Click the thumbnails to see photos and videos, and to hear post-game comments from Lillie Johnson and both team's head coaches.
GLADSTONE---It was another milestone in a season filled with milestones for Gladstone High School girls basketball senior Lillie Johnson.
The University of Wisconsin-Green Bay recruit crossed the 2,000 point mark for her Braves career as the Braves beat the Ishpeming Hematites, 53-49, in an intense game that went to overtime. Johnson scored 32 points in the victory.
“I can't even explain the feelings, to be honest,” Johnson said. “To see the people come out, and the support I got from Ishpeming too, it was just an amazing feeling. Once I got to 1,000, it was the goal to get to 2,000. We just had to take care of the ball. We had to pass-fake and not force any passes, which we were doing.”
“She's done so much, and she's such an unique player,” Gladstone Coach Andy Cretens said. “It's important as a coach to not take that for granted. She's such a special player, with size and ability, such a combination-type player that does it all. Rebounds and defends. Can get to the rack and post-up. So, it's pretty special and pretty fun to be a part of. It's crazy to think that this is already her fourth year. It's gone by so fast.”
Johnson is now the fifth Upper Peninsula girls basketball player to break the 2,000 point mark. Her 2,010 points are behind Forest Park's Lexi Gussert (who played at Michigan State), Ewen-Trout Creek's Allison Bailey (who starred at Michigan Tech), Krista Clement of St. Ignace, who played at the University of Michigan, and Emily Jokela of Lake Linden-Hubbell (who is not listed on the MHSAA 2,000 point records page).
Ishpeming's one-two-punch of Janessa Eagle and Mya Hemmer kept the Hematites in it all night long. Eagle (who used to attend Gladstone before transferring) is a Michigan Tech University recruit, and she scored 26 points before fouling out in overtime. Hemmer, a Baylor University volleyball recruit, had 14 points.
The Braves got more than just Johnson's 32 points. Eva Pankonien had two huge triples among her ten points, and Adele Ostlund also knocked down a big three-pointer late in the game. That helped the Braves hand the top-ranked Division Four Hematites just their second loss of the season (11-2).
“We had to battle a lot of adversity,” Ishpeming Coach Ryan Reichel said. “In the first quarter, one of our better players went down with three fouls. And then our other point guard fell and got hurt. So, we had to readjust on the fly and I thought the girls did a good job of adapting and trying to stay true to what we were trying to do. Despite a couple of missed shots and missed rebounds, I thought we could have won that game.”
With the win, Gladstone, ranked second in the UP in the Division One-through-Three poll, improved to 12-3 on the season.
“We were kind of shaky to begin with, but all of a sudden, we just started to get into the flow of it, and started to get more comfortable with it,” Cretens said. “It's just such a great experience for our young girls to be out there.”
For Ishpeming, it was a good night, despite the loss.
“Not a lot of teams are getting this kind of competition at the D-4 level,” Reichel said. “To go toe-to-toe against a really good Division Two program, and we have another one on Friday with (top-ranked) Negaunee. You don't hang banners in January or February. So, it's good for us to keep getting better. We'll take the loss. Grow from it, and get ready for the next game. We've got nine more to get better for March.”
Next up for the Braves is another ranked battle this Friday night: a road game against the fifth-ranked Menominee Maroons. Game time is 7:30 ET and it will be broadcast live on FM-93.5, AM-600, and on-line at www.rrnsports.com.
