NEGAUNEE — Playing tight man-to-man defense has been a Negaunee basketball tradition for many years.

The Negaunee girls did just that Friday night, and it resulted in a 47-30 triumph over Gladstone in a Division 2 District Final.

The victory enabled the Miners to improve to 23-1 and advance to the Regional Semifinal at Manistique, where they’ll face Petoskey (20-3) tonight at 7.

Negaunee is giving up only 30.9 points per game this season. The Miners have held opponents to 27 or fewer points 10 times and allowed more than 39 in only five games.

“I think that allows us to speed up our offense,” Miners’ junior Greta Johnson said of the team’s defensive dominance. “I think it also tends to keep other teams off balance.”

Friday’s victory served as redemption for the Miners, who dropped a 50-47 decision to Gladstone in last year’s District Final.

“You never forget something like that,” sophomore Paige O’Donnell said. “This definitely feels better than last year. We decided we were going to do it for each other.”

The Miners were 22-0 before dropping the District Final last season. This year their only loss was a 51-39 decision at Ishpeming on Feb. 6.

“I think the loss at Ishpeming was good for us," Johnson said. "We realized we had to focus on getting better in every game. You always have to be ready to play.”

This season, Negaunee won the Western Peninsula Athletic Conference and shared the Mid-Peninsula Conference title with Ishpeming.

“Having been able to win the West PAC and share the M-PC title was huge,” coach Mike O’Donnell said. “We try to keep them focused by splitting the season in tiers. Our first tier includes the early-season games, then we have the mid-season and late-season. We had two big battles with Ishpeming, which I think prepared us.

“This is a quick turn-around. There’s a lot to digest in two days. It’s always challenging to play a team which you don’t know like the back of your hand. We’ve got to be focused and ready to go.”

The winner tonight advances to the championship game at Gaylord, where it will face Clare (18-6) or Big Rapids (19-4) at 7 p.m. Wednesday. Negaunee is only two seasons removed  from reaching the Division 2 Semifinals.

Johnson led the Miners with 17 points and five assists in the District Final. Paige O’Donnell added 10 points and 11 rebounds. Junior Keira Waterman chipped in eight points and seven boards, and classmate Sadie Rogers had four steals.

Wisconsin-Green Bay recruit Lillie Johnson scored 11 points for Gladstone but missed part of the third and fourth quarters with an ankle injury.

John Vrancic has covered high school sports in the Upper Peninsula since joining the Escanaba Daily Press staff in 1985. He is known most prominently across the peninsula for his extensive coverage of cross country and track & field that frequently appears in newspapers from the Wisconsin border to Lake Huron. He received the James Trethewey Award for Distinguished Service in 2015 from the Upper Peninsula Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association.

PHOTOS (Top) Ishpeming Westwood's Eliisa Doney collides with Negaunee's Keira Waterman as she drives toward the basket during their game Jan. 16, with Clare O'Donnell (44) also defending. (Middle) Negaunee's head coach Mike O'Donnell talks to his team during a timeout Dec. 19. (Photos by Cara Kamps.)