JUNIOR LINDSEY Claus scored half of the Hurons 34 points in Tuesday’s loss to Onaway. (Photo by Peter Jakey)

It wasn’t the district tuneup Huron girls’ basketball coach David O’Bryant wanted. The Hurons (3-15, 2-6) face Onaway Feb. 29 at 6 p.m. in a district semifinal game at home. With 13 days before the county rivals meet again in the state playoffs, Onaway has the edge heading into the tournament, following a 53-34 win Tuesday in Rogers City. Any momentum gained from an 8-4 Huron run at the end of the second quarter, which got the home team within four, 20-16, was lost at halftime as the Cardinals went on a 16-2 third quarter run to take control.

“Being a team that we know we are going to play in districts, we wanted to show we could compete with them and make a game of it,” said O’Bryant. “We did that in the first half. We had an offensive lull in the second half that really let them break the game open.” O’Bryant said his squad needs to do a better job of converting shots. “We had a lot of opportunities, a lot of close baskets.”

“It’s a good team win,” said Onaway coach Marty Mix, “because Rogers City is an improved team, from the first time we played them until now. We get one more clash with them. Hopefully, we play better next time.” THE HURONS were coming off a 39-36 home win last Friday. “The girls played hard and came back in the second half,” said O’Bryant. “We shot the ball quite a bit better and executed the game plan a little bit better.” Friday’s scoring also was spread out with no players in double digits. Lindsey Claus and Brooklyn Idalski had nine each.

Claus’ 17 points was half of Rogers City’s offense Tuesday against Onaway. There were no other players in double digits. The Hurons trailed by only two, 7-5 in the first, before Onaway scored six straight at the end of the first. The Cards’ Ashley LeCureux made a three in the first minute of the second quarter to give her club a 10-point lead. A Claus bucket at the 5:42 mark chased away some of the offensive cobwebs; however, Onaway kept answering. In the last two minutes, the Hurons went on a 6-0 run. Claus hit a shot from the low post, as did Rebecca Meredith. The run was capped on an inbound pass play to Claus with 48 seconds left. One bright spot was the fourth quarter free-throw shooting. They made 10-of-12 with Courtney Streich leading the way by making all four.

The junior varsity improved to 14-4 with a 49-25 victory. Cassidy Purgiel had 13, while Alexa Quaine had 12. Logan Fleming, Ashley Hilla and Torri Delekta had six apiece. They also knocked off Newberry, 35-24, avenging a two-point loss in the first meeting in the U.P. Hilla had 12, while Fleming had eight.