Escanaba senior Grayson LaMarche (14) secures a rebound during a Great Northern Conference girls' basketball game against Menominee on Jan. 13, 2025 at Escanaba High School. LaMarche earned a 24-point, 13-rebound double-double in an overtime win over the Maroons. ("The Big Dog" Mitch Vosburg/Daily Press)

ESCANABA — With less than 15 seconds to go, Escanaba girls’ basketball needed to come up with a big play.

The Eskymos trailed Menominee 39-37 in this particular moment, but there was no panic. Knees weren’t weak, arms weren’t heavy, jerseys were clean with no bits of vomit from mom’s spaghetti on the Eskymos’ white jerseys.

Esky head coach Tracy Hudson dialed up a play called horns high ghost. This play sets a screen to allow senior center Grayson LaMarche to roll to the basket for a layup.

It’s also a look they Eskymos practiced once, maybe twice throughout the season. The call was a gamble, but it paid off mightily when LaMarche connected in the paint with 11.4 second left to tie the game at 39.

Esky never looked back, dominating overtime for a 48-40 Great Northern Conference win over Menominee on Monday.

“We knew it was going to be a cat fight all night long,” Esky coach Tracy Hudson said. “It was back and forth. We were fortunate to come out in overtime (with the win).”

The Eskymos (5-5) got a stop on the ensuing Maroons possession to force overtime. Menominee (4-5, 0-2 GNC) hadn’t played in an overtime game since earning a 47-45 win over Kingsley in the regional semifinal game on March 11, 2019 per the MHSAA website. The Eskymos last played in overtime on Thursday, a 45-38 loss in Kingsford.

The experience paid dividends for the orange and black.

Esky got a pair of baskets from LaMarche for a 43-39 lead. Then senior Katey Lamb got a steal and found senior Clara Braun open in the corner.

But here’s the catch: Braun was 0-for-6 from 3-point land thus far. And in this particular moment she heaved 3-point attempt No. 7.

It so happened to be nothing but net, and the Eskymos led 46-39 with 2:28 to go in overtime, a lead which proved to be too much for the Maroons.

“I always told Clare you’re going to miss 100% of the shots you never take,” said Hudson while simultaneously channeling his inner Wayne Gretzky and Michael Scott. “As a shooter you have to have a short memory. Her job is to knock down threes. She’s one of our green light shooters. Some nights we haven’t knocked them down, but she had a great game tonight.”

LaMarche was too much to handle on Monday night. The future University of Michigan softball player earned a double-double with 24 points and 13 rebounds while also earning four blocks, two steals and two assists.

“She’s a winner,” Hudson said of LaMarche. “The University of Michigan wouldn’t have gone after her if she wasn’t. You saw that tonight. (She’s a) great Leader, a great teammate.”

Despite suffering a loss in a game which saw eight lead changes and six ties, Menominee head coach Lucas Chouinard was happy with the effort from a team with 11 juniors and three seniors.

“It’s a great learning experience for our girls to be in a game like this in an atmosphere like this,” Chouinard said. “Hopefully we can take what we did not do well here in overtime and apply that forward, moving on with the rest of the season.”

The Maroons were paced offensively by junior Gianna Coduti, who netted 15 points off a 10-of-14 showing from the free throw line.

“(With) this (season) being her third year on varsity we definitely look to her for a lot of things not only defensively, but offensively as well,” Chouinard said. “I think the last couple games she struggled a little bit on the offensive end, so it was nice for her to come out here and have the success that she did tonight.”

Takeaways

Menominee: Despite mustering one point in overtime, the Maroons showed the ability to keep pace with Escanaba and produced offense on the perimeter against Hudson’s trademark 1-3-1 zone. Junior Ava Chouinard, who tallied 13 points, produced four of the Maroons’ five made 3-pointers.

Escanaba: The Eskymos earned a crucial GNC win despite a lukewarm shooting night. Esky finished 17-of-50 from the field, 2-of-9 from beyond the arc and 6-of-16 from the free throw line.

Next games

Menominee: Faces D-4 No. 1 St. Ignace in the opening game of the 2025 B.C. Pizza Classic at 7:15 p.m. Friday in St. Ignace.

Escanaba: Trips to face Bark River-Harris at 7:30 p.m. Friday.

Box score

Escanaba 11 8 11 9 9 — 48

Menominee 15 7 6 11 1 — 40

Escanaba — Engebretson 6, LaMarche 24, Braun 9, Stalboerger 3, Lamb 4, Moberg 2; FT: 6-16; Fouls: 12; 3-point baskets: Braun 1, Stalboerger 1

Menominee — Chouinard 13, Coduti 15, Schuettpelz 6, Marineau 4, Olsen 2; FT: 13-18; Fouls: 11; 3-point baskets: Chouinard 4, Coduti 1