Austin Hemmingson | Daily Press Escanaba’s Nicole Kamin shoots over Sault Ste. Marie’s Claire Erickson during Tuesday’s Division 2 regional opener at Manistique.

MANISTIQUE — Losing basketball games this time of year is never fun.

The highs and lows and the thrills and disappointments of postseason play ends in a loss for every team except one — the state champion.

The Escanaba girls entered Tuesday night’s Division 2 regional opener against Sault Ste. Marie at Manistique as a heavy underdog despite just knocking off rival Gladstone for their first district title in 20 years Friday night, but it didn’t make losing to the Blue Devils any easier.

Esky’s young team fought hard and appeared to have the game within its grasp on multiple occasions, but in the end it was the U.P.’s second-ranked Blue Devils holding on for a 62-51 win.

Sault Ste. Marie (21-1) now faces Cadillac (23-1) in a regional final Thursday in Gaylord. The Eskymos finished 13-8.

“We’d work our tails off to get it close, and then they’d drain a 3 or a couple 3s to get it back up to six or nine,” Esky coach Mike Beveridge said.

“Credit them — that’s a very good team. They’ve a very good shooting team and a very good defensive team.

“But I am so proud of our girls and how hard they fought. We never quit. I knew they wouldn’t; they never have all year. I’m so proud of them and I’m glad we got as far as we did.”

After losing senior forward Julia Beaumont not even three minutes into the game with a leg injury, the Blue Devils grabbed a 16-13 lead at the end of the first quarter on a 3-pointer by Lilly Alaspa, who hit five of them in the game and finished with 17 points.

Mari Bink then pulled the Eskymos within 18-16 on a triple 30 seconds into the second quarter before the Blue Devils closed the half on a 16-6 run.

But the Eskymos came out swinging in the second half, scoring the first six points to pull within 34-30 on a 3-point play by Bink.

The Blue Devils, however, went on an 11-2 run before Bink brought Esky back within 10 on a buzzer-beating triple from just inside half-court at the buzzer.

“It seemed like every time they threw a punch at us, we were able to kind of counteract it,” Blue Devils coach Patrick Bennin said. “We hit big shot after big shot. It was different kids, but I really thought we shot the ball well from the outside tonight.”

The Blue Devils’ lead grew to 53-41 when Alaspa tripled with 4:53 remaining, but once again the Eskymos made things interesting after Nicole Kamin and Taylor Ray knocked down back-to-back treys to pull within 53-47 with just over four minutes to go.

A few moments later, Kamin got fouled hard on her way to the basket and slammed into the wall, forcing her to leave the game for a brief moment. Bink made 1 of 2 free throws in her place to chop the deficit to 53-48 at the 2:38 mark before Sault Ste. Marie’s Lilli Kelgar scored four unanswered points.

After Ray tripled again from the left corner to make it 57-51 with 1:44 left, the Blue Devils executed a full-court pass to Kelgar against Esky’s press while inbounding from underneath their own hoop. Kelgar caught the ball in stride and finished through contact, then completed the 3-point play to ice the game as Esky failed to score the rest of the way.

“It was just an outstanding effort. Our key senior went down, (and our team had) the ability to just kind of put it behind them and bounce back,” Bennin said. “We could have folded with an injury like that, but we just battled back. That’s the advantage of the depth of our team.”

Beveridge felt the same way about his team, which wasn’t expected to make it this far. The Eskymos started a lineup that consisted of two sophomores and a freshman, so winning a district championship seemed pretty far-fetched when the season began.

“It was a great season,” he said. “If you would have told me we were district champs at the start of the year, I would have told you that you were full of (crap). I’m just so proud of them. Great effort, great season, great kids. I love it.”

Bink paced the Eskymos with a season-high 15 points. Bailey Barron and Kamin each added 11, while Ray chipped in 10. Kelgar had 12 for the Sault.

“Bailey started early, Mari kept it up throughout the game and (Maddy) Monkevich does her stuff, too,” Beveridge said. “It’s exciting because we’re only losing one senior starter, and to have four returning, we can be good (next year).”

Sault Ste. Marie 16 18 11 17 — 62

Escanaba 13 11 11 16 — 51

Sault Ste. Marie — Knowles 5, Scott 6, Alaspa 17, Kelgar 12, Haller 9, Erickson 9, Beaumont 2, McLean 2. FT: 13-15; F: 16; Fouled out: None. 3-point field goals: Alaspa 5, Knowles 1, Scott 1, Haller 1, Erickson 1.

Escanaba — Barron 11, Kamin 11, Monkevich 2, Ray 10, Hughes 2, Bink 15. FT: 11-16; F: 12; Fouled out: None. 3-point field goals: Bink 2, Ray 2, Barron 1, Kamin 1.