ALPENA — The Alpena High girls basketball team took on a dominant Petoskey team and was defeated by a final score of 52-29 on Friday.

The Northmen started the game out slow, but fought back and got into a rhythm. Once Petoskey found itself offensively, it played relentlessly until the end.

With the loss, Alpena’s record falls to 2-6 on the season.

“We had a lot of great shots, but, some nights, they’re just not going to go in,” Alpena coach Laura Dubey said. “We know we’re all good shooters and they just didn’t fall tonight.”

The Wildcats knew they had a challenge ahead of them, but got off to a great start, playing incredible defense. Avery Dubey got the offense going after scoring two three-pointers, one of them a buzzer-beater to end the first quarter.

The score by the end of the first quarter was 10-6, and Alpena had momentum in its favor.

Beginning in the second quarter, the Wildcats’ momentum faded away. The Northmen switched to a zone defense, which prevented Alpena from many scoring opportunities.

Petoskey took the lead in the middle of the second quarter and never looked back. The Northmen maintained a 24-19 lead going into the half.

After Alpena fell behind, the Wildcats struggled mightily on both ends of the court.

Petoskey took advantage of the Wildcats’ weaknesses and extended its lead to 36-23 by the end of the third quarter.

During the fourth quarter, Coach Dubey was called for a technical foul. That put the Wildcats in an incredibly difficult situation and all the team could do was try its best to come back.

The Northmen continued its persistent offensive attack by racking up 52 points by the end of the game. Petoskey’s offense was carried by three-pointers throughout the second half, mostly coming from Hope Wegmann and Caroline Guy.

The lack of offense from Alpena in the second half proved to be the team’s downfall and key to defeat.

“After I was called for the technical foul, it almost seemed to deflate us on both offense and defense,” Coach Dubey said. “Even though we ended up taking the loss, we didn’t give up and we played hard until the end. That’s what I really like about this group of girls.”

Leading Alpena in scoring was Kiera Prue, with 10 points, and Dubey had six.

Petoskey’s leading scorers were Wegmann, who had a game-high 15 points, and Guy finished with 12.

Alpena takes on Sault Ste. Marie Monday.