Eskymos Hold Off Ferocious Gladstone Comeback

ESCANABA---The Escanaba Eskymos built a 16-point lead in the third quarter and then held on to beat the Gladstone Braves, 58-52, in a boys basketball showdown Friday night in Escanaba.

It was a playoff preview as these two teams will play again in the districts.

It's Tyler Wells (12) vs Tyler Skufca (32)

"It's an arch-rival," Escanaba Coach Tracy Hudson said. "You've got to bring it. And I thought our kids brought it tonight. We held on against a very good Gladstone team."

"We've got a bunch of guys who aren't gonna pack it in," Gladstone Coach Dale Hongisto said. "Was I nervous about it? Yeah. But I'm excited."

"I don't usually smile after a loss. But we went 10-for-30 from inside the arch and 5-for-17 behind the three-point line. And we were right in the ballgame. We had a chance."

Escanaba took a 43-27 lead in the third quarter on a Jordan Ogren basket.

That completed a 9-0 Eskymo run that seemed to put the game away. The run started when Tyler Skufca came off the bench and nailed a three. Then after a steal, Skufca scored again.

Ben Kleiman and Max Mahoney both score

"I told him in the locker room: 'Tyler, you didn't play a lot, but you made a big difference in this game'," Hudson said. "That's the kind of contribution we need to have off the bench."

"You know, he's a really nice shooter," Hongisto said of Skufca. "We knew that. He snuck away from us there. But that happens."

Brandon Robinette (24) vs Justin Jurek 32

Hongisto said that his team fell behind because of too many "empty trips" up the court, with either turnovers or missed shots.

"We tried to play too fast," Hongisto said. "We cannot play fast with Escanaba. They're too good. They've got too many athletes. Tracy wants to score 80 points a game. We can't score 80. If he scores 80 points, there's a 100-percent chance that we'll lose."

But down by 16 points, the Braves did not give up, and it was junior Tyler Wells who stepped up. Held to no points in the first half, and just a pair of free throws in the third quarter, Wells led a big Braves rally over the final eight minutes.

Trailing 48-36 midway through the fourth quarter, the Braves closed to within seven when Wells nailed his first three-pointer of the game. After a defensive stop, Wells raced to the basket and scored again. That cut the Escanaba lead to 48-41 with 3:44 left.

Jurek steal leads to Hunter three.

"They were struggling trying to guard him," Hongisto said. "I didn't even run a set there. We were in the double-bonus, so he either got fouled or he was finishing."

Escanaba's Ben Kleiman scored on a back-door play to make it 50-41, but Wells scored on a short jumper a few seconds later. Then after the Eskymos missed two shots, Wells got loose again and nailed a three from several feet behind the arch.

Esky's Jordan Ogren (22) and Gladstone's Jake Peterson (34) go strong to the hole

That made it a 50-46 game with 1:44 left in the game. In the final minute, Kleiman nailed a pair of free throws to put Escanaba in front, 54-48. But Wells penetrated and scored from inside to cut the deficit to 54-50 with 40.6 seconds left.

Gladstone chose to foul Ogren at the other end, and it paid off, as Ogren missed both foul shots. Wells came the other way and scored from inside with 25 seconds left, bringing the Braves to within 54-52. Wells scored 15 of his 17 points in the fourth quarter.

The Eskymos might have held the ball and waited to be fouled, but Kleiman attacked the basket and scored from the baseline with 15.1 seconds left to make it 56-52.

"Ben got behind the defense right there," Hudson said. "Ben was real savvy tonight. He was really crafty. He made some plays out there."

Hudson says that he never felt like the game was in the bag.

Escanaba's Ben Kleiman buries the three

"They didn't give up," he said. "We missed some free throws, and Wells came down, knocked down some three's, and they made some hustle plays. Hat's off to them. They battled to the very end."

Hongisto also left the game with a good feeling, despite the final score.

"There are many, many more positives than negatives from this game," he said.

Wells and Jared Hunter both scored 17 points to lead the Braves. Kleiman scored 19 points, while Brandon Robinette and Sam Molnar each added ten for the Eskymos.

Braves' Jared Hunter gets the three after Jurek steal

Escanaba also won the freshman game, 41-39, on a C.J. Barron buzzer-beater, and the junior varsity game, 59-48.

Escanaba (15-4) closes the regular season at Calumet next Thursday. Gladstone (7-11) finishes at home against Manistique. And then, the two teams will face off again in the district tournament on Wednesday, March 5th, in Escanaba.

Click the thumbnails in the ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS box to see photos taken by Lori Jurek, videos taken by Mike Dagenais and Nate Bellville, and listen to radio replays and interviews.

Escanaba's Sam Molnar scores as Gladstone's Andy Olesak (40) defends FRiday night. (Lori Jurek photo)

Date	Time	Opponent	Score	Record

12/12	7:30 PM	at Big Bay deNoc Black Bears	55 - 56 (L)	0-1

12/17	7:20 PM	at Marquette Redmen	33 - 60 (L)	0-2

12/20	7:15 PM	Escanaba Eskymos	44 - 67 (L)	0-3

12/23	7:30 PM	at Mid Peninsula Wolverines	71 - 44 (W)	1-3

12/30	5:30 PM	Ishpeming Hematites	44 - 68 (L)	1-4

1/2	7:30 PM	Mid Peninsula Wolverines	56 - 48 (W)	2-4

1/9	8:00 PM	at Kingsford Flivvers	61 - 52 (W)	3-4

1/14	7:30 PM	at Gwinn Model Towners	49 - 47 (W)	4-4

1/17	7:30 PM	Menominee Maroons	52 - 54 (L)	4-5

1/21	7:30 PM	at Ishpeming Hematites	47 - 57 (L)	4-6

1/24	7:30 PM	at Sault Ste. Marie Blue Devils	PPD - PPD (T)	PPD

1/29	7:00 PM	Big Bay deNoc Black Bears	56 - 41 (W)	5-6

2/4	7:30 PM	Marquette Redmen	39 - 70 (L)	5-7

2/7	7:15 PM	Kingsford Flivvers	36 - 51 (L)	5-8

2/11	7:30 PM	at Negaunee Miners	57 - 71 (L)	5-9

2/14	8:00 PM	at Menominee Maroons	52 - 47 (W)	6-9

2/17	7:15 PM	Westwood Patriots	63 - 44 (W)	7-9

2/19	6:30 PM	St. Ignace Saints	52 - 59 (L)	7-10

2/21	7:30 PM	at Escanaba Eskymos	52 - 58 (L)	7-11

2/25	7:30 PM	Manistique Emeralds	60 - 41 (W)	8-11

3/5	7:00 PM	at Escanaba Eskymos	48 - 60 (L)	8-12