Todd Rose | Daily Press Carney-Nadeau’s Isiah Tillmon (34) launches himself for a shot as Superior Central’s Garret Koski (32) and Jacob Charlebois defend Tuesday night in Carney.

CARNEY — A three-point streak propelled the Carney-Nadeau Wolves boys basketball team (3-6) to a 49-32 win over the Superior Central Cougars (2-5) Tuesday night in Carney.

Carney went up with a three from Sam Salo 45 seconds into the game. From there, the triples kept falling.

After the Cougars tied it up on a free throw from Zach Frusti and a two-point basket from Emmett Vining, Jerry Lee LaFord started nailing threes. He hit three in a row in the first quarter to help put the Carney squad up 12-6 — the Cougars had a three of their own with nine seconds left in the quarter from Frusti — to end the first.

At the end of the half, 24 of Carney’s 26 points came from three-point shots.

“It feels good (to get the win),” said Wolves coach Mike Polfus. “I think we had eight days off since the Munising game and the kids have been working hard in practice so it’s always nice to see their work pay off a little bit.”

Though the three’s cooled down in the second half for the Wolves, they were able to hold on to take the win 49-32 when time expired.

While happy with shooting from the inside, Polfus thought his team could do a better job shooting from the inside.

“We would have had more (points) if we could make a layup. We missed so many layups,” he said. “But they shot well from the outside which they do every day in practice so it’s good to see them hit some shots.”

All told, LaFord — who led the team with 24 points — had four three-point baskets with several near misses that easily could have put him at seven or eight had they gone in. Freshmen Sam Salo and Elijah Tillmon each had two threes while Peyton Imhoff also had a triple in the final quarter of play.

Defensively, Isiah Tillmon had a nice game with several blocked passes and shots with a pair of steals and boards as well.

Superior Central coach Adam Ely commented that he and his team knew Carney’s tendency to have contagious shooting heading into the game.

“We know going in that they are streaky shooters and they can shoot the leads and, hopefully, shoot themselves out of it,” Ely said.

Leading the Cougars in scoring were seniors Frusti — who ended the night with three triples of his own — and Koski with 18 and nine points, respectively.

“They lead us,” Ely said. “Zach is very athletic. A late basketball player so he’s learning on the fly and as a senior which is hard to do.

“We only have six guys so they play every minute and they try to do a lot for us and I give them credit for that.”

Prior to the varsity contest, fans were treated to an entertaining junior varsity matchup that ended with the Wolves holding off a charging Cougars team 51-47.

Both the Carney-Nadeau Wolves and Superior Central Cougars hit the court again on Friday.

The Cougars host the Rapid River Rockets in Eben while the Wolves hit the road to take on the Forest Park Trojans in Crystal Falls.

Superior Central 6 12 7 7 — 32

Carney-Nadeau 12 14 9 14 — 49

Superior Central — Frusti 18, Koski 9, Vining 3, Swetich 2; FT: 7-16; Fouled out: None; 3-point field goals: Frusti 3.

Carney-Nadeau — LaFord 24, Imhoff 8, Salo 8, Elijah Tillmon 6, Isiah Tillmon 3; FT: 6-9; Fouled out: Imhoff; 3-point filed goals: LaFord 4, Salo 2, Elijah Tillmon 2, Imhoff.