Gladstone Overwhelms Shorthanded Mid Peninsula

GLADSTONE---The Mid Peninsula High School boys basketball team has just eight players, and none of them are seniors. But the Wolverines hustled for all 32 minutes Monday before losing to the Gladstone Braves, 62-47, in Gladstone.

The Braves went on a 13-0 run in the the third quarter to turn an eight-point game into a 21-point margin. Then Gladstone substituted freely in the fourth quarter.

Gladstone senior Justin Jurek scored twelve points, with eight of them coming during that third quarter. Jurek had back-to-back three's and scored eight points during that 13-0 run, giving the Braves a 45-24 lead. Gladstone's lead eventually grew to 27 points, at 56-29.

Mid Peninsula outscored the Braves, 18-6, to end the game, making the final score a bit closer.

Senior Tyler Wells scored 16 points to lead the Braves. Six of those points came on three steals that turned into easy lay-ups at the other end of the court.

"The coaches had said at the beginning of the game that we can't take them for granted," Wells said. "We can't just let them sit out there and shoot the three. We just had to keep our heads in it."

The game started a bit slow, as Mid Pen jumped out to a 6-2 lead, prompting Hongisto to call a time out. The Wolverines' last lead was at 8-6. Andy Olesak tied the game with a turn-around jumper, and then he scored two more baskets in the first quarter.

Ben Schwalbach three-pointer #2

Sophomore Ben Schwalbach hit four three-pointers in the first half to give the Braves a boost off of the bench. He ended up with twelve, and the Braves led, 23-10 after the first quarter.

"I just got my shots off and they went in," Schwalbach said, matter-of-factly. "He (Hongisto) just wants me to come into the game whenever he needs me and shoot. I just want to go out there and get my shots, and that's what happened tonight."

The lead grew to 32-16 in the second quarter, but the Wolverines battled back as sophomore Duane Englund drained two three's to make it 32-22 at halftime.

Terry Brower scored for Mid Pen early in the third quarter to bring his team to within eight at 32-24. But the Wolverines never got closer as the Braves took over the game with a tough half-court trapping defense that forced several turnovers.

"We wanted to use that (press) against Esky," Wells said. "But we ended up doing really well on 'man' defense against them. We wanted to throw it in (tonight) and it worked pretty well."

Mid Peninsula got 14 points from Richmond, 12 from Brower (all in he second half), and 11 from Englund. Gladstone got 16 points from Wells, and 12 apiece from Jurek and Schwalbach. Eight different Gladstone players scored points in the contest.

Tyler Wells gets steal and lay-up.

There will be two Gladstone Braves Alumni games this Friday night at the Gladstone High School Gym. The women's game starts at 6:00, and the men's game is scheduled for 7:30.

Gladstone (2-0) travels to St. Ignace on Saturday, Jan. 3, for a non-conference game. The Braves then return home on Monday. Jan. 5, for a conference game against Marquette. That Gladstone-Marquette game will be broadcast live on WCHT-AM (600), and on-line at www.rrnsports.com.

Click the thumbnails in the ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS box to see photos taken by Ron Jurek , videos taken by Nate Bellville, and listen to radio replays and post-game interviews with Tyler Wells and Ben Schwalbach.

Gladstone's Ben Schwalbach (42) nails a three-pointer as Mid Pen's Damian Richmond (15) defends.

Date	Time	Opponent	Score	Record

12/22	7:15 PM	at Gladstone Braves	47 - 62 (L)

1/8	7:30 PM	Gladstone Braves	41 - 45 (L)

1/27	8:00 PM	at North Central Jets	20 - 69 (L)

3/5	7:30 PM	North Central Jets	34 - 70 (L)