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Girls Basketball: Koski, Westwood hand Norway first loss

Norway's Teidra Fuson (24) is fouled by Westwood's Lauren Farley (00) during a Mid-Peninsula Conference game Tuesday in Norway. (Adam Niemi/The Daily News)

NORWAY — Madelyn Koski’s deft free-throw shooting in the fourth quarter was enough to insulate Westwood against Norway in a 54-53 Mid-Peninsula Conference win on Tuesday.

Koski made 13 of 14 free throws in the fourth quarter as Norway rallied from as much as 15 points down in the third quarter to save an undefeated season. Koski finished with a game-high 28 points.

“For a 14-year-old girl, to go 16 for 17 from the free throw line, is nothing short of incredible,” Corcoran said. “She’s playing with confidence. You’ve got to figure she’s 14 years old — in the first half of the season, she was basically an eighth-grader playing varsity basketball and she’s now really starting to come into her own, playing with some confidence stepping up to the line.”

The winning point was provided by Tessa Leece on the back end of a double-bonus. It gave Westwood (11-8) a 54-50 advantage with 5.9 seconds in the game. Norway took the ball past halfcourt and rifled a pass to Jada Lasater in the corner, who swished a buzzer-beating 3-pointer.

Westwood’s offensive production was a stark contrast to what it did Jan. 31 against the Knights. The Patriots scored just 17 points in a 41-17 thrashing.

“The first time we played them, they couldn’t hit any shots, it’s like they had a lid on their basket,” Norway coach Karli Kelly said. “I’ve been saying all along that they could be a spoiler. The score of Westwood doesn’t give you the story. Just because they missed the shots — they still had the shots last game — they didn’t go in. I told Kurt that. They made them tonight and we didn’t. The home-court curse, I guess, with him and I.”

Norway (18-1, 11-1 MPC) staged its rally with a 25-point fourth quarter, including 15 points from Jordan Kraemer in her final home appearance. The Knights came to within five points and forced Westwood to play for possession and kill the clock without turning the ball over. But the Patriots did, with an inbound violation and 36.7 seconds left.

Corcoran is high on his team after it has now won four of the last five games. Koski scored 25 points in Monday’s win against Iron Mountain. He said the Patriots are peaking as they prepare for the district opener in Iron River — against Norway.

“This is just a confidence builder for our girls, to know that they can play with them,” Corcoran said. “Tonight was a program-changer for us. I’ve been saying all along we were beating the weaker teams, but we weren’t beating the top-tier teams. In order for the community and these people to believe in what we’re doing, we needed to beat one of these top-tier teams. They were able to do that tonight.”

Kelly said Norway’s game was riddled with mistakes, but played better throughout the comeback.

“It took a little while. We had eight points in the third quarter,” Kelly said. “We rarely get under 15 points a quarter. That third quarter really hurt us. We only had two field goals. But that fourth quarter, they did well under pressure. They wanted to win.”

The Knights fell into foul trouble early on to start the game. Kraemer sat for a considerable time in the second quarter with two early fouls. Britta Grayvold and Teidra Fuson fouled out in the fourth quarter.

“We started the game with different people in there because of foul trouble,” Kelly said. “That hurt us right off the bat. But they came back and they fought and we got a little sloppy but the good news is we can play better than that. We have a week to prove that.”

Westwood JV won 48-41.

Norway plays at Kingsford in its regular season finale on Thursday.

Westwood 15 17 7 15 — 54

Norway 10 10 8 25 — 53

WESTWOOD: Koski 28, E. Farley 7, Leece 5, Carello 5, Rivard 5, Patron 2, Mattias 2. FT: 19-25. F: 18 (E. Farley fouled out). FG: 16-26. 3PT: 3-6 (Koski 2, Rivard 1). Rebounds: 22 (L. Farley 6).

NORWAY: Kraemer 23, Clifford 9, Lasater 9, Fuson 9. FT: 15-21. F: 19 (Grayvold and Fuson fouled out). 3PT: Kraemer 3, Lasater 3.

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