Justin St. Ours | Daily Press Escanaba’s Lilia Hughes (30) and Maddy Monkevich (10) corral a rebound against Kingsford Thursday at Escanaba.

ESCANABA — It was Senior Night for the Escanaba girls basketball team, and the seniors and parents in the stands could hardly ask for a better one as the Eskymos froze Kingsford 71-27 Thursday at Escanaba in a Great Northern Conference match-up.

“I think it was important that we recognize our seniors and these three special ladies,” Esky coach Mike Beveridge said. “They’ve been in the program for eight years, and I had them in elementary school as a student when I was a teacher. So, to watch them grow up and become fine young ladies (has been amazing). They’re excellent people on and off the court.

“It’s bittersweet. I’m going to miss them, but the sweet part is they get to move on and go into that next stage of their life. So, best wishes to them, and they’ll do well in whatever they do.”

The Flivvers (1-12) had some success at the start, dropping two unanswered baskets in the first minute, but 1:15 into the first, Esky’s Nicole Kamin — its leading scorer with 21 points — juked between Kingsford defenders to lay one in and start a 14-0 run for the Eskymos that lasted three and a half minutes.

With 3:25 left in the first, Kingsford’s Christina Glodowski — who led the team with 15 points — went 1-of-2 from the line to cut its deficit to 14-5, but the Eskymos made sure those were its final points of the quarter while adding another 10 of its own to lead 24-5 at the end of the first.

“I really think Christy Glodowski had a great game tonight,” Flivvers coach Jon Lorenzoni said. “She kept battling and made her shots.”

The first half of the second quarter was fairly quiet apart from Kingsford going 2-for-4 from the charity stripe along with a triple from Glodowski to cut its deficit to 27-10 after a bucket from Esky’s Carney Salo.

The Eskymos (9-4) dominated on the back half of the second, with Kamin draining a trey with 4:12 left to kick off a 14-1 run to seal the game and earn them a 40-11 lead at the half.

With one game left in the season — against Bark River-Harris today — the Eskymos accomplished another milestone. Junior Morgan Gartland sank a bucket with 3:52 left in the third quarter to score her first points of the season to make sure every player on the varsity team made it on the scoreboard this season.

“Morgan Gartland got her first points of the season, and the girls were cheering for her,” Beveridge said. “They have been every game she gets in, hoping she gets it, so everybody on the team has scored at least some points this season.”

Mari Bink also chipped in 15 for Escanaba, and Carney Salo collected 12.

“I think Escanaba is a good team, and I wanted to shout out Nicole (Kamin),” Lorenzoni said. “She’s certainly a special player, and it’s been fun to compete against her.”

The Eskymos face Bark River at Bark River tomorrow before preparing for a Division 2 district semifinal against Gladstone in Gladstone Tuesday.

“I told the girls: ‘We’re four and four, and we’ve got six games left. We’ve got to run the table.’ I said that five games ago, and the girls took on that challenge. We did it, and we beat some good teams along the way. It is very important to go in(to districts) with wins and getting your momentum going in the right direction.”

The Flivvers travel to Houghton Tuesday for a Division 2 district semifinal against Houghton.

“In the locker room after the game, I saw in the girls’ eyes that they’re still believing in capturing magic in a bottle for next week and that they’re going to get in and work hard,” Lorenzoni said. “Hopefully we can get in and do work. No matter how many times you lose in the season, in the district, it’s like a brand new season.”

Kingsford 5 6 9 7 — 27

Escanaba 24 16 20 11 — 71

Kingsford — Glodowski 15, Bartolini 6, Penegor 3, Malone 3; F: 10; Fouled out: none; FT: 4-8; 3-point field goals: Glodowski 3.

Escanaba — Kamin 21, Bink 15, Salo 12, Barron 7, Gartland 5, Lancour 4, Carter 3, Dutton 2, Hughes 2; F: 11; Fouled out: none; FT: 5-10; 3-point field goals: Kamin 3, Bink 2, Barron 1, Salo 1, Gartland 1.