The two teams played to a virtual draw in the first half, with the Bobcats holding just a two-point lead 31-29 at intermission.

“First, hats off to Forest Park,” said Florence coach Bryan Bomberg. “I thought they were really disciplined in the half court on offense.

“They had some long offensive possessions. Their post player got some nice touches early on around the basket.”

But the visiting Trojans (7-11) couldn’t quite keep up in the second half, with Florence (17-5) outscoring Forest Park 25-13 after halftime to earn the win.

(Dennis Mansfield/Daily News photo) Iron Mountain junior guard Brett Ramme (24) looks to pass to an open teammate during second-half action against Houghton on Thursday at Mountaineer Gym.

“For us, I think in the second half we settled in and locked in on defense,” Bomberg said. “It was a little emotional being that it’s senior night and lots surrounding it. We have three quality seniors (Cole Sweig, Patrick Milan and Tyler Novak) who each bring something unique to the table. I’m proud of them.”

Milan posted a double-double to help lead the Bobcats with 14 points and 15 rebounds, including 10 at the offensive end. He also had three steals and one assist.

Evan Johnson was the only other Florence player to hit for double figures with 14 points, three rebounds, two assists and one steal.

In a solid team effort, the Bobcats had eight players get in the scorebook, including Dom DeMuri (9), Logan Schuls (9), William Kelley (5), Dustin Williams (2), Blake Smith (2) and Novak (1).

Kevin Giuliani scored a game-high 20 points for the Trojans, with Gavin Rintala adding 12 points and Felix Quevedo six points. Matthew Showers and and Sam McKissack each had two points in the loss.

3rd-quarter explosion fuels IM win

IRON MOUNTAIN — The host Iron Mountaineers used a third-quarter offensive explosion to crush visiting Houghton 60-40 in a matchup of the two West-Pac Conference boys basketball teams Thursday night at Mountaineers Gym.

The Gremlins (7-9) held a two-point lead at the half. But that was before the brotherly duo of Oskar Kangas and Reece Kangas lit up the scoreboard and the host Mountainers doubled-up Houghton 18-6 in the third quarter to take a 42-35 lead. And it went from bad to worse for Houghton, with Iron Mountain (14-4) pulling away in the final stanza by dominating the last eight minutes 18-5.

“Good defense for the second half,” said Iron Mountain coach Harvey “Bucky Johnson. “(We) got into a rhythem in the second half. Oskar and Reece got hot.”

Oskar Kangas led the charge for the Mountaineers with a team-high 23 points, including hitting a trio of threes. Reece Kangas was even better from distance, hitting five 3-pointers on his way to an 18-point night.

Joey Colavecchi also knocked down three 3-pointers while chipping in 11 points in the home win.

Kyle Primeau tallied a game-high 24 points for the Gremlins but was the lone Houghton player in double figures.

Lena dominates host Niagara 65-34

NIAGARA, Wis. — The Niagara boys varsity basketball team couldn’t overcome the sharp-shooting efforts of visiting Lena, with visiting Wildcats gunning their way to a 65-34 victory in the clash between the two Marinette & Oconto Conference rivals Thursday.

Lena (13-10) dominated the second half of the matchup, outscoring the host Badgers 31-13. That was after building a 21-31 lead at halftime.

“Lena shot the lights out tonight,” said Niagara coach Terry Youren, whose team fell to 7-16 on the season. “Probably the best shooting guard (Max Beyer) in the conference. … Great player.”

Beyer torched Niagara defenders for a game-high 39 points that including 10 3-pointers, as he missed just two shots from long distance.

Tommy Martin scored 12 points to lead the Badgers, with teammates Logan Weber and Aiden Colenso each tallying nine points on the night.

Knights crush SCC rival 65-29

RAPID RIVER — Norway varsity hoospter Nolan Amundson nearly beat host Rapid River all by himself, as the Knights crushed the Rockets 65-29 in a Skyline Central Conference contest Thursday night.

Amundson scored a game-high 24 points for the Knights (13-5, 6-1) and Alex Ortman added 15 points in the impressive road win over Rapid River (11-6, 3-3).

Norway dominated from the opening tip, opening up a 21-3 lead in the first quarter and holding a 34-10 advantage at intermission.

“We came out with a lot of intensity tonight,” said Norway coach Jeff Gallino. “We were able to create some turnovers and get some layups.

“I thought we rebounded better tonight and we were able to get our transition game going,” he added.

Besides the duo of Amundson and Ortman, the Knights got scoring contributions from Michael Peterson (6), Gabe Ochs (4), Tyler Neuens and Ian Popp (3 each), as well as Aiden Allison and Wyatt Spade (2 each).

Flivvers suffer road loss 50-41

MARQUETTE — The Kingsford boys varsity basketball team came home empty handed Wednesday night, falling to Great Northern U.P. Conference foe Marquette 50-41.

The host Redmen (8-7, 3-3) used a solid first quarter, in which they outscored the Flivvers 15-7 on their way to a 25-20 halftime advantage, and final stanza to hold off Kingsford (11-6, 2-6) for the win.

After closing the gap to just two points 32-30 after three periods, Marquette sealed the win by scoring 18 points in the fourth quarter to just 10 points for the Flivvers.

“I feel both teams had a defensive battle through three-and-a-half quarters,” said Kingsford coach Dan Olkkonen. “Our offense struggled with consistency but the game was tied at the beginning of the fourth.”

But after erasing the Redmen’s advantage, Olkkonen said four consecutive turnovers by the Flivvers in the decisive final stanza fueled an 8-0 Marquette run that allowed the Redmen to pull away.

“We didn’t look great as a team in the fourth but (I’m) hoping we learn from playing these tough teams to help us with a district run.”

Nic Nora paced Kingsford with a team-high 10 points, with Cole Myllyla and Michael Meneguzzo both chipping in eight points.

Dennis Mansfield can be reached at 906-774-2772, ext. 244, or at dmansfield@ironmountaindailynews.com.