REPUBLIC — The Mid Peninsula boys made things interesting Thursday night, but came up a little short in a 45-39 basketball loss to the Republic-Michigamme Hawks.

R-M hit four 3-point shots in the first quarter and led 14-6. Mid Pen trimmed its deficit to five at halftime of the non-conference contest.

“It was a good game,” said Mid Pen coach Mark Branstrom.

“It was fun. I’m sure this was a confidence boost for the guys. I think we did a decent job on defense. This team is going to take some time. We’ll be fine.”

Jake Carlson led the Hawks (1-3) with 12 points. Andrew Olender added 10.

Zach Englund paced the Wolverines (0-6) with 21 points and nine rebounds and Dylan Trudell had 10 points.

The Hawks held a 29-27 rebounding edge, hit 16-of-46 field goals and committed 12 turnovers. The Wolverines were 13-of-52 from the field and had eight miscues.

“Zach and Dylan had real good games,” said Branstrom. “We need to work on our shooting. A majority of our shots are good shots. We’re just not putting them in. We need to become more focused and gain confidence in our shots, which comes with practice and eliminating the mechanical errors.”

Mid Pen is idle until Dec. 28 when it hosts Rapid River.

Mid Pen 6 15 7 11 — 39

Rep-Mich 14 12 9 10 — 45

Mid Peninsula — Englund 21, Trudell 10, McNally 6, Rajala 2. FT: 10-21; F: 14; Fouled out: None; 3-point field goals: Englund 2, Trudell.

Republic-Michigamme — Luokkala 9, Conklin 8, Hannanen 6, Carlson 10, Olender 12. FT: 9-15; F: 15; Fouled out: None; 3-point field goals: Loukkala 2, Olender 2.