Justin St. Ours | Daily Press Bark River-Harris’ Sierra Debelak (11) shoots a layup against Manistique’s Sarah Barker (12) and Brooke Richey (behind) as Manistque’s Madison Zellar (4) looks on Tuesday at Bark River.

HARRIS — The Bark River-Harris girls basketball team came out quick and coasted to a 46-30 win against the Manistique Emeralds at Bark River Tuesday in non-conference action.

Neither team was able to find its footing as the game began, but the Emeralds (2-6) were the first on the board with a jumper from Kayla Muth.

Bark River’s Grace Peterson then kicked off a 13-5 run with a jumper to finish the first quarter.

“Our press has come a long way,” Broncos’ coach Matt Richer said. “A (few) games ago, we’d junked it. … (But the) last couple games it’s really been working for us, and hopefully we can continue to do it well.”

Leading 13-7, the Broncos (4-2) were quick to add to their advantage, scoring six points in the first two minutes of the second period, capped by a triple from Allison Richer.

“We had way too many turnovers,” Emeralds’ coach Dave Winkel said. “Just silly ones — unforced errors. Bark River did a good job of pushing the pace. They’re a really aggressive defensive team, and I think that gets us going a little too fast for ourselves. We’re not seeing the court as well as we should and we weren’t executing very well.”

The Emeralds were only able to capitalize on 1-of-2 free throws until the final three minutes of the first half when Emilee McDaniel sunk the front end of a bonus situation at the charity stripe. The second bounced off the rim, but it was recovered by Muth who scored two more with a jumper to cut their deficit to 19-13.

“We went with a small lineup tonight,” coach Richer said. “We wanted to outwork them. Go up and down the court to make them handle the ball, and at times, we knew we’d give up some rebounds. We worked a lot on boxing out, but sometimes they’re just bigger than you.”

The Broncos pulled away on the back of bonus free throws and led 24-15 as the half closed.

Bark River had the scoreboard to itself for the first six minutes of the third, going on a 12-0 run that included back-to-back triples from Richer and Cara Zawacki.

“We kind of regrouped at halftime, and in the third quarter we had a really good four or five minutes and distanced ourselves a little bit,” coach Richer said. “We, at times, have trouble scoring, so we’re trying to hold teams down. Our point total tonight, I set it at 30, and it’s kind of funny that that’s where we ended up. That’s why the girls were cheering at the end. You have to set goals defensively.”

The Emeralds were able to start a 6-0 run in the last minute and a half of the third.

The fourth quarter was more of the same, with Bark River steadily producing and the Emeralds having a tough time capitalizing on scoring opportunities. Both teams had trouble from the line, going 0-for-6 collectively.

“We played well in spurts,” Winkel said. “We’re just not consistent enough for a full 32 minutes to get the victory. I liked our defense at times, and I liked their willingness to keep fighting. We kind of went through a stretch in the third quarter where we got a deer-in-the-headlights look, but they worked hard.”

The Emeralds were led by Brooke St. John with 12 points. Muth followed with 11.

Richer led the Broncos with 12 points, while Peterson notched 11.

Bark River, which won the jayvee game 53-49, hosts Carney-Nadeau Friday. Manistique hosts Negaunee Friday.

Manistique 7 8 6 9 — 30

Bark River 13 11 12 10 — 46

Manistique — St. John 12, Muth 11, McDaniel 3, Zellar 2, Richey 1, Kingren 1. FT: 3-13; F: 17; Fouled out: none; 3-point field goals: Muth 1.

Bark River — A. Richer 12, Peterson 11, Debelak 6, Zawacki 5, Arndt 5, Fredrick 2, Cappaert 2, Berg 2, Lockwood 1. FT: 9-18; F: 16; Fouled out: none; 3-point field goals: A. Richer 2, Zawacki 1.