Brian Bell/EagleHerald Photo Kingsford's Caleb Boone drives past Menominee's Johnathan Boucher during Monday's GNC contest in Menominee.

MENOMINEE — Playing with a fire and intensity unlike they have all season, the Menominee boys basketball team turned it on in the third quarter to run away from Kingsford and lock down coach Sam Larson’s first Great Northern Conference win since he took over two seasons ago with a 73-35 rout of the Flivvers.

Larson was pleased to get the GNC win, but what really made the game enjoyable for him was seeing the hard work his team has put in during practices finally pay off when it matters.

“It feels good (to get his first conference win), but we really just look at it as another game,” Larson said. “I thought our guys came out with good intensity and played hard. We really had a great last four days of practice and it’s nice to see that pay off and be validated tonight. We’ve been doing some different things to get the kids more competitive and chippy during practice lately and I think that really helps to build everything that we do.”

Menominee started the game applying full court pressure on Kingsford and the Flivvers’ quick guards took advantage, running the floor and beating the Maroons down the court to take a 6-2 lead in the early going.

“Have to give (Kingsford) credit, their guards are quick and they just blew by us,” Larson said. “Once we pulled it back and dug into our half-court defense I thought our guys played really well then. We spent a lot of time on defense lately and it’s starting to get a little better finally.”

The Maroons led 16-10 after the first.

Andrew Paupore and Nick Nora started the second quarter off with 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions split up by a basket from Bellisle to get it to 18-16, but a triple from Menominee’s Brock Barrette and a one-handed tomahawk slam from Monroe took the air out of the Flivvers’ sails.

Caleb Boone banked in a 3-pointer from the top of the key to get Kingsford within four (23-19), but Menominee ended the quarter on a 9-0 run highlighted by another fast break dunk from Monroe and the Maroons took a 32-19 lead into the half.

“(Menominee) was great tonight,” Kingsford coach Dan Olkkonen said. “They beat us in every aspect of a basketball game. They were tougher on the boards, stronger in the paint and they ran the floor really well. Monroe is a phenomenal athlete, but to me it just comes down to us having to want to get off the bus. We’re going to have to take road trips for conference games, and Menominee was great and our inexperience showed a little tonight.

“We’re still looking for the leadership to come out somewhere. We’re undersized but that isn’t really an excuse. We have to be able to fight in different ways and play as hard as we can all the time, and for whatever reason we just weren’t there.”

The Flivvers held on for a short while in the third quarter, but the pressure of Menominee’s defense didn’t allow for any easy looks at the basket and held them to just four made shots in the second half. For the game, the Flivvers shot 12-of-52 (23 percent) from the field and they struggled from the free throw line as well, going 9-18 (50 percent).

Brody Kopp grabbed two offensive boards and scored on both to get the score to 38-25, but Brady Badker knocked down a corner 3-pointer that jumpstarted an 11-0 run for Menominee, capped by two fast break layups from Badker to extend the Maroons’ lead to 49-25.

Boone finally ended the Kingsford drought with a basket with around 2 minutes, 30 seconds remaining in the quarter, but Menominee ended the quarter on an 8-2 run highlighted by a saucy spin move into a fall away jump shot from Dante Sartorelli to take a 57-29 lead into the fourth.

Monroe threw down his fourth dunk of the game in the final quarter.

Monroe led three Maroons in double figures with 14 points and added 15 rebounds and four steals; Bigger had 10 points (5-8 FGs) and six rebounds and Uecke chipped-in 10 points (5-7 FGs) and four boards.

For Kingsford, Nora was the lone scorer in double digits with 10.

Kingsford (3-7, 0-3) hosts Marquette Thursday night.

KINGSFORD (35) — Nora 10, Bracket 6, Boone 5, Kopp 4, Paupore 4, Lavarnway 2, Carollo 2, Bilgreen 2, Slingsby 1. FTs: 9-18.

MENOMINEE (73) — Monroe 14, Bigger 10, Uecke 10, Badker 9, Sartorelli 9, Bellisle 8, Barrette 5, Boucher 3, Shepeck 3, Spegel 2, Starzynski 2. FTs: 6-13.

Halftime score: Menominee 32, Kingsford 19.