GRAND RAPIDS, Minn. -- The Gogebic Community College Lady Samsons blew out to an early lead and held on to defeat Itasca CC 70-64 Saturday evening, winning the Lady Vikings' tournament.

GCC used a full-court press and offensive spurts from sophomores Janey Routheaux and Nichole Mazurek to build a 41-31 halftime lead.

The Lady Vikings battled back and tied it 47-47 midway through the second half.

Back came the Lady Samsons as sophomore Kristen Ruppe and Mazurek scored in the paint, followed by 3-pointers from freshmen Alli Coss and Megan Tucker.

"We regained momentum and held off the Vikings down the stretch. Those treys by Alli and Megan were huge as they helped give us some breathing room," said GCC coach Dennis Mackey.

Mazuek led GCC with 23 points and nine rebounds. Ruppe scored 14 points and Routheaux had 13.

Kari Firkus (6-2) led Itasca with 22 points and 12 rebounds, while Jessi Hotakainen scored 21.

"We played two tough games in the Itasca tourney," said Mackey. "It's always difficult playing after a (holiday) layoff and I think our reduction in offensive production during the second half indicates we were a little tired. But at the same time, our effort from the entire team was great, so I'm pleased with that.

The Lady Samsons lost Friday to Northern Iowa CC.

"Also, we had 19 assists and only 12 turnovers, which I think is our best effort this year. We are a very unselfish team and I'm very proud of the girls for playing the way they do."

GCC (7-6) travels to Silver Lake College in Manitowoc, Wis., on Wednesday, and the University of Wisconsin-Sheboygan Thursday, before returning home to face Finlandia University Saturday at 5:30 p.m.

Gogebic CC -- Leslie Haapoja 1 0 2 1-4, Nicole Rosga 2 0 0 3-4, Janey Routheaux 2 3 0 0-13, Nichole Mazurek 10 0 3 1-23, Allison Coss 1 1 0 0-5, Andrea Harrington 0 0 0 3-0, Kristen Ruppe 6 0 2 2-14, Megan Tucker 0 2 1 1-7, Carly Levra 0 0 0 2-0. Totals: 22 6 8-12 13 70.

Itasca CC -- Jessica Nelson 0 0 0 2-0, Stacey Villebro 4 0 3 2-11, Joslin Geisler 2 0 0 3-4, Michelle Ladoux 1 0 0 0-2, Jessi Hotakaninen 5 3 2 3-21, Cassie Carlson 1 0 2 1-4, Kari Virkus 9 0 4 1-22. Totals: 22 3 11-13 12 64.

Half: 41-31 GCC.

GRAND RAPIDS, Minn. -- Trailing by a point with 1.9 seconds to go, the Gogebic Community College Samsons pulled off a miracle win over Mesabi in the Itasca CC tournament here Friday.

Mesabi was whistled for traveling after rebounding GCC's late miss and the Samsons were awarded two technical free throws.

Down 79-78, the Samsons sent guard Drew Paquin to the line to shoot the technical free tosses. He made one of two and it was tied at 79-79 with 1.9 seconds remaining.

GCC coach Deke Routheaux called time out and set up an alley-oop play to John Lane that worked to pefection.

Lane passed the ball inbounds to Marco Gotta, who lobbed the ball near the basket, where Lane tipped it in for the 81-79 victory.

"It's a play we used to run at GCC when Dave Meade played," Routheaux said after his team won its fifth in a row. The Samsons improved to 11-3 overall and face the Hibbing-Chisholm winner today in the tourney championship game at 4 p.m.

After a lengthy holiday layoff, Routheaux said his team was a bit rusty.

The Samsons led at halftime, but had trouble finishing fast breaks in the second half and Mesabi took the lead with the help of four late big 3-pointers.

"It was a sound effort against a pretty good team," Routheaux said.

Lane led GCC with 25 points, and Justin Nelson had a big night with 22. Gotta added 12 points and a presence on the boards.

North Iowa CC 61, GCC women 52

The Lady Samsons lost a tourney game 61-52 to North Iowa Area Community College that featured two unusual statistics.

GCC, 6-6, was whistled for only four fouls and North Iowa's Kelli Terrell hit six 3-pointers for all 18 of her points.

The Lady Samsons were led by Kristen Ruppe's 18 points and 15 from Nichole Mazurek, but nobody else hit double figures.

BOX SCORES:

GCC -- Robert Wood 3 0 1 2-7, Nathan Phebus 3 0 1 0-7, Drew Paquin 0 0 3 3-3, Aaron Love 0 1 0 0-3, Marco Gotta 5 0 2 2-12, John Lane 9 2 1 2-25, Justin Nelson 6 3 1 2-22, Steve Godfrey 1 0 0 3-2. Totals: 27 6 9-14 13 81.

Mesabi -- Kyle Lindgren 2 0 0 0-4, Alex Mason 2 1 2 3-9, Devan Durfey 1 0 0 2-2, William Maupins 6 2 5 1-23, Spic Langdon 1 4 0 1-14, Nick Myers 1 0 0 2-2. Giles Friedlieb 1 3 1 1-12, Nate Griff 4 0 1 5-9, Reggie Sharp 2 0 0 0-4. Totals: 20 10 9-13 16 79.

GCC women -- Leslie Haapoja 1 0 0 2-2, Nicole Rosga 1 0 0 0-2, Janey Routheaux 2 0 2 0-6, Nichole Mazurek 7 0 1 0-15, Allison Coss 2 0 1 0-5, Andrea Harrington 0 0 0 0-0, Kristen Ruppe 8 0 2 2-18, Megan Tucker 0 0 0 0-0, Carly Levra 1 0 1 0-3. Totals: 22 0 7-13 4 51.