“We’ve played nine games in 28 days, and that is a lot to open a season,” he said. “It would be different if it was in the middle of the season. However, we were opening the season on the fly and unable to establish ourselves; so these next two weeks off will be a welcomed break.”

They end 2023 at 6-3, and for them, thankfully Wednesday’s victory was an easy one.

According to Ontonagon Gladiators (4-4) coach Brittany Turin-Jilbert, her squad was missing two of their “bigs” due to sickness, and it did make a difference on an already short Gladiator roster.

“We need them both, because they are our only size on this team,” she said. “That was certainly evident tonight.”

Houghton’s Isaiah Lawson drives around a defender during a game this season at the Houghton Gym. (David Archambeau/For the Gazette)

The Houghton “bigs” dominated the boards on rebounds and points in the paint. Among them was Bryce Pugh, who led the Gremlins with 27 points – the majority of which were off the glass and inside the paint.

The Gremlins led 14-2 in the opening minutes and that morphed into a 33-5 lead after the first quarter. The Gremlins led 50-14 at half.

The Gladiators best minutes were in the second quarter where they opened with a six-point run.

The third and fourth quarters were much the same with Houghton outscoring the Gladiators 33-7 for the win.

Following Pugh in the scoring for Houghton were Isaiah Lawson and Luke Hill who both sunk 16. Tim Brown sunk four threes for 12 Gremlin points.

While Lawson is happy to enter the break with a win, there are some things the team needs to improve upon. Among them is making easy shots off the glass or under the basket.

“We need to finish those opportunities where we are just tow or three feet away,” said Jared. “Also we need to communicate better on defense.”

UP NEXT

Starting the New Year, the Gremlins will face West Iron County at home on Tuesday, Jan. 2. Tip off is set for 7.15 p.m.

On Friday, Jan. 5, the Gladiators will travel to Hancock for a 7:15 p.m. start against the Bulldogs.