MARCH MADNESS! Escanaba Girls Stun Gladstone

GLADSTONE---That's why the play the game. Throw out the records. It's tough to beat a team three times in a season.

All of those cliches get thrown out all the time when the post-season tournaments begin. And they are cliches fofr a reason: they're true.

The Escanaba Eskymos struggled through a 6-14 season and the Gladstone Braves went 14-5 and were ranked amongst the Upper Peninsula's best teams for most of the season.

But on Wednesday, the Eskymos proved that tournament time is different from regular games.

Escanaba played tough defense, rebounded well, and took advantage of very poor Gladstone shooting, and the Eskymos posted a stunning 46-27 win over the Braves in the Class B district semifinals at the Gladstone High School Gym.

And so on Friday, it's Escanaba, not Gladstone, who will host the district finals.

Escanaba's Michelle LaFave coast-to-coast

"I'm still kind of amazed by it because we had some good looks early," Gladstone Coach Karl Dollhopf said. "Our feet were set. We worked hours and hours swinging the ball and getting our feet set. I don't know what to0 say, other than what I told the girls: that's the game of basketball."

"Sometimes, you're going to have those off nights."

"I'm out of breath right now," Escanaba Coach Dena Fedell said. "It's just a great win for the girls. These are the ones that matter, and we've been playing better and better as the year has gone by. To get this win here, against Gladstone, is a wonderful, wonderful tribute to those girls who worked so hard. They've had the potential all year long."

Escanaba senior Michelle LaFave set the tone early by scoring the first basket on a coast-to-coast rush. She scored 12 points in the first half as Escanaba took a 19-13 lead into the dressing room. LaFave, a Michigan Tech University recruit, scored 18 points.

"It was the hard work of my entire team," LaFave said. "Everybody really stepped it up tonight. I'm really proud of everybody. Everyone was hitting their shots, and getting rebounds where they were huge. We just converted when we needed to, and it was outstanding. I think the rebounding was huge, and we took care of the ball."

Dollhopf agreed with LaFave that Escanaba's rebounding was the difference.

"Hats off to Escanaba," Dollhopf said. "They shot the ball well, they played well, but they rebounded the ball really well. I thought going in at halftime at six (down 19-13) we would come out and make a run, but it kind of felt like we just got stuck."

Gladstone's Anna Caramella gets the steal and hoop

"We've struggled with our rebounding all year long, especially against Gladstone," LaFave added. "We really got the rebounds tonight when we needed them."

Gladstone trailed 13-12 in the second quarter when LaFave got a basket and a foul, and Callie Heller drained the long-range three. The third quarter was a nightmare for the Braves, as they did not get a single basket, managing on two free throws.

Escanaba's lead grew to 28-15 at the end of that third quarter, and the girls put it away with seven straight points to start the fourth quarter, making it 35-15. The Eskymo lead eventually grew to 23 points (43-20) and the girls cruised from there.

"These girls know what it takes to play at that next level," Fedell said. "Especially, if they play as a team. Rebounds and free throws win games. And it's what all five of those girls on the court, and the subs off the bench, do that has us where we're at right now."

And where that is, is hosting the district championship game this Friday night.

The Eskymos will host Houghton, which beat Kingsford, 47-29, Wednesday. The Eskymos beat the Gremlins in their recent regular season meeting by ten points.

"We beat them before, but they're really tall, and long, and they have a lot of talent," LaFave said. "We can't underestimate them going into the district final. We just have to play with the same intensity that we played with tonight."

Escanaba's Callie Heller nails the three

For Gladstone, it was a bitter loss to a team that the girls had beaten twice. And the same thing happened last year when the Braves lost to Menominee in the districts after beating the Maroons twice.

But Dollhopf remains proud of his girls.

"They, flat out, were an awesome team to coach," Dollhopf said. "It was fun coming to practice every day. They overachieved. Everyone they went against, they were smaller, the underdog. We won some big games. I just like the effort they gave all year."

Click the thumbnails in the ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS box above to see photos and videos taken by Nate Bellville, and to listen to post-game interviews.

Gladstone's Andy Olesak (left) and Escanaba's Chad Leisenring (right) play a game. Leisenring won.

Date	Time	Opponent	Score	Record

12/2	7:30 PM	at Negaunee Miners	54 - 39 (W)	1-0

12/5	7:30 PM	Gwinn Model Towners	38 - 44 (L)	1-1

12/9	7:30 PM	Marquette Redmen	33 - 38 (L)	1-2

12/11	7:40 PM	at Ishpeming Hematites	38 - 36 (W)	2-2

12/16	8:00 PM	at Kingsford Flivvers	49 - 43 (W)	3-2

12/27	3:00 PM	Houghton Gremlins	36 - 32 (W)	4-2

1/6	8:00 PM	at Stephenson Eagles	66 - 58 (W)	5-2

1/9	7:30 PM	Escanaba Eskymos	54 - 43 (W)	6-2

1/16	7:30 PM	at Manistique Emeralds	58 - 23 (W)	7-2

1/19	7:20 PM	at Marquette Redmen	46 - 64 (L)	7-3

1/27	8:00 PM	at Menominee Maroons	41 - 38 (W)	8-3

1/29	7:15 PM	Rapid River Rockets	61 - 12 (W)	9-3

2/3	7:15 PM	Negaunee Miners	43 - 37 (W)	10-3

2/6	7:15 PM	Menominee Maroons	40 - 49 (L)	10-4

2/10	7:15 PM	Ishpeming Hematites	43 - 33 (W)	11-4

2/12	7:15 PM	Westwood Patriots	PPD - PPD (T)	PPD

2/16	7:30 PM	at Escanaba Eskymos	51 - 44 (W)	12-4

2/21	2:30 PM	at Sault Ste. Marie Blue Devils	59 - 54 OT (W)	13-4

2/24	7:15 PM	Kingsford Flivvers	39 - 46 (L)	13-5

2/26	7:30 PM	at Iron Mountain Mountaineers	45 - 28 (W)	14-5

3/4	7:00 PM	Escanaba Eskymos	27 - 46 (L)	14-6