Braves Build Early Lead; Hold Off Eskymos, 51-44

ESCANABA---The Gladstone High School girls basketball team built a 20-point lead over the arch-rival Escanaba Eskymos Monday night, and then held off a furious Eskymo rally to post a 51-44 Great Northern Conference victory at the Escanaba Gym.

Escanaba closed to within five points late in the game before Gladstone closed it out.

"When you're up by 18, that's a nice place to be," Gladstone Coach Karl Dollhopf said. "But it's also difficult when you have that much time on the clock, two quarters of basketball, not to get too conservative. I have a tendency to do that."

Escanaba Coach Dena Fedell liked the fire in her team as the girls kept coming back.

"With this rivalry, these girls shouldn't give up," Fedell said. "Right to the bitter end. Right till the whistle blows. I give them all the credit. They don't want to lose. They want to be able to hang in there. We've lost so many games by close points."

This one would be another one for the Eskymos in the "close loss" column, even though it looked like it would be a rout for a good part of the game. Senior Alexis St. Cyr scored 24 points to lead the Braves, and the Gladstone defense held Escanaba's star senior center Michelle LaFave to just 12 points (including only a pair of two-point field goals).

Gladstone's Ashley Edwardsen nails the three.

But Eskymo Emily LaFave nailed four three-pointers in the fourth quarter to lead her team back to within five points on two occassions in the closing minutes, but the Braves were solid at the free throw line.

"I thought the girls responded well," Dollhopf said. "We got in the bonus there in the fourth quarter, which helped us tremendously. They (Escanaba) won't just fall down and let you go away. They fought back, and that's what we expected."

Sophomore Leigha Woelffer scored 12 points for Gladstone, with three baskets on the baseline in the first quarter and four free throws in the second half.

"She has a way of getting into gaps and attacking the basket," Dollhopf said of Woelffer. "She really did set the tone early, on a couple of attacks that she had. And to finish her free throws? She doesn't look like the most aggressive person as far as physicalness, but she makes good use of what she has."

Ashley Edwardsen had seven points, including a three-pointer in the second quarter and two free throws at the end. Seven of the eight Braves players on the roster scored.

St. Cyr's three-pointer from 30 feet away at the first quarter buzzer gave Gladstone a 17-8 lead, and it seemed to stun the Eskymos. The second quarter was not good for Escanaba, as St. Cyr scored eight points and Gladstone outscored the Eskymos, 16-7.

Dollhopf agreed that St. Cyr's three at the end of the first quarter was big.

Gladstone's Alexis St. Cyr very long three.

"She's a senior. She gets it," Dollhopf said. "You hope that by their senior year, there's a sense of urgency that kicks in. And I think that's what she's brought this year."

St. Cyr, playing with a broken finger, knew she had to hurry to get off that shot.

"Coach was like, 'we have ten seconds left, so I'm going to throw you in'," St. Cyr said. "Then Leigha penetrated, she gave me a perfect pass outside. I was like 'well, I gotta let it fly!' And so I did. The rim was nice to me, I guess."

Gladstone's biggest lead was at 30-10 late in the second quarter, and the Braves led, 33-15, at halftime. But Gladstone scored only three baskets in the entire second half (all by St. Cyr), and the Braves relied on their defense and free throws to hang on to the win.

Gladstone made 12 of 15 free throw attempts in the second half, and 22 of 28 for the game. Escanaba had only four free throw attempts all night long, making all four.

Emily LaFave did not score in the first three quarters, but she came up big for Escanaba with four triples in the final quarter.

She brought the Eskymos to within 44-38 with 1:45 left in the game; 46-41 with 56 seconds left; and 49-44 with 17.1 seconds left to plqy.

Escanaba's Emily LaFave nails the three.

"That's a huge factor when you come off the bench, because you're not always that hot right away," Fedell said of Emily LaFave. "She came in and helped Michelle and the rest of the team. Emily has a beautiful outside shot. It's just being able to get the confidence. We all need to build on that, have more confidence, and know that we can do it."

The Eskymos, however, got no closer than five points despite the dramatic three's.

Haile Waters scored eight points for the Eskymos, who fell to 5-13 on the season.

For St. Cyr, every game against Escanaba is special. Not only because she transferred to Gladstone from Escanaba, but because she faces her best friend, Michelle LaFave.

"Sure, it is the school that I came from," St. Cyr said. "But also, playing my best friend. My entire career has been with her. She's really a great player. And it's awesome to be able to play with her."

The two girls posed for photos after the game.

Gladstone improved to 12-4 with the win.

The Braves do not play for the rest of this week, and will close the regular season next week with a home game against Kingsford and an away game at Iron Mountain.

Gladstone does have make-up games against Westwood and Sault Ste. Marie that could be made up before the playoffs begin.

Escanaba and Gladstone will face each other on March 4th in the Class B Districts.

Escanaba's Michelle LaFave scores.

"You know what, they fought back," Fedell said of the Eskymo girls. "At one point, we were down by 20. We can't wait to see them on March 4th. Anything can happen. It's hard to beat a team three times in a year, even twice in a year sometimes. But, we'll make some adjustments. We're gonna be ready."

Gladstone will be also prepare, as well, for Delta County Battle #3, in the districts.

"We need to stay healthy for tournaments," Dollhopf said. "Whatever happens, happens, and we will be ready for March 4th."

Click the thumbnails in the ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS box to see photos and videos taken by Nate Bellville, and listen to post-game radio interviews.

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