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MADNESS!!! Gladstone Girls Stun Kingsford, 42-40
 KINGSFORD---That is why they play the games. The Gladstone Braves, after losing every Great Northern Conference game they played this season, including two to the Kingsford Flivvers, traveled to Dickinson County Wednesday night and pulled one of the biggest upsets so far this tournament season.  The Gremlins survived an upset of their own Wednesday night, slipping past Escanaba, 48-43, in the other semifinal game in Escanaba. "It's our first-ever district win as seniors," said Tasi Martinez. "It's a great feeling. Nobody expected us to win. We didn't have the best season, but post-season, it's all records aside, and we definitely played a good game." "I think we just focused on playing a full 32 minutes," fellow senior Leigha Woelffer said. "That's what Coach always says to us, that we can't stop playing for even 30 seconds, because that's lost us games before." Gladstone led the entire game, but the Flivvers still had chances to win it during a wild final minute of the fourth quarter. Kingsford's Olivia Allen scored twice in that final minute, with her second hoop putting the Flivvers ahead, 40-39, with 27.7 seconds left.  Before that play, Polley was held off the scoreboard by a Kingsford defense that was determined to stop the three-pointer. The team's shortest girl scored in the paint! "My lay-ups aren't very good," Polley laughed. "So, I was kind of surprised when it went in, but I knew that time was running out and I had to get it up quick." Kingsford pushed the ball up-court and freshman Brooke Kriegl was fouled. She went to the line with a chance to put her team back in front, but she missed both free throws. Martinez got the rebound, even though she had severely injured her ankle earlier in the game, she limped up-court to the foul line. She made one of two foul shots. It was 42-40, and Kingsford Coach Mike Cross called time out. The Flivvers worked it to the baseline for Jordyn Kriegl, and she got a good look. But her shot hit the rim and bounced away, and the Gladstone girls celebrated an emotional upset.  "Defense wins games, at the end of the day," Polley said. "And we wanted it so bad, because we wanted redemption from the last game (72-63 loss). It just meant so much because, as a senior, I didn't want this to be my last game." "We knew it was 'you win, or you get out'," said junior Taylor Hunter, who collided with Hannah Carlson and landed hard on her hip, only to return to the floor moments later. "We needed to come out and give it all we had, otherwise, we were going home." "We came out, gave it all we got, and we pulled off the win!" Gladstone's upset, along with Carney-Nadeau's win over North Dickinson, proved that old saying about beating a team three times in a season is true. It is real tough! "I think playing them three times definitely helped," Hunter said. "We learned their offense, and I think our defense did a very good job on defending how they ran their pick 'n' rolls and stuff. They were not making shots that they usually do."  HOUGHTON 48, ESCANABA 43---Escanaba jumped to an 18-6 lead after the first quarter, but Houghton's defense held the Eskymos to just 12 points in the entire second half. Maddy Willis had 18 points to lead the Eskymos. Sloane Zenner and Kendra Monette each scored 12 for Houghton. UP NEXT---The Braves travel to Houghton to face the Gremlins for the district championship Friday night. Gladstone hung with Houghton for a while during their meeting over Christmas Break before the Gremlins pulled away in the second half to post the win. Friday's championship game will be broadcast live on WCHT-AM (NewsTalk 600) and on-line at www.rrnsports.com. Click the thumbnails in the ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS box above to hear interviews with Polley, Hunter, Woelffer, and Martinez. And see photos taken by Scott Balenger and video highlights taken by Mike Dagenais.  |
