Justin St. Ours | Daily Press Escanaba’s Katelyn Stalboerger (23) blocks a shot from Calumet’s Helen Beiring (behind) as teammate Bailey Barron (2) looks Friday in Escanaba.

ESCANABA — The Escanaba girls had upset on their minds and accomplished that in a 55-50 triumph over top-ranked Calumet here Friday night.

Calumet led 21-8 following a jump shot from the right corner by senior Marybeth Halonen late in the first quarter.

Esky (7-5) answered with an 8-0 run, slicing its deficit to 21-16 on a layup by freshman forward Grayson LaMarche midway through the second.

The Copper Kings, who fell to 9-1, pushed their lead to 25-16 on a fast break layup by senior Alexis Strom.

Esky then scored seven unanswered points and trailed just 25-23 at halftime after junior guard Mari Bink split two free throws.

“In the second quarter, we were switching our defenses and found one they weren’t comfortable with,” said Esky coach Mike Beveridge. “We changed from a full-court press to a half-court trap, and it seemed to work. We knew they were good and hoping our girls would show up, and they did. We told them anybody can beat anybody on any given night. I had a feeling we could play with them. At halftime, we told the girls we can beat them and they believed in each other. It was just a non-stop war out there.”

Calumet led 29-25 after senior Laura Giachino sank a jumper from between two defenders early in the third.

The Eskymos then surged ahead 31-29 on a putback by sophomore guard Kiera Maki with four minutes, 10 seconds left in the third stanza.

alonen tied the score just eight seconds later.

Esky responded with an 8-0 run, gaining a 39-31 advantage on a putback by senior center Caydence Carter with one second left in the third.

The Eskymos still led 44-37 following an eight-foot jumper by LaMarche with 5:45 left to play.

Calumet responded with an 11-3 run, taking a 48-47 lead on a pair of gifters by sophomore Isabel Loukus with 2 1/2 minutes left.

Esky trailed 50-49 with 45 seconds remaining before junior forward Katelyn Stalboerger converted a putback for a 51-50 lead.

Maki scored from the boulevard, then secured the decision with a pair of free throws in the final 10.3 seconds.

“We had the momentum going our way,” said Calumet coach Matt Laho. “Then we had a couple bad turnovers, made a few poor decisions and missed some shots, and momentum went their way. It’s better for this to happen now than in the tournaments. We can learn from this.”

Calumet played without senior point guard Jana Loukus who was attending a family funeral.

“She’s our leader,” said Calumet coach Matt Laho. “Our younger girls had to adjust and learn on the fly. Games like this are only going to make us better. Every team wants to be undefeated, but that’s very difficult to do. I thought the girls who were here played tough.”

Maki paced the Eskymos with 23 points, and LaMarche added a career-high 13.

“Keira is as tough as nails,” said Beveridge. “She’s just growing up so fast and Grayson had a huge game. We told our girls they were in uncharted territory. We could see they were a little tight in the third quarter and were hoping our momentum would carry over into the fourth. Our defensive pressure kept us in it. They made us play intense basketball for four quarters.

Halonen, who sank six 3-point shots, scored 21 points for Calumet. Alexis Strom had 11.

“I thought Alexis played tough, and Marybeth’s threes were huge for us,” said Laho.

The Eskymos committed 27 turnovers, and the Copper Kings had 25.

Calumet, which won the jayvee game 50-19, visits Hancock Monday. Esky goes to West Iron County Thursday.

Calumet 21 4 6 19 — 50

Escanaba 9 14 16 16 — 55

Calumet — C. Strom 5, I. Loukus 2, Kariniemi 5, M. Halonen 21, Giachino 6, A. Strom 11. FT: 5-13; F: 17; Fouled out: None; 3-point field goals: M. Halonen 6, Kariniemi, C. Strom.

Escanaba — Monkevich 4, Maki 23, Dutton 1, Stalboerger 5, Bink 7, LaMarche 13, Carter 2. FT: 11-20; F: 17; Fouled out: None; 3-point field goals: Maki, LaMarche.