ISHPEMING — The Bark River-Harris boys basketball team (102) earned its first victory of the season with a 49-44 win against the Ishpeming Hematites (1-2) Monday night in Ishpeming.

Though things started off a bit slow for the Broncos on offense, things started to improve as the game progressed, said coach Nick Lippens.

“We came out slow on offense but were working the ball around well,” Lippens commented. “Our defense stepped up in the first quarter and kept us in it. We started to hit some shots and settle in as the game went on.”

AJ Miley and Trevor Lippens anchored the Broncos’ offensive attack with 19 and 12 points, respectively.

“AJ Miley stepped up big tonight and made some great decisions on the court,” said coach Lippens. “As a team in the second half, we controlled the pace really well. Our defense got aggressive and started forcing turnovers. Andon Metzer and Logan Getzloff played great in transition off of those turnovers and were able to find Trevor Lippens and AJ Miley when they popped open.”

Coach Lippens added that the win was also the best performance from the team thus far this season.

“We for sure played our best all-around game of the season thus far and I’m extremely happy with the improvement I’m seeing from my team,” he said.

Bark River-Harris is back on the court against Iron Mountain tonight.

Bark River 3 12 16 18 — 49

Ishpeming 6 15 14 9 — 44

Bark River-Harris — Miley 19, Lippens 12, Getzloff 6, Tufnell 3, Metzer 2, Drossart 2, Johnsen 2; FT: 8-19; Fouled out: None; 3-point field goals: Miley 3, Lippens 2, Getzloff.

Ishpeming — Sundberg 11, Parker Gauthier 12, Preston Gauthier 4, Prosser 14, Argall 3; FT: 9-11; Fouled out: Preston Gauthier, Parker Gauthier; 3-point field goals: Parker Gauthier 2, Argall.