RIVALRY VICTORY: Gladstone Outlasts Escanaba

GLADSTONE---The Gladstone Braves rallied from seven points down in the fourth quarter to beat the Escanaba Eskymos, 66-62, Friday night in Gladstone.

Reece Castor scored 21 points and Carson Shea added 18 as the Braves won their second Great Northern Conference game in as many nights. Gladstone won at Kingsford, 73-67, Thursday night. Both Escanaba and Kingsford are possible district opponents.

"I was very disappointed," Escanaba Coach racy Hudson said. "Our effort could have been better defensively. We could have communicated better. We had some guys sick, but I don't want to use that as an excuse. We can't give up layups when the game's on the line."

"I thought it was a really good win for us," Castor said. "We really had to dig deepand clamp down on defense. I think it kind of gives us some momentum going into districts. I think in the fourth quarter, they got a little tired. They weren't getting back on defense as quick, so we just ran with it. We were able to get a lot of layups off of them."

The game was tied at halftime, 30-30, and was still tied midway through the third quarter, 40-40. The Eskymos went on a run, outscoring the Braves, 14-7, to open up a 54-47 lead as Peyton Fedell knocked down a triple, Jared Nash had a driving layup, and Austin Willette scored on a put-back in the paint.

The fourth quarter was a different story, however. The Braves turned things around with strong defense at one end, and an attacking offense at the other that led to several layups. Castor had two of them, and Shea also drove to the basket for a bucket.

Gladstone outscored Escanaba, 17-4, to turn a seven-point deficit into a 64-58 lead after Shea and Castor both had lay-ups. But the Eskymos put on a late charge as Willette scored on an offensive rebound with 1:12 left to close to within 64-62.

Escanaba had two chances to tie or take the lead in the final minute when Rane Castor missed the front end of a one-and-one twice.

But the Eskymos couldn't score either time, and Reece Castor put it away with two free throws in the closing seconds.

"I thought we had a defensive lapse," Hudson said. "I thought Gladstone ramped it up offensively. They carved us up. We had the opportunity to step it up. We had the lead. I thought our energy level dropped, for some reason, whether we were tired or didn't communicate."

The Braves got a boost from Rudy Peterson, the senior who missed most of the season because of an ankle injury suffered during the football season. He has played sparingly in three games this semester, and helped out Friday night with three triples.

"We were struggling in the first half," Peterson said. "We had a lot of good looks on offense and we had a hard time rebounding. But in the second half, we did a better job of boxing down. Their size really killed us in the first half. They must've had ten offensive rebounds. In the second half, we did a little zone to try to get away from the matchups."

Peterson's ankle isn't even close to 100 percent, but he wanted to contribute.

"It was fun," Peterson said. "I'm really glad I got the opportunity to start and play a lot, so that was cool."

Escanaba was led by Nash's 21 points. Fedell chipped in two triples, and Willette scored eight points before fouling out in the final minute.

Gladstone finished the regular season with a 13-7 record. Escanaba ended up 11-8. The Eskymos open the district tournament next Wednesday against either Houghton or Kingsford.

Gladstone will open at home Wednesday against Menominee. Game time is 6:00 ET and it will be broadcast on WCHT-AM (NewsTalk 600), and on www.rrnsports.com.

Click the thumbnails in the ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS box above to see photos and video highlights, and listen to interviews with Castor, Peterson, and Escanaba Coach Tracy Hudson.