IRON MOUNTAIN — The Escanaba hockey team took a 3-2 lead after the first period and then added a goal in the second and third periods to pull away from Kingsford for a 5-2 victory in a Great Lakes Hockey Conference game Thursday at Mountain View Ice Arena in Iron Mountain.

Sawyer LaMarch scored a goal and added two assists in the first period to lead the Eskymos to the win.

Kingsford, which lost its fourth straight, got goals from Jake Crockford and Zach Richards in the opening 17 minutes to stay close. Crockford was assisted by Hunter Fortner on his goal, while Evan Moyer and Tony Kralovec notched assists on the Richards’ goal.

Escanaba outshot the Flivvers 48-17 in Thursday night’s contest.

The Eskymos defeated Kingsford 3-1 in the Flivvers’ first game of the year Nov. 16 in Escanaba.

Kingsford is scheduled to travel to Jeffers today. The Flivvers dropped a 4-3 decision to the Jets on Dec. 2 in the teams’ earlier matchup.

Bobcats tame Bluejays 56-47

FLORENCE, Wis. — Evan Johnson scored 19 points while Dominic DeMuri and Logan Schuls chipped in with 13 each to lead Florence to a 56-47 victory over Three Lakes in a Northern Lakes Conference boys varsity basketball tussle Thursday in Florence.

Trailing 27-25 at halftime, the Bobcats (6-3, 2-1) took control in the second half by outscoring the Bluejays 31-20.

“Overall, a solid team effort tonight,” Florence coach Bryan Bomberg said. “We played smart, disciplined basketball in the second half. I am pleased to come away with this win tonight in front of another nice crowd. Very proud of my whole team.”

DeMuri hauled down 14 rebounds and Patrick Milan grabbed 13 boards for Florence, which has won three of its last four games.

Also, Johnson dished out five assists in the victory.

Logan Erikson led Three Lakes with 13 points to go with 12 each from Ashton Maney and Sam Eppler.

Lady Badgers halt losing streak

NIAGARA, Wis. — The Niagara Lady Badgers stopped a brief two-game losing streak with a 55-20 nonconference win over Goodman-Pembine on Thursday at Niagara High School.

Coming off losses to Three Lakes and North Dickinson, the Lady Badgers overwhelmed the Patriots in the opening 18 minutes to go up 33-4 at the halftime break. Josie Rock scored 12 of her team-high 15 points in the first half when the game was decided.

Niagara (7-3, 4-1) connected on six 3-pointers in the girls varsity basketball contest, led by Rock and Jade Racine with two each.

Goodman-Pembine played more competitively in the second half with Abbey Roff leading with way with all of her seven points. Rebekah Streitzel also scored seven points for the Patriots (0-7).

Mallory Sanicki was Niagara’s other double-digit scorer, finishing with 10 points.

The Lady Badgers hit 13 of 22 from the free-throw line compared to just 3 of 5 for Goodman-Pembine.

Ladycats can’t recover in loss

THREE LAKES, Wis. — The Florence Ladycats fell behind Three Lakes 28-3 and never recovered in their 66-39 Northern Lakes Conference road defeat on Thursday.

Three Lakes, the defending WIAA Division 5 state runner-up, lead 41-20 at halftime of the varsity clash and added six more points to the margin in the second half.

Florence coach Brad Perry said that while he knew what type of challenge his young team faced in the Bluejays, he anticipated a better start.

“I expected us to play a little better,” Perry said. “One mistake led to another and another and another. We got frustrated early. It was a tough opponent on the road and things just snowballed until we got our legs under us. In the second half, we focused on the little details and were much better with those things.”

Florence (7-3, 2-2) committed 26 turnovers in the game with just nine assists.

Perry said the postgame talk with his players focused on the need for mental toughness and attention to detail.

“It’s the little things that you don’t think of that are critical for success,” he said.

Isabella Millan led the Ladycats with 18 points and eight rebounds. Kamdan Johnson added 11 points, including three of her team’s four 3-pointers.