HARRIS — Having a cushion to work with proved helpful to the Bark River-Harris girls in a 59-37 basketball victory over Iron Mountain here Thursday night.

BR-H gained a 42-23 advantage on a lay-in by senior guard Mckenzie Hoffmeyer late in the third quarter of this non-conference contest.

The Mountaineers didn’t just go away, however, as they shaved their deficit to 46-32 on a 21-foot jump shot by senior guard Ashlyn Bal early in the fourth.

She (coach Karen Ellis) has those girls playing hard,” BR-H coach Matt Richer said. “They looked better than they showed on film. It’s a good thing we had that lead. Tonight we came out well, then we kind of relaxed. We had a couple bad turnovers and they got a couple hoops.”

The Broncos answered with a 12-3 run, gaining an insurmountable 58-35 advantage on another bucket by Zawada with less than two minutes remaining.

“They’re a very good team,” Elliis said. “They’re also a physical team, but I thought we held our own. I thought we were very scrappy on defense. We pressured them pretty well. Only, we didn’t shoot our best tonight. They’re very quick and play tough defense. We have some young players who are trying to get used to the speed and physicality of varsity basketball. I’m happy with how they played.”

BR-H took a 31-16 cushion on a jump shot from the left corner by senior point guard Nina Bower halfway through the second stanza.

A jumper from the left corner by senior forward Emily Copley got Iron Mountain within 31-19 with 70 seconds left in the second frame. Bower answered with a 20-foot jumper from the left wing, giving the Broncos a 34-19 halftime advantage.

“Nina had whale of a first half and Lauren played a strong second half,” Richer said. “They made that run when Nina was on the bench (with four fouls in the third frame). I never had to sit her down for fouls before. They change to a 3-2 and pushed their pressure out.”

Zawada led the Broncos with 21 points, 12 rebounds and six steals. Bower scored 16 of her 18 points in the first half and finished with six assists. Hoffmeyer added 15 points, six boards and five steals.

Bal and junior forward Macy Linsenbigler scored 11 points each for the Mountaineers, who committed 23 turnovers. The Broncos had 16 miscues.

The Broncos (5-1) are idle until Jan. 2 when they host Manistique. The Mountaineers (1-4) host Houghton Jan. 2.

Iron Mountain 7 12 8 10 — 37

Bark River-Harris 16 18 9 16 — 59

Iron Mountain — Pickett 4, Copley 7, Bal 11, Sampoll 4, Linsenbigler 11. FT: 3-11; F: 17; Fouled out: Linsenbigler; 3-point field goals: Bal 3, Copley

Bark River-Harris — Bower 18, Javurek 1, Varoni 2, Zawada 21, M. Hoffmeyer 15, Peterson 2. FT: 6-8; F: 12; Fouled out: None; 3-point field goals: Bower 2, M. Hoffmeyer.