News Photo by James Andersen Alpena's Maddie Voltz, center, puts up a shot while being defended by Gaylord's Katelyn Putnam (14) and Casey Korte during a girls basketball game at Alpena High School on Thursday.

The Alpena High girls basketball team has found success this season by finding balance on offense.

It was on display again on Thursday as Alpena’s post players gave the Wildcats the lead and their shooters kept them ahead.

Combined, it added up to an important win for the Wildcats who downed Gaylord 60-56 in a Big North Conference tilt at Alpena High School.

The win allows the Wildcats (9-3, 4-2 Big North) to keep a hold on second place in the conference with the final stretch of the regular season coming up.

“We told the girls this is the one that matters,” Alpena co-coach Kelley Miko said. “Gaylord obviously we needed to beat to stay in contention in the Big North.”

“This is a big win, every win of Big North is huge.”

Alpena appeared headed for a rout early on, leading by as many as 15 in the first half. But the Wildcats got all they could handle from the Blue Devils in the second half. After trailing by 12 at halftime, the Blue Devils fought Alpena to the final buzzer and were in contention to win up to the last few seconds.

“They had a lot of shots knocked down, especially a lot of threes or some that were close. We kept telling the girls ‘Get out to the shooters. Get out to the shooters.’ We could have maybe changed something, but we like to play our game and be able to trust our girls to carry out our game plan,” Miko said. “It was a win and it’s ok if it got a little bit close.”

Though Gaylord never held a lead on Thursday, the Blue Devils tied the game twice in the second half and stayed within striking distance down the stretch. With 3:56 left to play, Alpena led by 10, but Gaylord stormed back with some timely shots, including two triples, to cut the lead to 57-55 with 1:47 left.

Gaylord looked poised to take the lead, but the Blue Devils’ attack unwound in the final 90 seconds. Gaylord went 1-for-6 from the free throw-line in the final and missed a pair of easy chances in the paint.

Emma Jore finally sealed the deal for Alpena with a pair of free throws with 8.2 seconds left.

Casey Korte led all scorers with 21 points and did all she could to keep the Blue Devils in contention. She poured in 17 points in the second half, pulled down rebounds, drove inside and went toe-to-toe with Alpena in the paint. A five-point stretch by Korte early in the third quarter pulled Gaylord back into the game and her playmaking abilities helped Gaylord’s offense in the third quarter.

Alpena went back-and-forth with Gaylord in the third quarter and it was the Wildcats’ shooters who kept them ahead. Tori Gentry knocked down a pair of big shots in the third quarter for the Wildcats and Maddie Voltz, Taylor Foster and Jasmyn Schultz were among those who scored key buckets when Alpena needed them.

Shelby Seaver led Alpena with 19 points and Jessica Marwede added 12. The duo combined for 21 points in the first half and helped Alpena pull out to a 25-10 with 5:20 left before halftime.

Gentry, Schultz and Emma Jore each added seven points for Alpena.

Gaylord tied the game 36-36 with four minutes left in the third quarter and after a minute of back-and-forth play, Alpena pulled ahead for good.

With a key win in hand, Alpena will now focus its efforts on a game this afternoon at The Palace of Auburn Hills against Walled Lake Western. Tip-off is 1 p.m.

“This is going to be the last time the Palace of Auburn Hills is going to be open for the girls to play before it closes, so if that’s not something to keep sacred, then I don’t know what else is. They’re going to have fun,” Miko said.

Gaylord’s JV team defeated Alpena 47-20. Mollie Girard led Alpena with six points and Taylor Tolsdorf had five.

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ALPENA (60): T. Foster 1 1-2 4; J. Schultz 3 0-1 7; M. Voltz 2 0-0 4; S. Seaver 7 5-7 19; T. Gentry 3 0-0 7; J. Marwede 6 0-0 12; E. Jore 1 5-6 7; D. Prevo 0 0-1 0.

GAYLORD (56): A. Edwards 3 1-2 9; M. Bailey 1 0-0 2; M. Hamilla 3 0-0 8; K. Putnam 3 0-2 9; E. Heinz 0 0-2 0; K. Jarski 3 0-0 7; C. Korte 8 5-8 21.

James Andersen can be reached via email at sports@thealpenanews.com or by phone at 358-5694. Follow James on Twitter @ja_alpenanews.