The Nordics (8-9, 4-4) took a 9-1 lead in the opening minutes and led 38-20 at halftime. JuliAnn Wickman led North Dickinson with 27 points.

“It took us until four games left in the season to get them to play the way I wanted them to play,” North Dickinson head coach Kirk Mattson said. “It’s all about heart. They all left it on the court tonight. When you do things like that, usually you get a ‘W’ out of that.”

Bree Arsenault led North Central (7-9) with 11 points.

Jets head coach Lee Vincent said the Nordics simply overpowered his team.

North Central’s Chloe Wells (32) blocks a shot by North Dickinson’s Briana Smith (12) on Monday, Feb. 12, 2018, in Felch, Mich. (Adam Niemi/Iron Mountain Daily News)

“We started out OK and then we got man-handled. They were bigger, stronger. No. 10 is awesome – Wickman,” Vincent said. “They had that one guard that we couldn’t handle. If we could stop her from penetrating and dishing it out, we would be all right. A little bit out of sync too. We rushed shots and then they got the big lead on us. We never gave up. If we kept up the momentum, we could’ve got them tired. They have a couple girls that can set picks and we were bouncing off them.”

The Jets have a chance to avenge the loss when both teams square off in the district tournament on Feb. 28 in Powers.

“You’ve got to be patient,” Vincent said. “We know what we have to do.”

The Nordics went on a run in the third quarter, out-scoring North Central 15-3 to lead 53-23 going into the final quarter. North Dickinson limited the Jets’ offense with one-shot possessions.

“Tori Christian and Skye Ledzian and Hannah Clark did an amazing job rebounding tonight,” Mattson said. “They stepped it up a notch and it was very impressive. It’s nice to see them three girls step it up rebounding like that.”

Vincent said it’s tough for his team to match up against the Nordics because the Jets lack size.

“That’s our trouble all year, we have one tall girl that isn’t really tall — 5-7 maybe,” he said. “We rushed our shots mostly. We didn’t give up.”

Mattson said he told the team before the game to play aggressive and get the win as the district tournament nears.

“I told them before the game that we have four games left, it’s time to amp it up,” Mattson said. “Let’s work hard, get some wins and get momentum going into the district tournament. That’s what it’s all about is getting in the district playing good basketball. Hopefully this will jump-start us in the last three games.”

North Dickinson plays at Forest Park on Thursday while the Jets host Rapid River.

North Central JV won.

North Central 13 7 3 12 – 45

N Dickinson 18 20 15 7 – 60

NORTH CENTRAL (45): B. Arsenault 11, Wells 7, A. Arsenault 6, Smith 5, Poupore 5, Dombrowski 4, Laurila 3, Plunger 2, Pavlat 2. FT: 10-20. F: 13.

NORTH DICKINSON (60): Wickman 27, Clark 11, Smith 7, Christian 7, Ledzian 6, Anderson 2. FT: 6-14. F: 17 (Ledzian fouled out)