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Wolverines Rally Late For Monster Win Over Braves
 CLICK HERE to see all of the Upper Peninsula's basketball scores. PERKINS----In a game of runs, the Mid Peninsula Wolverines had the big spurt down the stretch to pull out a 67-61 win over the Gladstone Braves Thursday night in Perkins. Brett Branstrom scored a game-high 25 points (and 22 rebounds), including a put-back off a missed free throw that broke a tie with 49 seconds left. 
Justin Pedersom skies into the air for the Braves as Trey Branstrom (4) defends.
Mid Peninsula had fallen behind because of several rushed shots and a bad pass that Michael Cretens intercepted and turned into a fast-break layup for the Braves. An irritated Wolverine Coach Mark Branstrom called time out right there. "We were shooting ourselves in the foot," the veteran coach said. "We were turning the ball over just like we were doing in the second quarter over at their place. "I just felt, enough is enough. Just play your game without turning the damn over and we'll have a chance to win this game!" Indeed. And after that time-out, it was the Braves that came unglued, and Evan Winkelbauer was huge. He picked Michael Cretens' pocket and got a driving layup to bring Mid Pen to within 61-58, and after another Gladstone turnover, Winkelbauer drained a three-pointer to tie the game at 61-61 with 1:09 left. "He's been in a little bit of a slump, but tonight, he played both ends well," Mark Branstrom said. "He played defensively extremely well. And that three that went in? His previous three looked perfect and it didn't go in. But I'm very happy for him on the next one. He's got his confidence back and played exceptionally well." 
Mid Peninsula's Evan Winkelbauer (3) goes in for a layup on Jared Hunter (left) and Jared Vuksan (right).
"But Evan is quick to pull the trigger and he knocked that baby down!" The Braves hurried themselves on their next two possessions, hoisting up harried three point attempts that were not close. And after each miss, and after each turnover, the Braves ended up putting Brett Branstrom on the line. And he sealed the deal. Also after that time out, Brett Branstrom was put back inside, on the post, instead of out on the perimeter, where he had spent most of the evening. "Under the circumstances, that's the name of the game every time," Mark Branstrom said. "This year, we're going to the hole with it and trying to get everyone to the line." Gladstone Coach Phil Griebel was flabbergasted. "We got tight. We got tentative. We got stupid," Griebel said. "We did a lot of dumb things tonight. We lost our cool down the stretch. We didn't execute the plays that we ran in the huddle. We have a lot to work on." 
Blake Ballard had a big game for Gladstone.
"He had a lot of energy tonight," Griebel said. "He did some good stuff for us and I was real proud of him, stepping in for Mike (Cretens) like he did." But none of it was enough because the Braves couldn't sustain the momentum they had built at times during the game. It was a 20-20 tie after a fast-paced, up-and-down first quarter, led by Blake Ballard's eight points. Mid Pen got a pair of threes from Chad Branstrom in the second quarter and led, 34-30, at halftime. But Cretens shook off a bad ankle to score eight points in the third quarter for Gladstone, allowing the Braves to close to within one entering the fourth. And when Gladstone made its surge in the fourth quarter, it looked like the Braves would do just enough to earn the win. But the Wolverines made the plays down the stretch, and beat the Braves for the second time in school history. "We were outplaying them, but we were killing ourselves with mistakes," Brett Branstrom said. "We just had to go out there and do what we do, and not let their pressure effect us. And that's what we did towards the end." 
Brett Branstrom for the layup.
Besides Brett Branstrom's 25 points and 22 rebounds, Winkelbauer had 15 points and Chad Branstrom added 13 points. Mid Peninsula improved to 5-1 on the season, avenging an earlier 68-61 loss to Gladstone back in Dcember. Gladstone (4-2) got 15 points from Ballard, 12 from Cretens, and 11 from Jared Vuksan. The Braves have a make-up game at Westwood Monday night, and then will host Kingsford in a Great Northern Conference game on Jan. 11. Click the thumbnails in the ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS box to see more pictures taken by Eric Thompson, videos taken by Tom Seronko, and radio highlights from Thursday night's game. |
| Date | Time | Opponent | Score | Record |
12/3 |
8:00 PM |
at Forest Park Trojans
|
0-1 - 47 (L)
|
1-0
|
12/6 |
7:45 PM |
at Bark River-Harris Broncos
|
64 - 48 (W)
|
2-0
|
12/13 |
7:00 PM |
at Republic-Michigamme Hawks
|
60 - 41 (W)
|
3-0
|
12/18 |
7:15 PM |
at Gladstone Braves
|
61 - 68 (L)
|
3-1
|
12/28 |
7:30 PM |
Rapid River Rockets
|
54 - 49 (W)
|
4-1
|
1/3 |
7:15 PM |
Gladstone Braves
|
67 - 61 (W)
|
5-1
|
1/10 |
7:30 PM |
Carney-Nadeau Wolves
|
40 - 56 (L)
|
5-2
|
1/14 |
7:30 PM |
Big Bay deNoc Black Bears
|
71 - 44 (W)
|
6-2
|
1/17 |
7:30 PM |
at Superior Central Cougars
|
60 - 68 (L)
|
6-3
|
1/25 |
8:00 PM |
at North Dickinson Nordics
|
60 - 56 (W)
|
7-3
|
2/1 |
8:00 PM |
at Carney-Nadeau Wolves
|
55 - 62 (L)
|
7-4
|
2/5 |
7:45 PM |
Bark River-Harris Broncos
|
45 - 53 (L)
|
7-5
|
2/6 |
7:30 PM |
Forest Park Trojans
|
52 - 49 (W)
|
8-5
|
2/8 |
7:30 PM |
Munising Mustangs
|
46 - 40 (W)
|
9-5
|
2/12 |
7:30 PM |
at Big Bay deNoc Black Bears
|
44 - 37 (W)
|
10-5
|
2/15 |
7:45 PM |
at Rapid River Rockets
|
58 - 47 (W)
|
11-5
|
2/22 |
7:30 PM |
Republic-Michigamme Hawks
|
74 - 48 (W)
|
12-5
|
2/23 |
7:00 PM |
at North Central Jets
|
47 - 57 (L)
|
12-6
|
2/25 |
7:30 PM |
North Dickinson Nordics
|
64 - 36 (W)
|
13-6
|
2/28 |
7:30 PM |
North Central Jets
|
41 - 54 (L)
|
13-7
|
3/4 |
7:00 PM |
at North Central Jets
|
65 - 87 (L)
|
13-8
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