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THIRD TIME THE CHARM: Braves Upend Miners
 Click the AUDIO buttons to hear post-game comments from Lillie Johnson, Maycee Hanson, and Braves Coach Andy Cretens. Also click to hear a replay of the RRN Braves Broadcast of the fourth quarter. NEGAUNEE---The Gladstone High School girls basketball team came through in the clutch Friday night to win a district championship, 50-47, over the Negaunee Miners in Negaunee. The Braves lost both regular season match-ups to the Miners, but Lillie Johnson scored 30 points to help the Braves advance to the regionals. "Man, does this feel good," Gladstone Coach Andy Cretens said. "We've been trying to get this for a while now. I could sit here and talk all day about these girls. They deserve it. They put in a ton of time this off-season, and the last cvouple of years, and during the season. They're a super-tight knit group, and they fight for each other. That's huge." Johnson showed why she is considered by many to be the best player in the Upper Peninsula, and one of the best in all of Michigan. One day after she broke Gladstone High School's All-Time scoring record (held by Jammie Botruff (1,465 points, 2010-2012), Johnson was dominant again Friday night against a team that had held her in check the previous two meetings. Johnson scored 30 points despite being double and triple-teamed for most of the night. She now has 1,513 career points, and she's only a junior. Her triple from the top of the key broke a 39-39 tie and gave the Braves a lead they would never give up. Johnson played most of the late part of the game with four fouls, but she knocked down the clinching two free throws in the final seconds after Negaunee had tried to rally from a 45-38 deficit in the final four minutes of the game. "It was a great team effort," Johnson said. "We came out slow in the first quarter (trailed 15-6 after the first eight minutes). We knew we had to come back. We really wanted this game, and it showed in the end. It was a little frustrating of course (being triple-teamed), but we had to push through that. Mayce and Eva and Addie helped a lot bringing the ball up the court. They came through and knew what they needed to do." And as for Mayce Hanson, being a senior, it feels great to have her season continue, for at least one more game and for at least two more practices. "It doesn't really feel real right now," Hanson said. "Obviously, we knew Negaunee was going to go on a run at some point. We just didn't expect it to be right out of the gate. But we were like, OK, we've talked about this. We were going to have to fight back as hard as we could. I think hitting the shots that we needed, and hitting the free throws that we needed, was a big part of getting us back up." Top-ranked Negaunee finished a great season with a 22-1 record, after also making the state final four last season. The Braves, meanwhile, improved to 21-2, and will face Sault Ste. Marie in the Division Two regional semifinals on Monday. That game was pre-scheduled to be held in the Soo Monday night, but the MHSAA will likely move it to a neutral site. Sault Ste. Marie (17-5) won its district title, 51-37, over Kingsley on Friday. |
