Escanaba senior Grayson LaMarche (white jersey) puts up a contested shot in the paint over Sault Ste. Marie sophomore Madee Darlingduring a game against Sault Ste. Marie on Dec. 5, 2024 at Escanaba High School. (“The Big Dog” Mitch Vosburg/Daily Press

ESCANABA –After suffering a 41-point loss to Negaunee two days prior, Escanaba girls’ basketball played host to a familiar face for its home opener on Thursday.

Sault Ste. Marie. The same team which erased a double-digit halftime deficit to knock the Eskymos of the district tournament a year ago.

Esky showed improvements from Tuesday’s season opener, but Blue Devils’ sophomore Piper Bell proved to be too much in a 50-42 loss.

“I was very proud of how my girls battled tonight,” Esky coach Tracy Hudson said. “It’s just the little things. I see a lot of areas that we can clean up. We’re making some of these unforced turnovers, but I think we can do a little better job of getting a little bit more comfortable on a half-court offense.

“Everybody had their stretches, we just need more consistent play out of each person.”

The Eskymos walked into halftime trailing 27-24. It was a manageable three-point hole. But Bell began to take over in the third frame. The sophomore came away with nine points in the third frame, capped with a successful shot beyond the arc. The Eskymos mustered four points off a layup from Landry Brady and a pair of free throws from Grayson LaMarche. Esky trailed 36-28 entering the fourth.

The Eskymos, however, showed signs of life in the fourth quarter. Despite being down by seven points, Esky senior Natalie Beauchamp had an open look from inside the paint.

Then Bell arrived at the scene. She blocked Beauchamp’s layup, gathered the ball and went coast-to-coast for a layup. What could’ve been a five-point deficit ballooned into a nine-point hole.

“If we missed a deflection or didn’t get a rebound they got a layup,” Hudson said. “All of a sudden it goes from ‘being (a three-point deficit) to we’re down by seven. It’s just one of those things.”

Sault opened its lead to 44-33 with under three minutes remaining. But Esky senior Emerson Salo began to make some noise.

It wasn’t by throwing a verbal insult toward the direction of the Blue Devils’ bench. It was with back-to-back 3-pointers to anchor a 6-2 run which put the Eskymos down 46-39 with momentum and 2:36 left to play.

The Eskymos shrank the deficit to 48-42 when a layup from Bell was met with a 3-pointer from senior Clara Braun, but the orange and black ran out of gas. Junior Landry Bray couldn’t connect from beyond the arc. Braun’s final 3-point attempt of the contest was tipped.

“I’m happy anytime to come out here with a win in Escanaba after a 3 1/2 hour road trip,” Sault coach Patrick Bennin said. “I thought our girls responded through a little bit of adversity and played well when they needed to.”

Despite committing 15 turnovers in the first half, the Eskymos caught fire in the half’s final moments. Junior Ava Stalboerger connected twice from beyond the arc to turn a 20-18 deficit into a 24-22 lead. But the Blue Devils clapped back with a triple from junior Gracie Akridge and a jumper from sophomore Ahnaka Oshleski to carry a three-point advantage into the break.

“We got better than we did against Marquette,” Bennin said. “We’re young, and we’re going to continue to improve.”

Despite falling to 0-2 on the season, the Eskymos showed signs of improvement. After committing 31 turnovers to Negaunee the Eskymos committed 23 on Thursday and finished 5-of-17 from 3-point range.

“I feel like we took a positive step,” Hudson said. “We have to get more efficient as far as taking care of the ball. We have to get more efficient in our offense and become more acclimated to one another.”

The Eskymos are idle until Dec. 13th when Bark River-Harris rolls into town. The Blue Devils face Chelsea at 3 p.m. Saturday.

Box Score

Escanaba 12 12 4 14 — 42

Sault Ste. Marie 16 11 9 14 — 50

Escanaba — Salo 7, LaMarche 11, Braun 3, Stalboerger 6, Lamb 6, Bray 9; FT: 9-15; Fouls: 15; Fouled out: none; 3-pointers: Salo 2, Stalboerger 2, Braun 1

Sault Ste. Marie — McLean 3, Bell 19, Oshelski 9, Pace 2, Love 7, Darling 3, Bergeron 5, Fazzari 2; FT: 10-12; Fouls: 11; 3-pointers: McLean 1, Bell 1, Love 1, Bergeron 1