CARNEY — Defense was the name of the game for the second-ranked Carney-Nadeau girls here Friday night in a 48-25 basketball triumph over North Dickinson in a Division 4 district final.

The victory sends the Wolves to the regional tournament at Kingsford where they’ll face Superior Central Tuesday at 7:45 p.m.

Superior Central also took care of its home court in a 55-47 conquest of Munising Friday.

The Wolves ran a tight man-to-man defense, making it difficult for the Nordics to work the ball inside.

“We really locked in defensively,” said C-N coach Ken Linder. “We’re pleased the girls played hard for 32 minutes. Kelsie Smith did a fabulous job on Ashton Hord. At halftime, we told the girls they did a fantastic job making them work for their points.”

The Wolves gained a 26-14 halftime advantage on junior forward Shae Linder’s buzzer-beating 19-foot set shot from the right wing.

Senior guard Chrislyn Inglese sank a 21-foot jump shot from the right wing to shave North Dickinson’s deficit to 26-17 early in the third quarter.

The Wolves answered with a 10-3 run, gaining a 36-20 advantage on a 20-foot set shot by junior guard Carley Messersmith. with three minutes, 16 seconds left in the third.

C-N led 40-24 after the third, then outscored the Nordics 8-1 in the fourth.

The Wolves led 13-5 after the opening frame and extended their lead to 24-9 on a 19-foot set shot by freshman guard Grace Maule late in the second.

North Dickinson scored the next five points and trimmed their deficit to 24-14 on an 18-foot set shot by Inglese, setting the stage for Shae Linder’s buzzer-beating triple.

Maule led the Wolves with 14 points. Senior center Tessa Wagner was often double and triple-teamed but still collected 12 points to go with her four blocked shots. Shae Linder also had 12 points.

“Our goal was to not let Wagner score,” said Nordics coach Kirk Mattson. “We felt that was our best shot. We told the girls, ‘if they’re going to beat us, they’re going to have to do from outside.’ Our tallest girl is 5-foot-8. We’re quick, but it’s hard to match up with size (6-3) like that. They moved the ball well.”

Inglese scored eight points, and senior guard Ashton Hord had seven.

“It was a challenge guarding her (Nord),” said Smith. “She’s an amazing player and kept me on my toes. I studied a lot of film and knew what to expect from her. I wanted to keep her under her average.”

The Wolves committed 12 turnovers, and the Nordics had six.

“We were patient,” said Mattson. “We took care of the ball. The girls played hard. They have only one loss for a reason. They’re obviously a very good team. We had a good season. We’ve got some juniors coming back.”

Wagner said she expected to draw heavy defensive attention.

“We knew they were going to play a 2-3 zone, but somebody would be open all the time,” she added. “We just worked the ball around and waited for an opening. I definitely knew this game wasn’t going to be my last. Kelsie did an amazing job on Ashton. I was 10 feet away from her and Chrislyn all the time but got there quickly when I had to. We reversed the ball real good. Everything we worked on in practice, we did in the game.”

The teams split their games during the regular season, with the Nordics winning 48-46 on their floor Jan. 12 and the Wolves winning 48-30 at home Feb. 24.

“That loss took a lot of pressure off us,” said Wagner. “We needed that loss.”

The teams combined for just 10 fouls, including three on the Wolves.

“Tessa did a great job distributing the ball,” said coach Linder. “It was a pretty clean game. There weren’t very many turnovers. They like to run and gun and we decided we didn’t want to get into that type of game.”

North Dickinson 5 9 10 1 — 25

Carney-Nadeau 13 13 14 8 — 48

North Dickinson — V. Lindholm 5, Inglese 8, A. Hord 7, M. Lindholm 2, A. Hord 3. FT: 1-5; F: 7; Fouled out: None; 3-point field goals: Inglese 2, V. Lindholm, A. Hord.

Carney-Nadeau — Smith 4, Linder 12, Wagner 12, Maule 14, Messersmith 6. FT: 4-5; F: 3; 3-point field goals: Maule 2, Messersmith 2.