ROLLING ALONG: Gladstone Dominates Kingsford

GLADSTONE---The whole team is back on the floor, and now, it's time to roll.

That's the message the Gladstone High School boys basketball team sent to the rest of the Upper Peninsula Thursday as the Braves posted a dominating 85-47 Great Northern Conference win over the Kingsford Flivvers at the Gladstone Gym.

Four players who had not suited up yet this season returned to the line-up, giving the Braves a total of 14 guys, and giving Coach Clay Castor one of the deepest benches in recent memory.

Eleven different Gladstone players scored in Thursday's rout.

"It's awesome," Braves senior Jack Stephenson said. "It felt so good to get all the boys back and play as a team again. We've been playing all summer with everybody, so it just felt normal to get everybody back."

Gladstone got off to a sluggish start, but Reece Castor nailed a couple of three-pointers and Brad Spindler scored an old-fashioned three-point play as the team started to move the ball around more crisply.

The Braves led, 13-7, after the first quarter, and the Flivvers hung around for a while, trailing just 23-20 midway through the second quarter.

But then the Braves went into another mode, and it started with an aggressive defense that ranged from a full-court press to a half-court trap.

Gladstone ended the first half on a 12-0 run, taking a 35-20 lead into the locker room.

The Braves kept up the intensity in the second half, gradually pulling away on the scoreboard.
Gladstone eventually ended the game on the 40-point mercy rule, with the clock running throughout the final three minutes (except on free throw attempts).

"We came out to a really slow start and we couldn't hit any shots," Spindler said. "We started pressing and it went pretty well. It's fun with 14 guys. Everyone plays. Everyone gets up and down the floor."

Spindler led the Braves with 20 points, while Castor added 19 points on three three-pointers and ten free throws. Stephenson also had three triples and ended with 13 points. A fourth Gladstone player, Hunter Botruff, reached double figures with ten.

Kingsford got 16 points from Luke Therrian and 12 points from Tyler Beauchamp.

Gladstone also won the junior varsity game, 45-39, behind 15 points from Quinn Downey and 13 points from Jarret St. John. Kingsford's Cole Galeazzi scored 11.

The Braves return to action on Tuesday against Gwinn, and Friday in Menominee.

Click the thumbnails in the ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS box above to see photos taken by Eric Thompson, videos taken by Mike Dagenais, and listen to post-game interviews with Stephenson, Spindler, and Coach Castor.