Justin St. Ours | Daily Press Mid Peninsula’s Chevy Koski (22) shoots a layup against Rapid River’s Natalie Belanger (left) as Rapid River’s Cecilia Pilon (back) looks on Monday at Rapid River.

RAPID RIVER — It wasn’t that the Rapid River Rockets malfunctioned, but rather, the Mid Peninsula Wolverines rode out several potential Rockets’ rallies to prevent a repeat of the loss they suffered on their home court at the beginning of the season. The Wolverines used a 15-point fourth quarter to post a 50-42 Skyline Central Conference road victory over the Rockets Monday night.

Cecilia Pilon completed a 3-point play to cut the Rockets’ deficit to 39-37 with 3:25 left in the fourth. However, Mid Pen answered with the next four points on a free throw by Landry Koski and a triple from Daisy Englund with 2:29 left.

“We wanted to win this game,” Wolverines coach Phil Croasdell said. “It was a heck of a game. It was an ugly game, but Chevy (Koski) did a heck of a job down low. They were playing rough ball, and she got a bunch of boards. That was one of the keys. Then, Daisy on Kristin (Goodacre). She did a heck of a job on her.”

The Wolverines (13-4, 9-4 SCC) went 2 for 4 at the charity stripe over the next 40 seconds to extend their lead to 45-37.

With two minutes left to play, Natalie Belanger re-entered for the Rockets (5-10, 5-8 SCC) after coming out early in the quarter due to foul trouble.

“Nat(alie) did very well for us tonight,” Rockets coach Scott Goodacre said. “I think we got out of our shooting slump with this game. I have no regrets about the game tonight other than the outcome. I also thought we had good energy, but there were some assignments that we missed. Overall, we played better than we have been, that’s for sure.”

Belanger added a 3-point play to bring the Rockets closer before fouling out with around a minute left. The Wolverines went just 3 for 10 from the charity stripe in the final 1:13, but it was enough to hang on.

“Both teams hustled their butts off,” Croasdell said. “We gave 110%. Even though we shot badly at the line, we still came out with a win.

“After halftime we started clicking. I don’t know what it was, they’re a scrappy team. You can’t take them for granted, and I’m sure we’ll see them again in a few weeks (in districts).”

Daisy Englund led the Wolverines with 16 points. Kennedy Englund pulled down a double-double with 14 points, 11 rebounds, six steals and five assists. Camryn Croasdell followed with 11 points.

The Rockets were led by Belanger with 11 points, and Goodacre chipped in 10.

“We worked the ball better than we have been,” coach Goodacre said. “Last week we took a practice … and just had fun for a day instead of pounding it. It seemed to have helped everybody.

“I’m not whole-heartedly disappointed. I think it was a good matchup. We won the first time, and they won the second.”

Mid Pen, which won the JV game 40-22, visits Big Bay de Noc tonight at 6 p.m. Rapid River hosts Forest Park tonight at 7:30.

Mid Pen 10 18 7 15 — 50

Rapid River 10 9 10 12 — 42

Mid Peninsula — D. Englund 16, K. Englund 14, Croasdell 11, Prater 6, L. Koski 2, C. Koski 1. F: 10; Fouled out: none; FT: 10-26; 3-point field goals: D. Englund 2, Croasdell 1, Prater 1.

Rapid River — Belanger 11, K. Goodacre 10, Pilon 8, E. Goodacre 5, Keys 4, Poore 4. F: 19; Fouled out: Belanger. FT: 3-8; 3-point field goal: E. Goodacre.