Todd Rose | Daily Press Mid Peninsula’s Landry Koski (front) shoots a layup against Rapid River defender Monica Thibault Tuesday at Mid Pen.

ST. NICHOLAS — It was a successful season opener at home for the Mid Peninsula Wolverines (1-0) as they defeated the Rapid River Rockets 44-23 Tuesday night in St. Nicholas.

While happy with the win, Mid Pen coach Phil Croasdell noted a bit of first-game nervousness from the Wolverines.

“We had first-game jitters, a lot of missed bunnies,” Croasdell said. “But, we had a lot of hustle. I mean, every kid 100 percent. We got everybody in there. … I think everybody got decent playing time, and it was overall a great team win.”

Following a pair of sunken free throws from Rachel Johnson to put the Wolverines up 2-0, Rapid answered back with a two-point basket from Monica Thibault and two free throws of their own from Megan Dausey to take the lead 4-2.

Being behind, though, lit a fire under Mid Pen as Landry Koski — who led her team in scoring with 15 points — scored eight of the team’s ten next points to finish out the last half of the opening quarter.

Eighth-grader Claire VanDamme — who showed no signs of being intimated playing at the varsity level — had two of her four for the night for the other two points to close out the quarter.

“Landry played a great game,” said Croasdell. “(She was) a great floor leader tonight and had a decent amount of steals, rebounds and some assists.

“(Claire) is going to be a force. For eighth-grader, she’s a smart kid. Still a little green, but she is going to be a good one in the future. She plays more like a junior or senior than eighth-grader.”

Croasdell also noted Mary McNally’s performance as one that stood out, too. She led the team in rebounds with 11 total.

For the Rockets, a night that began a bit shorthanded — as they started the game with seven — became even more of a challenge when Natalie Snay left the game in the opening quarter.

Though the game didn’t go in their favor, coach Scott Goodacre was happy with the grit the Rockets showed.

“We’re down one, and then we’re down two … that was tough,” said Goodacre. “That whole first half, I had them pressuring, and I had one girl to spare. And I kept asking them to keep going, and they did. They did. I saw they were starting to get tired, so that third quarter we kind of backed off a little bit.”

Goodacre noted the team’s performance on defense as a bright spot in the game though things on the other side of the ball did not go quite as well.

“I thought we did pretty good on defense,” he said. “… Our biggest struggle, I told the girls tonight. We did not run our offense the way it’s supposed to be ran. Everybody can tell that. Everybody. But, we just have to keep going at it.”

Megan Dausey led the Rockets with 12 points on the night.

Up next for Rapid River is a home opener against the North Central Jets Thursday.

The Wolverines travel to Carney-Nadeau to face the defending district and regional champion Wolves Friday.

Rapid River 4 4 6 9 — 23

Mid Peninsula 12 10 13 7 — 44

Rapid River — Dausey 12, Thibault 4, Semear 4, Nelson 3; FT: 3-6; Fouled out: None.

Mid Peninsula — Koski 15, Johnson 11, McNally 6, Lampinen 4, Claire VanDamme 4, Hemminger 2, Maddy VanDamme 1, Tia Nummilien 1; FT: 9-24; Fouled out: None; 3-point field goals: Johnson 2, Lampinen.