ISHPEMING — The Westwood girls basketball team started this season with a lot of hype and it continued to live up to those high expectations Tuesday night.

The Upper Peninsula’s No. 1 team in Divisions 1-3, the Patriots held Gladstone’s Megan Crow scoreless in the first half and led by double digits at halftime en route to a 61-40 victory over the Braves.

Tessa Leece led Westwood (9-0) with 23 points, while Madi Koski had 15. Crow finished with 15 points for Gladstone.

Westwood head coach Kurt Corcoran was proud of his team’s performance and said the Patriots looked good at both ends of the court.

“We got a nice lead early in the first quarter,” he said. “We shot the ball remarkably well too (52.5 percent) and that’s props to our girls putting in a lot of time in the gym. That’s not just luck. That helps, but the girls shot the ball well.

“They (the Braves) came back in the third quarter and we let them creep back into it, but then Madi and Tessa tag-teamed and got us some quick buckets to get our lead to 19.”

Up 21-11 after the first quarter, Westwood built its advantage up to 15 at the half at 36-21. After Leece and Koski started to take control in the second half, the Patriots cruised the rest of the way.

When asked how he’s feeling about his team at this point in the year, Corcoran said he’s happy, but he wants the Patriots to keep getting better.

“Of course, we’re happy to be 9-0,” he said. “I’m happy and the girls are happy. Everybody loves it when the polls and the rankings come out, but we’ve got to make sure we don’t get too caught up on that stuff.”

Gladstone 11 10 9 10 — 40

Westwood 21 15 12 13 — 61

Gladstone — Balenger 2; Algren 5; Larson 2; Servant 5; LaFave 6; Trudeau 5; Crow 15. FT: 8-12.

Westwood — M. Koski 15; Leece 23; Patron 4; Miller 6; J. Koski 2; Gardner 7; Nelson 4. FT 15-21.