IRON RIVER – West Iron County girls basketball coach Eric Shamion said his Wykons “moved the needle” Monday night, though they fell to Hancock 52-37 in a West Pac Conference matchup at Charles Greenlund Gymnasium.

“I thought I got effort from the kids, maybe not the initial five or six minutes when they kind of hit us with a haymaker and we got down early and we put them to the free throw line and they made every shot.

“But we kept chipping away, we didn’t give up, we got scoring from several different kids, so yeah, we lost the game, but I think we’re moving the needle in the right direction with a game like this.”

Things started poorly for the Wykons (4-9) against a Hancock team that utilizes at least four guards at all times and is extremely sound defensively.

The Bulldogs (8-6) scored 12 of the first 14 points of the game, including 7 of 9 from the foul line. The Wykons pulled four back on a driving bucket by Bristol Shamion and a putback by Laurel Johnson, but Hancock carried an 8-point lead into the second quarter.

The visitors then struck for 13 of the next 15 points to build a 25-7 cushion. It was at that point that Eric Shamion changed his man-to-man defense to a 2-3 zone and the move worked.

The Hancock offense stalled and the Wykons went on a 11-0 run before senior Lydia Pelli sank two of three free throws after a foul was called with under a second left on her 3-point attempt, giving the Bulldogs a 27-18 lead at the break.

Nevertheless, the change in defensive tactics spurred a shift in the way the game was proceeding.

“They were picking us apart in the man-to-man, so decided to go to the zone and I thought it slowed Hancock down,” Coach Shamion said. “It rattled them a little bit, and the kids were flying around the floor. They played the zone the way it was meant to be played.”

The teams went back-and-forth for much of the third quarter, but at that point WIC couldn’t afford to trade baskets, especially against a tough defensive-minded team that is hard to score against consistently.

“They really disrupt your offense,” Shamion said. “They don’t let the initial pass to start the offense, they deny, deny, deny, and if you don’t go backdoor they put pressure on and it turns you over.”

The Wykons stayed within 44-35 with 4:49 left but the Bulldogs kept West Iron to just two points the rest of the way.

Individually, the bright spot for WIC was the play of wing Grace Smith. The sophomore, who has split her playing time between the JV and the varsity squad to this point, finished with a team-high 13 points, 11 of which came in the second half.

“I thought Grace Smith played really well,” Shamion said. She came in off the bench and did some scoring for us, played great defense and (communicated well). She’s just a sophomore so we have a lot to look forward to from Grace.”

The Bulldogs sealed their win by knocking down five free throws down the stretch. For the game, Hancock connected on 22 of 31 foul shots, while the Wykons sank 8 of 16.

Senior guard Emery Chynoweth topped a balanced Hancock scoring attack with 14 points. Pelli recorded 13, while senior Alecia Aho and sophomore Romey Koskela added 10 each.

For West Iron, Bristol Shamion and Lily De Sousa contributed seven apiece while Lacey Shamion scored five.

HANCOCK – Chynoweth 4 5-10 14, Biekkola 1 2-2 5, Pelli 2 8-10 13, Aho 4 1-2 10, Koskela 2 6-7 10. Totals: 13 22-31 52. 3-point field goals: 4 (Chynoweth, Biekkola, Pelli, Aho).

WEST IRON COUNTY – B. Shamion 3 1-4 7, De Sousa 2 2-2 7, Alexa 0 2-4 2, Smith 6 0-2 13, L. Shamion 1 2-2 5, Erickon 0 1-2 1, Johnson 1 0-0 2. Totals:13 8-16 37. 3-point field goals: 4 (De Sousa, Smith, L. Shamion).

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Compiled by Daily News sports correspondent Jerry DeRoche