Young Braves Fight Off Wolverine Challenge, 62-49

PERKINS---The Gladstone Braves start four juniors and a freshman this season. And that should be a point of concern for everyone who faces these guys this season.

Fresh off wins over Marquette and Escanaba, the Braves made the short trip to face the Mid Peninsula Wolverines Monday night. And as usual, the Wolverines did not look like a Class D team playing a Class B club. Mid Peninsula hung around all night long, before the Braves pulled away in the final five minutes to post a 62-49 non-conference win.

"I think our ceiling is really high," said Braves first-year coach Clayton Castor. "We've got stuff to work on. We're coming out with wins. And we continue to get better and better."

Junior Joe Gibbs electrified the crowd with a slam dunk on a rebound early in the game, and then added another dunk in the fourth quarter. He had a game-high 20 points.

"It's a lot of fun," Gibbs said. "I've been trying to do it (dunk) since my freshman year. I've never got one, and this is my first one. My first two, actually. So, I'm pretty happy."

Mid Peninsula led, 11-7, after the first period, and the second quarter went back-and-forth. The Braves got ten points in the second quarter from Gibbs, while Damian Richmond nearly matched him with eight points for the Wolverines in that quarter.

Joe Gibbs slam dunk for Braves

The final seconds were wild, with Richmond making a basket with four seconds left to bring Mid Pen to within 24-23. Freshman Reece Castor pushed the ball up court, spotted up from 21 feet away, and buried a three-pointer at the halftime buzzer.

"I was just pushing the ball and tried to get it as close to the rim as possible," said Reece Castor, who had 15 points in the game. "Just getting a good shot off."

It looked like the Braves might pull away in the third quarter when they went on an 11-4 run to start the second half. Gladstone led by eleven, 38-27, with three minutes left in the third quarter. But the Wolverines scored six straight points to get back in it.

Dooner Englund drained his second three-pointer of the game with 7:31 left in the fourth quarter to bring the Wolverines to within 47-43.

That's as close as they would get as Castor forced turnovers on three straight possessions, leading to Braves baskets.

"They gave it their all to a point where we didn't have much left in the fourth quarter," longtime Mid Peninsula Coach Mark Branstrom said. "When you play defense hard like that, it's demanding, and we're not deep enough on the bench to do it."

Damian Richmond hoop; Reece Castor three

Richmond had 18 points and Englund added 13 for Mid Peninsula.
"The kids worked their rear ends off," Branstrom said. "We expected to win. We knew that if we could keep it somewhere close at the end of the game, that we'd have a great chance to win. They're taking it (the loss) very hard, which is good."

"Mark's group always does a great job of pressuring the ball and playing 'help' defense," Coach Castor said. "Very fundamental team. He does a great job with them."

While Mid Peninsula travels to Rapid River on Dec. 29, Gladstone is off until Jan. 4, when the Braves host the Ishpeming Hematites in a make-up game in Gladstone.

"We really need to give the kids a break," Coach Castor said. "The next four or five days, we're going to come in the gym and just strictly shoot. We'll give them tomorrow off. We've had some two-and-a-half and three-hour practices. New offense. New defense. So, I think the kids are getting a well-deserved break."

Click the thumbnails in the ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS box above to see photos and videos taken by Nate Bellville, and to hear radio replays, interviews.