Iron Mountain’s Anja Kleiman (52) secures the basketball before going up for a shot against a pair of Ishpeming defenders in Monday night’s 51-41 win at home. Kleiman had five points in the victory. (Dennis Mansfield/Daily News photo)

But those difficulties went away in the fourth quarter in their latest game when the Mountaineers hit Ishpeming with 22 points over the final eight minutes to score a 51-41 Mid Peninsula/West Pac Conference victory at Mountaineer Gym.

Six Mountaineers scored in the decisive fourth quarter, including Callie Bianco with five, Emma Ellis, Chloe Maycroft and Anja Kleiman all with four, Annslee Runsat with a 3-pointer and Ellison Powell with two free throws.

All that helped Iron Mountain (3-9) send Ishpeming to its sixth loss in eight games this season.

“We played really good team ball tonight and worked our offense like we needed to,” Iron Mountain coach Karen Ellis said. “It was nice to see the girls be patient and take good shots.

Iron Mountain junior cager Chloe Maycroft (24) goes up to block a shot by Ishpeming’s Jenna Maki (1) during the Mid Peninsula/West Pac Conference clash at Mountaineer Gym on Monday night. Maycroft chipped in 12 points in the 51-41 victory in front of the home fans, which also sent Ishpeming to its sixth loss in eight games this season. (Dennis Mansfield/Daily News photo)

“We moved the ball better than we have been, and it created openings for some threes in crucial times,” she added.

The Mountaineers knocked down five triples in the game — two from Powell and one each from Ellis, Runsat and Bianco.

Coach Ellis said her team also defended well.

“I’m really happy with how quick the girls moved on defense, holding their key players to single digits,” Ellis said.

Powell topped the Mountaineers with 14 points and Chloe Maycroft contributed 12.

Nordics fall in SCC clash

EBEN — Both North Dickinson and Superior Central came into Monday night’s girls basketball contest hot on the heels of Skyline Central Conference-Small leader Carney-Nadeau. Only the Cougars remained there after the 32 minutes were played.

Superior Central took an early lead and made it stand up as the Cougars recorded a 45-37 victory over the visiting Nordics. With the victory, the Cougars remain 1/2 game behind the Wolves, while North Dickinson fell 1 1/2 games off the pace.

Guard Maddie Begovac recorded 14 points and forward-center Riley Johnson added 12 to lift the Cougars to victory.

“They are a solid team,” Nordics coach Kirk Mattson said. “And they shot the lights out. If they play the way they did tonight, they’re going to be a tough out in the tournament.”

On the other hand, the Nordics lost for the third time in their last four games. Chrislyn Inglese led North Dickinson (8-5) with 13 points while Vanessa Lindholm chipped in with 12. The two hit all five of their team’s 3-pointers – Inglese sank three and Lindholm connected on two.

“We didn’t play bad,” Mattson said. “We haven’t been shooting the ball that well recently and they kind of controlled the game from the start.”

Mattson said the Cougars made a point of hounding his team’s leading scorer Ashton Hord. The senior guard was held scoreless in the first half and scored just six points in the game.

Patriots use balanced attack to beat Badgers

PEMBINE, Wis. — Despite the absence of leading scorer Boone Larison, the Goodman-Pembine boys varsity basketball team received double-digit scoring from four players in their 65-48 non-conference win Monday night over Niagara in Pembine.

Ryan Ehlert led the host Patriots (9-3) with 20 points and Landon Kalkofen added 19. Ryan Erickson and Jacob Kessel produced 10 points each to aid in the winning effort.

Niagara stayed with Goodman-Pembine in the opening half, battling to a 29-all deadlock.

“We played even the first half, but they couldn’t miss in the second half,” Niagara coach Terry Youren said. “Nice shooting team.”

Edward Swanson paced the Badgers (5-10) with 19 points, which included four 3-pointers. No other Niagara player reached double figures.

Jerry DeRoche can be reached at 906-774-2772, ext. 244, or at jderoche@ironmountaindailynews.com.