chloe Norman and a lay-up by Morgan Carlson to take a 6-5 lead. Both teams traded 3-pointers, and Negaunee led 9-8 with two minutes remaining in the opening quarter. Alyssa Hill put her name on the stat-sheet with a putback layup to extend the Miners’ lead to three points. At the end of the first quarter, Negaunee led Marquette 11-8.
End of 1st: Negaunee Miners 11, Marquette Redettes 8
The Miners were held scoreless for five minutes of the second quarter, and Marquette took advantage with buckets from Sofia van den Ende and Averie Kelly to take a 13-11 lead. Hill finally gave Negaunee its first points of the quarter with a layup to tie the game at 13. Not one minute later did Hill score again, this time an and-one. Her made free throw gave the Miners the lead back, this game was back and forth for the entire first half. After forcing another defensive stop, Norman knocked down a 3-pointer to send the crowd into a frenzy, making the score 19-13 in favor of Negaunee. Aspen Michelin added a free throw for Marquette, and that was how the first half would end. The Miners led 19-14 over the Redettes in a classic slug-fest, Norman and Hill combined for 17 of Negaunee’s 19 points. Michelin and Maddie Carter led Marquette with four points each.
Halftime: Negaunee Miners 19, Marquette Redettes 14
2nd Half:
Marquette came out on fire in the second half, as Maria Millado scored four consecutive points to cut Negaunee’s lead to only one point. Both squads began to trade baskets, and the Miners held on to a one-point lead despite the Redettes going back to its zone defense. Negaunee extended the lead up to a three-point 23-20 advantage, but Marquette battled back to tie it up at 23 in the final minute of the third quarter. Two free throws from Michelin gave Marquette a two-point lead, and they took that into the final quarter of play after a sloppy end to the quarter by the Miners.
End of 3rd: Marquette Redettes 25, Negaunee Miners 23
The Redettes picked up right where they left off with a layup from van den Ende, and Marquette led 27-23 with seven minutes left in the game. Hill was on the bench with foul trouble for an extended period of time, and that caused the Miners’ offense to get out of sync. Carter scored to extend the lead to six for Marquette, but Hill responded on the other end in her return to the court with a bucket of her own. Another bucket put Marquette up by six with five minutes remaining, and neither team could get past each other for three straight minutes. Norman knocked down a clutch 3-pointer with under two minutes to go, ended the major scoring drought for both sides. After a Marquette made free throw, Hill scored for the Miners after an offensive rebound to cut the Redettes’ lead to 32-30 with 1:12 to go. Negaunee was forced to foul to stop the clock, as they fouled Michelin with 35 seconds left. Things went in the Miners’ favor as her shot was no good, but Millado pulled down a clutch offensive rebound. Michelin knocked down one of two attempts the second time around to extend the lead to 33-30. Negaunee hustled down the court on the defensive rebound, and Norman laid it in to make it 33-32 with 19 seconds left. The Miners had to foul again, and Millado hit two big free throws to put the Redettes back up by three in the final seconds. Negaunee had one last chance to tie it up, but Norman’s 3-pointer was off of the front of the rim and no good as time expired. The Marquette Redettes picked up a big 35-32 road win over the Negaunee Miners, dropping Negaunee to 3-2 on the season. Norman led Negaunee and the game in scoring with 19 points, Michelin scored nine for Marquette.
Final Score: Marquette Redettes 35, Negaunee Miners 32
NEXT GAME: The Negaunee Miners Girls Basketball team’s next game is on Friday, Dec. 20, when they travel to Hancock to take on the Bulldogs! Jesse Anderson will be live from Hancock with all of the action on Sunny 101.9, coverage begins at 7 p.m. with the Elder Agency Pregame Show, and the game to follow at 7:15 p.m.
LISTEN – FULL GAME – MINERS VS REDETTES ON SUNNY101.9
