Escanaba senior Nick Garcia (10) attempts an off-balance shot during a game against Sault Ste. Marie on Jan. 25, 2025 at Escanaba High School. (“The Big Dog” Mitch Vosburg/Daily Press)

ESCANABA — For the first time in the year 2025 Escanaba boys’ basketball found itself in the win column.

The Eskymos snapped their five-game losing streak with a 58-37 win over Sault Ste. Marie on Saturday.

“We’ve been needing one,” Esky coach Tom Gereau said. “It’s been a long stretch, and a hard stretch. We’re going up against all the top teams in the U.P.. It’s hard to keep energized when we keep getting beat.”

Esky (7-8) saw its four-point lead shrink to a single point when Blue Devils’ (1-12) junior Trevon Maleport connected from long range to cut the orange and black’s lead to 15-14 midway through the second frame. It would also be the last made field goal for Sault.

Six different Eskymos contributed to a 12-2 run which aided the home team to claim a 29-16 lead at intermission. A run which featured a Hayven Sandoval-Nolde 3-pointer being the only points not scored in the paint in the run. Senior Alex Morgan made a free throw to complete a 3-point play.

It was the spurt that ultimately proved to be too much for the Blue Devils and give Esky a crucial home win.

“We’re just finding guys,” Gereau said. “We’re finding guys in the high post, and then we’re looking at cutters coming along the baseline. We found our guys today, and we got finishes.”

Saturday’s game also featured seven points from Braden Cooper. The sophomore was utilized as a fifth-quarter player up to this point in the season, meaning he could play five quarters of basketball between the varsity and junior varsity programs at any given night.

But those days are over for Cooper. He’s now  a full-time varsity player.

“Braden is a good player,” Gereau said of the sophomore. “He’s a good ball handler and he can score. We’re kind of lacking in both ball handling and scoring. His coming up is going to be big for us.”

For the Blue Devils, Saturday’s loss is another in a long line of growing experiences.

“It’s on us to figure it out,” Blue Devils coach Matt Miller said. “We’re kind of beating ourselves up in a lot of games, making the same mental mistakes over and over. If we can figure out a way to overcome that and climb the mountain I think we’re going to be fine.”

Takeaways

Escanaba: Offensively, you could’ve called this team Sherwin-Williams, because they were successful in the paint. Esky scored 40 of its 58 points in the paint while finishing 9-of-14 from the free throw line.

Sault Ste. Marie: While the Blue Devils fell to 1-11 on the season, they did find success on the perimeter. Sault finished with seven made 3-point shots. The Blue Devils finished 6-of-12 from the free throw line and made five shots inside the arc.

“We’ve introduced a couple new shooting drills (in practice),” Martin said. “Guys are figuring out how to get themselves open and be ready to catch and shoot.”

Next games

Escanaba: Travels to play Menominee in a Great Northern Conference clash at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday. The Maroons (8-6) conquered Gladstone 71-47 on Friday.

Sault Ste. Marie: Hosts Brimley (6-6) at 7 p.m. Monday. The Bays are coming off a 64-21 win over Engadine.

Box score

Escanaba 9 20 11 18 — 58

Sault Ste. Marie 8 8 12 9 — 37

Escanaba — Stevenson 16, Garcia 4, Fields 3, Morgan 7, Asgaard 2, Cooper 7; FT: 9-14; Fouls: 11; Technical Fouls: Garcia 1; 3-point baskets: Sandoval-Nolde 2, Fields 1

Sault Ste. Marie — Johnson 11, Maleport 10, Rutledge 2, Causley 2, Maurer 4, Fazzari 8; FT: 6-12; Fouls: 14; Fouled out: Causley; 3-point baskets: Johnson 3, Maleport 2, Fazzari 2