Braves Overwhelm Rockets In First-Ever Meeting

RAPID RIVER---The Gladstone and Rapid River school districts are so close that one man serves as superintendent for both districts. Over the years, the Braves and Rockets have met in various sports, such as softball and track. But never in boys basketball.

Until Tuesday night, that is. The Braves grabbed an early lead and coasted to a 56-29 win over the Rockets inside the Rapid River High School Gym.

The Braves have 13 players on the varsity roster, and the Rockets have 15. Both coaches tried to get as many of their guys into the line-up as possible during Tuesday's contest.

"Those guys haven't been getting the time that they want, really," Gladstone Coach Dale Hongisto said. "We talked about it at halftime. It can look like I'm just not playing them (bench players) if we don't get it done. I said that the guys who are out on the court need to make some kind of separation (on the scoreboard) so we can get them guys in."

"And that happened tonight," Hongisto said. "They did a great job. I liked how everybody was flying around, on the floor, going after loose balls. That's what we've got to do."

Rapid River Coach Rich Poma was also happy to get some of his guys into the game.

Rocket's Brody Schroeder hits his first three-pointer

"With 15 guys (on the roster), it's tough," Poma said. "You've got to pick your spots where you can get them all in. We've got two guys who never played before who are seniors. I want to see them get in. But at the same time, these other guys who have put in the work over the years, they deserve a shot to get in there, too."

Poma has taken over a Rockets program of which he played for not too-many years ago. He says that games like this against Gladstone, even with a loss, is a positive.

"I told these guys that playing against Gladstone, when I was in high school, I would have killed for the opportunity," Poma said. "This being the first one, I hope that this continues. This is a nice little cross-town rivalry. It's a great team for us to play."

Poma knew going into the game that it would be a difficult chore to beat the Braves.

"In their eyes, it's probably a 'work on your plays, work on your sets' kind of game," Poma said. "But for us, it's playing against a better-skilled team. Maybe something that we're going to see in a North Central or a Munising."

"It gets us prepared for pressure."

Gladstone led, 17-9 after the first quarter, and had a 32-19 lead at halftime. Tyler Wells drained a 25-foot three-pointer at the first half buzzer to open up the lead.

Gladstone's Tyler Wells long three-pointer

"That 'three' kind of took the wind out of our sails," Poma admitted.

Then, to start the third quarter, Gladstone scored seven straight points to take a 20-point lead and put the game away. Hongisto says that was an important sequence.

"It kind of opened things up, and allowed me to get some of those guys who don't get much time into the game," Hongisto said. "What I am most happy about is holding their guys to 29 points. Ten in the second half? Excellent!"

Another positive for Gladstone was seeing senior Jake Peterson on the floor during an extended period of time. Peterson broke his leg during the football season and has been working hard to get back into shape to play basketball.

He made a short appearance Saturday against Marquette, and did not play at all Monday night in Ishpeming.

"Jake doesn't even realize that he's limping right now," Hongisto said. "It doesn't hurt. But he doesn't trust it yet, and it's a little stiff. But tonight, he got a lot of minutes. Probably a little more than we wanted. But he said that he wanted to keep going."

Ten different Braves playesrs scored, led by Wells' ten points. Justin Jurek had eight points (including two three's), and sophomore Joe Gibbs contributed seven.

Gladstone's Dylan Bowie three-pointer

"We just tried to fire up in the locker room before (the game)," Gibbs said. "We're going through a tough stretch right now. We haven't been playing well at all. That's everybody's fault. But we came back together as a team. This is a good win for us."

Gladstone senior Dylan Bowie got his first varsity points during the fourth quarter, nailing a three-pointer from the corner. And later, he sank another triple.

"Corner three's are kind of my thing," Bowie said. "When I get in, that's kind of all I can do. Most games, I don't see the floor. But I'm part of the team. I don't care if I'm sitting the bench. If we win, we win. I'll sit here and cheer for the team."

"Last year, I got cut, so I didn't play. It's nice to come back and get my first varsity points as a senior."

For Rapid River, the future looks bright, despite this lopsided loss.

"We have a lot of juniors who show a lot of promise for next year," Poma said. "We're a little rough around the edges and we're working on that. All these guys give 100 percent in every game, so it's nice to see that they never quit. That's the main thing I want to see, is that nobody giving up."

Gladstone improved to 5-2, while Rapid River fell to 1-5.

Gladstone hosts Kingsford Thursday night. The game will be broadcast live on WCHT-AM (600), and on-line at www.rrnsports.com, starting at 7:15 Thursday evening.

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 replays and interviews with Joe Gibbs, Dylan Bowie, and the coaches.