Brian Bell | Marinette EagleHerald Escanaba’s Anna Smith drives to the basket against Menominee’s Josie Hofer during Monday’s game in Menominee.

MENOMINEE — The Menominee girls basketball team shot the lights out from 3-point range and locked up defensively to pick up a 79-52 Great Northern Conference win over Escanaba on Monday.

The Maroons shot 12-of-23 (52 percent) from beyond the arc and held Esky to 17-47 (36 percent) from the field for the game while also making life very difficult for Esky’s All-U.P. talent in Nicole Kamin.

“Our focus tonight was to not let Kamin get into the lane and I thought we did a great job of walling her off and making it difficult for her at times. That’s what we preached leading up to this game was to have great team defense and the girls executed really well tonight on the defensive end,” Menominee coach Lucas Chouinard said. “Plus, if you’re making 12 3s you’re doing pretty well from the field so that always helps.”

Erin Barrette dropped in three 3-pointers in the first quarter for the Maroons and Jenna Nolde added another one to help Menominee get out to an 18-12 lead after the first.

Esky’s Taylor Ray and Mari Bink each cashed in a triple of their own and Kamin added four points in the quarter to keep it close.

Barrette sank two more pull up 3-pointers in the first 3 minutes, 23 seconds of the second quarter as Menominee went on a 9-3 run that was capped by Barrette’s fifth triple. At that point, she hadn’t missed a 3-point attempt and was 5-5 in the game as the Maroons led 27-15 with 4:37 remaining in the half.

Esky’s Ray answered with a 3-pointer on the other end and after two free throws from Emma Anderson, the Eskymos cut the deficit to 29-21 when Ray split a pair of free throws and Kamin scored on a take to the hoop, but Menominee ended the quarter on a 6-2 run with a couple of free throws from Anderson and two buckets by Anna Nerat.

Menominee typically runs a full-court press to try and frustrate the opposing team’s ballhandlers, but Chouinard noticed on film that Esky is a very good team in transition and was looking to limit their ability to get out on the break.

“When we scouted (Esky) we saw they’re a very good transition team. They get up the floor very quick and make good, crisp passes, so based on what we saw we thought our best option was to hang back and make sure we get back on defense and I thought the girls did a fantastic job of making it difficult in the half court,” Chouinard said.

Kamin grabbed an offensive rebound and put it back for a bucket to start the second half, but over the next four minutes Menominee went on a 12-4 run thanks to five points from Anderson, a corner triple by Nolde and four points from Barrette to take a 47-29 advantage.

Nolde dropped in her second 3-pointer of the quarter with just over a minute remaining to go up 56-38 but a pair of free throws with 63 seconds left from Kamin cut the Maroons’ lead to 56-40 heading into the final quarter.

Olson, Nolde, Hofer and Jaida Lesperance each added another 3-pointer to the Maroons’ total in the fourth quarter as Menominee outscored Esky 23-12. Nerat led Menominee with seven points in the fourth.

Barrette led four Maroons in double figures with 21 points, five rebounds and two steals; Nolde added 14 points (4-5 3-pointers) four rebounds and four assists and Anderson and Nerat chipped-in 13 points and four rebounds each. For Esky, Ray led the way with 18 and Kamin added 17 and seven rebounds.

The Menominee JV’s also won 45-34 thanks to a 26-point outing from Makayla Sinks. Kayla Drifka had eight, Jetta Bayerl had five and Madison Derusha and Piper Monroe added three each. Chloe Dutton had 13 for Esky and Caydence Carter scored nine.

Menominee (10-0 overall, 1-0 GNC) has a quick turnaround as the Maroons host Marinette today for the girls basketball version of the M&M Game.

Escanaba hosts Bark River-Harris Friday.

Escanaba — Ray 18, Kamin 17, Smith 9, Bink 6, Lancour 2. FT: 13-19.

Menominee — Barrette 21, Nolde 14, Anderson 13, Nerat 13, Hofer 5, Wellner 5, Wickstrom 4, Olson 3, Caley-Nelson 1. FT: 15-21.