Gladstone's Losing Streak Continues In Menominee

MENOMINEE---No one involved with the Gladstone High School boys basketball program can seem to remember the last time the Braves beat the Menominee Maroons on the large Menominee floor. So, that didn't bode well for the Braves as they made the trip south for a Great Northern Conference game Friday night.

Menominee's Bryan Hines (4) is watched by Gladstone's Riley Ballard (right).

Everyone agrees that it has been at least a decade since the Purple and White pulled out a win here, but without going through a long search through the newspaper archives, an exact date is not known. What is known is that the latest match-up between the teams would not break the Braves' long skid as Menominee pulled out a 70-63 win Friday night.

"I'm getting tired of losing here, that's for sure," Gladstone Coach Phil Griebel said. "I won a game here my second year as JV coach, and that's the only time. It's pretty frustrating.

"Every time we'd get to within seven or eight points, we'd give up some 'run-outs' or some put-backs that came back to bite us."

Gladstone jumped to a 7-0 lead out of the gates, but Menominee quickly turned the tide in its favor with a fast-tempo offense that often left the Braves' players a step slow and a few feet short.

Gladstone's Blake Ballard pull-up jumper.

The Maroons turned a couple of Gladstone turnovers into easy lay-ups, and even when the Braves played good defense, they couldn't get many rebounds.

Menominee finished the first quarter outscoring the Braves, 19-5.

And the second quarter didn't go much better, even though Menominee's Bryan Hines was on the bench with foul trouble after scoring ten points in the first quarter.

Michael Cretens (20) and Blake Ballard (24) are frustrated by another loss to Maroons.

Blake Ballard and Jared Vuksan each scored eight points for Gladstone in the first half, but the Braves still trailed at the halftime break, 35-27.

"They found each other and they shot well," Griebel said of the Maroons. "Every time they needed a big shot, they got one."

Menominee expanded its lead to double digits in the third quarter as the Braves continued to have trouble keeping up with the faster Maroon players.

Transfer student Landen Maccoux scored three baskets in the quarter, and in fact, Menominee had six different players score in the third quarter to take a 56-42 lead after three.

But unlike last week's 30-point loss to Kingsford, the Gladstone boys did not give up this time. They kept battling the Maroons, cutting that 14-point deficit to seven on two different occassions in the fourth quarter. But Menominee always had the answer.

Menominee's Devon Barley back-door play.

The biggest daggar from the Braves' point-of-view came with 4:54 left in the game. Vuksan scored a tough basket in the paint to bring his team to within 60-53. The team got a defensive stop, but turned the ball over seconds later. That led to a fast break for Menominee, which ended when Hines pulled up and swished a three-pointer.

The Maroons led, 63-53, and it was pretty much over. But Griebel was at least pleased with the fact that his team battled to the final buzzer, diving for loose balls.

Gladsone Braves look for a defensive stop .

"I was real proud of the effort tonight," Griebel said. "But they got us on a couple of 'run-outs' and the rebounding killed us in the first half. I thought we did better in the second half, it seemed like we competed a little better on the boards in the second half."

The Menominee floor is ten feet larger than a normal high school floor, and the Maroons thrive on using its length to run a transition offense that is constantly on the attack. The floor itself may help to explain Gladstone's lack of success there.

"It's a college-sized floor, and so when you think you're by the three-point line, you're probably about four feet away yet," Menominee Coach Pete Pericolossi said. "We practice on this every day, so it's quite an advantage for us. The passing lanes are different, we run, and a lot of teams tire on this floor."

Gladstone's Jared Vuksan for two!

That seemed to be the case Friday night, as the Braves could not keep up with the Maroons in numerous fast-break situations that ended in lay-ups or open jumpers.

Hines had 19 points for Menominee, which improved to 5-6 on the season. Jared Rivard added 15 points and Maccoux had 12. The Maroons made six three-pointers. Devon Harris ran the floor well, scoring only four points but having 18 assists in the game.

Jared Vuksan (50) made 10 of 13 free throws.

Gladstone got 24 points and 14 rebounds from Vuksan, his best game of the year.

"He was a beast on the boards," Griebel said. "He was all over the place, and was encouraging his teammates in the huddle. He went after it tonight."

Blake Ballard also had a strong game, swishing several jumpers on the way to 15 points.

But Micheal Cretens struggled, scoring just eight points and getting four fouls.

The Gladstone junior varsity team beat Menominee, 53-50.

Gladstone goes to another tough gym next Wednesday night for a make-up game against the Ishpeming Hematites. The game is set to start at 7:30 Eastern time.

Click the thumbnails in the 'ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS' box to see more photos and video highlights from the game. Thanks to Mike Dagenais for taking the photos and videos, and for his radio commentary.

Date	Time	Opponent	Score	Record

12/6	7:15 PM	Big Bay deNoc Black Bears	73 - 61 (W)	1-0

12/11	7:15 PM	Marquette Redmen	51 - 58 (L)	1-1

12/14	7:30 PM	at Escanaba Eskymos	78 - 66 (W)	2-1

12/18	7:15 PM	Mid Peninsula Wolverines	68 - 61 (W)	3-1

12/28	6:15 PM	at St. Ignace Saints	82 - 67 (W)	4-1

1/3	7:15 PM	at Mid Peninsula Wolverines	61 - 67 (L)	4-2

1/7	7:30 PM	at Westwood Patriots	66 - 56 (W)	5-2

1/11	7:15 PM	Kingsford Flivvers	34 - 64 (L)	5-3

1/15	7:15 PM	Gwinn Model Towners	60 - 55 (W)	6-3

1/18	8:00 PM	at Menominee Maroons	63 - 70 (L)	6-4

1/23	7:30 PM	at Ishpeming Hematites	62 - 76 (L)	6-5

1/26	3:00 PM	Sault Ste. Marie Blue Devils	66 - 67 (L)	6-6

2/5	7:20 PM	at Marquette Redmen	43 - 53 (L)	6-7

2/8	8:00 PM	at Kingsford Flivvers	57 - 62 (L)	6-8

2/12	7:15 PM	Negaunee Miners	46 - 79 (L)	6-9

2/15	7:15 PM	Menominee Maroons	55 - 65 (L)	6-10

2/18	7:30 PM	at Big Bay deNoc Black Bears	81 - 55 (W)	7-10

2/22	7:15 PM	Escanaba Eskymos	48 - 57 (L)	7-11

2/26	7:30 PM	at Manistique Emeralds	69 - 54 (W)	8-11

3/4	6:00 PM	at Kingsford Flivvers	56 - 53 (W)	9-11

3/6	7:00 PM	Menominee Maroons	64 - 61 (W)	10-11

3/11	8:00 PM	at Grayling Vikings	68 - 73 (L)	10-12