HARRIS — A solid defensive effort helped keep the Escanaba boys afloat in the first half until their offense kicked in here Thursday night in a 55-21 basketball victory over the Bark River-Harris Broncos.

Esky led 21-8 at halftime of this non-conference outing.

“Our defense applied good pressure on the ball,” Esky coach Tom Gereau said. “In the first half we were getting good looks at the basket, but our shots weren’t dropping. We finally started knocking down a few shots in the second half. We told the guys to go in and finish strong. The game got really physical, but that’s okay. We’ll see a lot of that in the Great Northern Conference.”

BR-H senior forward Jacob Mileski opened the third quarter with a 19-foot running jump shot.

Esky (3-1) responded with nine unanswered points, gaining a 30-10 cushion on a pair of free throws by junior forward Lennox Peacock midway through the third.

The Eskymos led 36-16 at the end of the third stanza before BR-H junior guard Brayden Derouin opened the fourth with a lay-in.

Esky extended its lead to 43-20 on a 20-foot jumper from the left wing by A.J. Schroeder with 5:03 left in the game.

Derouin split a pair of free throws nine seconds later. The Broncos, however, didn’t score through the remainder of the contest.

“We were selfish,” BR-H coach Nick Lippens said. “You can’t do that against a school three times your size. We made it more difficult for ourselves than we had to. Everybody wants to score, yet you have to share the ball.  I don’t want to over-react, but we have to play better to compete with Iron Mountain and Menominee and other teams in our (Division 3) district.”

The Broncos (1-2) were within 8-5 following a jumper from the left corner by Derouin with 1:40 left in the opening frame.

Javon Stevenson split two gifters and Adam Prey added a three-foot jumper to put the Eskymos up 11-5 after the first.

BR-H got within 15-8 on a steal and layup by junior Carson Latsch midway through the second.

Esky finished the second with a 6-0 run, taking its 13-point advantage into the halftime locker room on Prey’s layup set up on an inbound pass by senior guard Nick Garcia.

“I’m happy all the players got in,” Gereau said. “We feel good about finishing the game strong. Our bench energy was really good.”

Stevenson and Peacock scored 12 points each and Braden Cooper added eight in a reserve role for the Eskymos. Derouin hit nine for the Broncos.

“Defensively, we played a good game,” Lippens said. “Offensively, we have to make it easier for ourselves.”

The Broncos committed 22 turnovers and the Eskymos had 16.

Esky, which hosted Kingsford Friday, hosts Norway Monday. BR-H visits Rapid River Tuesday.

Box score

Escanaba 11 10 15 19 — 55

BR-Harris 5 3 8 5 — 21

Escanaba — Stevenson 12, Schroeder 5, Jacques 2, Peacock 12, Prey 6, Morgan 5, Sandoval-Nolde 5, Cooper 8. FT: 7-15; F; 19; Fouled out: None; 3-point field goals: Stevenson, Schroeder.

Bark River-Harris — Mileski 2, Derouin 9, Knauf 2, Spear 2, McDonough 4, Latsch 2. FT: 4-8; F: 13; Fouled out: None; 3-point field goal: Derouin.