Turnovers, Missed Foul Shots Plague Braves Girls

GLADSTONE---The Gladstone Braves made 19 turnovers and missed eight of their eleven free throw attempts Friday night, and that led to a 49-40 high school girls basketball loss to the Menominee Maroons at the Gladstone High School Gym.

Gladstone jumped to a 12-2 lead in the first quarter, but couldn't build it, despite a large "Snowcoming" crowd that saw the Gladstone students dress in all black.

"I thought we got off ato a decent start," Gladstone Coach Karl Dollhopf said. "We had pretty good energy in the first quarter, but then we got into a funk in the second quarter where we stood around a lot. Menominee plays hard. It's not like they didn't deserve to win."

Gladstone got three's from Alexis St. Cyr and Ashley Edwardsen during that first quarter, but the Maroons went on a 9-0 run to start the second quarter. Four different Maroons players scored, and the Braves had several turnovers.

Menominee led, 13-12 after its big run.

The Braves got a boost from Izzy Mathews off the bench, as she scored three straight baskets to help her team go into the locker room with a 22-20 halftime lead.

But more Gladstone turnovers and an aggressive Menominee offense resulted in an 11-2 Maroon run to start the second half, putting the Braves in a 31-24 hole.

Gladstone student section was rocking!

Much of the damage was done at the foul line, as Menominee made nine of ten free throws in the quarter. Gladstone had only two free throw attempts in the first three quarters.

Overall, Menominee was 21 of 30 from the line. Gladstone was just 3 of 11.

"When you get to the line 30 times, that tells you that you are aggressive offensively," Dollhopf said. "And that's what they were. They converted."

And, across the board, Dollhopf says the Braves didn't convert on very much.

"We didnt do the things that we (normally) do," Dollhopf said. "In order for us to be successful, the formula that we have is ball control. Don't turn the ball over. Make your free throws. Play good defense. And we just didn't do that."

Anna Caramella banked in a three-point shot early in the fourth quarter to bring the Braves to within 33-32. But the Braves couldn't get over the hump, as the Maroons attacked the basket and got 12 free throws in the final quarter, making eight.

"We have to keep it (the loss) in perspective," Dollhopf said. "It's one game. We have a heck of a schedule coming up. We play four games in the matter of a week. We have to move on. It's not March. If you're going to lose, lose now. But don't lose in March (districts), because it's sudden death if you lose in March. We need to learn from a loss like this, and correct the things that we didn't do well."

Gladstone (11-4) will host Ishpeming Tuesday night.

Click the thumbnails in the ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS box to see photos and videos taken by GHS graduate Nate Bellville.

Date	Time	Opponent	Score	Record

12/2	7:30 PM	at Negaunee Miners	54 - 39 (W)	1-0

12/5	7:30 PM	Gwinn Model Towners	38 - 44 (L)	1-1

12/9	7:30 PM	Marquette Redmen	33 - 38 (L)	1-2

12/11	7:40 PM	at Ishpeming Hematites	38 - 36 (W)	2-2

12/16	8:00 PM	at Kingsford Flivvers	49 - 43 (W)	3-2

12/27	3:00 PM	Houghton Gremlins	36 - 32 (W)	4-2

1/6	8:00 PM	at Stephenson Eagles	66 - 58 (W)	5-2

1/9	7:30 PM	Escanaba Eskymos	54 - 43 (W)	6-2

1/16	7:30 PM	at Manistique Emeralds	58 - 23 (W)	7-2

1/19	7:20 PM	at Marquette Redmen	46 - 64 (L)	7-3

1/27	8:00 PM	at Menominee Maroons	41 - 38 (W)	8-3

1/29	7:15 PM	Rapid River Rockets	61 - 12 (W)	9-3

2/3	7:15 PM	Negaunee Miners	43 - 37 (W)	10-3

2/6	7:15 PM	Menominee Maroons	40 - 49 (L)	10-4

2/10	7:15 PM	Ishpeming Hematites	43 - 33 (W)	11-4

2/12	7:15 PM	Westwood Patriots	PPD - PPD (T)	PPD

2/16	7:30 PM	at Escanaba Eskymos	51 - 44 (W)	12-4

2/21	2:30 PM	at Sault Ste. Marie Blue Devils	59 - 54 OT (W)	13-4

2/24	7:15 PM	Kingsford Flivvers	39 - 46 (L)	13-5

2/26	7:30 PM	at Iron Mountain Mountaineers	45 - 28 (W)	14-5

3/4	7:00 PM	Escanaba Eskymos	27 - 46 (L)	14-6