Class WHAT? Rapid River Rallies; Stuns Gladstone

GLADSTONE---For most of Tuesday night's basketball game between the Gladstone Braves and Rapid River Rockets, it looked like the Braves would pull out a win and the Rockets would be satisfied to say that they played hard against a Class B team.

But what happened in the fourth quarter was more than even the most diehard Rapid River supporter could have dreamed. The Rockets outscored the Braves, 20-11, and pulled out a stunning 51-50 victory in Gladstone.

The Rockets? A small, Class D school? Winning?

Braves Coach Clayton Castor has been saying all season long that the size of an opponent's school is not important. On Tuesday night, that was proven for all to see.

The Braves went cold at the wrong times, and the Rockets got inspired and started knocking down three's.

And after three three-point baskets in the final quarter helped to bring the Rockets back from a 13-point deficit, Rapid River went inside to get the winner with less than two seconds left on the clock. Logan Hardwick's turnaround jumper was the winner.

"I was really nervous at first," Hardwick said about the final play. "We were supposed to lob it, but it wasn't there at first, so we waited, and we couldn't pass it in. So, we just threw it up to me and I shot it. I was speechless (after the shot fell)."

"Coming in and knowing how good they are, Gladstone is talented, but they are young," Rockets Coach Richard Poma said. "We have some seniors who have weathered some hard times, and they've got a lot of motivation. I think that, and them maybe underestimating us a little bit, helped. We scrimmaged their JV and they handled us."

But Poma went to the sophomore, Hardwick, with 6.7 seconds left in the game.

"I told them to get position on their players and we tried to isolate a little bit," Poma said. "But there's other options out of it (besides Hardwick) on the perimeter. And I told them to make sure they had a seal on their guy (defensively) because it only takes a tip and someone being out of position and they get one back the other way and we lose."

Gladstone Coach Clayton Castor tipped his hat to the Rapid River boys.

"They got in a rythym and they hit big shots," Castor said. "All of the credit goes to them. You've got to give Coach Poma and his team a lot of credit. I think I, as a coach, need to do a better job of holding people accountable out on the floor. We're ten weeks into this. I think we will shake some things up for Kingsford (Gladstone's next game)."

The first quarter was all Gladstone, with Joe Gibbs getting two quick baskets and Reece Castor making a two and a three. Rapid River couldn't buy a bucket, and the Braves led, 15-7, after one. The lead grew to 25-13 at halftime, and the Braves were comfortable.

Gladstone's biggest lead was 13 points before the Rockets closed to within 37-31 entering the fourth quarter. Mason Berglund's three-pointer to start the fourth quarter made it a 37-34 game, and the Rockets finally caught up with 3:33 left in the game when Hardwick's two free throws tied the game at 41-41.

That's when Casey Wolf made a huge impact off the bench for the Braves. He cut inside and scored a basket, got fouled, and made the free throw, putting Gladstone back on top. But Craig Martin answered with a three-pointer from the left corner to re-tie the game.

Hunter Botruff went coast-to-coast for a layup to put the Braves in front, and then Wolf grabbed an offensive rebound and hit two free throws to make it 48-44 with 2:22 left in the game. But Rapid River still didn't fold. Brody Schroeder got the kick-out pass from Kanyuh from the baseline and nailed a three from the top of the key, making it 48-47.

Wolf answered again for the Braves with less than a minute to play, making it a three-point game. Wolf scored seven pf his team's eleven points in the final quarter.

"Casey did a great job coming off the bench," Coach Castor said. "He's one of the most aggressive players that we've got, taking it to the rim and shooting the ball."

But the Rockets attacked the basket and Hardwick earned a trip to the line. He made both foul shots, bringing the Rockets to within 50-49.

A missed a shot at the other end gave the Rockets the ball back with 27 seconds left, and, after a tie-up at the 23.7 second mark, they ran the clock down for one play.

That's when the Rockets ran the play to Hardwick, and he came through. It was Rapid River's second last-second win in the past week, after Kanyuh nailed a desperation three-pointer at the buzzer to beat Munising, 52-50, last Tueday night.

"It feels good, a small school beating a bigger school," Hardwick said. "We thought they were gonna blow us out. They did too, probably. We just came through."

Hardwick led the Rockets with 14 points while Reece Castor had 12 for Gladstone.

Rapid River improved to 2-5 on the season. Gladstone fell to 4-2.

Gladstone's freshmen defeated Rapid River's junior varsity team, 47-44. Darren Landis scored 16 points to lead the Rockets. Quinn Downey had 14 points for Gladstone.

The Rockets travel to Engadine on Thursday while the Braves will be on the road at Kingsford. The Gladstone-Kingsford game will be broadcast live on WCHT-AM (600), and on-line at www.rrnsports.com, starting at 7:45 Eastern time.

Click the thumbnails in the ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS box above to see photos and videos taken bny Nate Bellville, and to listen to radio replays from the fourth quarter, and hear post-game interviews.