By Journal Sports Staff

CALUMET — Aubrey Johnson scored 18 of her game-high 30 points in the second half to lead Negaunee to a big 56-35 comeback victory at Calumet in a high school girls basketball game played Monday evening.

In this battle of unbeatens, the Miners improved to 5-0 while the Copper Kings slipped to 3-1.

“(This was) a big win for us on the road tonight against a good Calumet team,” Negaunee head coach Mike O’Donnell said in an email detailing the result. “The final score wasn’t really indicative of how tight the game was.

“Calumet jumped on us early as we found ourselves down 16-8 right out of the gate. Their zone (defense) really bothered us and it took us awhile to start attacking the correct spots.

“We calmed down and start getting some easy buckets on the back side of it and that really opened up the perimeter for us.”

By the end of the first quarter, the Miners were down a more manageable 16-11, then continued working on the deficit in the second quarter to trail by just a single point, 24-23, at halftime.

Then NHS poured it on in the second half, grabbing a 38-29 lead after three quarters and outscoring their hosts 18-6 in the final period for an ending margin of more than 20 points.

Johnson pumped in four 3-pointers in the second half as she made six in all out of her team’s seven on the night.

“Aubrey Johnson played phenomenal for us,” O’Donnell said. “She was able to score from the perimeter and the paint. She really showcased her talent as one of the top guards in the (Upper Peninsula).”

Negaunee’s next highest scorer was Keira Waterman with nine points, while Gretel Johnson added eight. Interestingly, Waterman scored all her points in the first half and Gretel Johnson got all of hers after the intermission.

Kiirsi Johnson paced Calumet with 12 points.

The Miners play at Westwood at 7:15 p.m. Friday before hosting its Irontown Holiday Bash next week at Lakeview Memorial Gymnasium.

Negaunee takes on Ewen-Trout Creek at 5:30 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 27, then plays an opponent to be determined the following afternoon.

Information compiled by Journal Sports Editor Steve Brownlee. His email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.