Flivvers Beat Gladstone In Return To Delta County

GLADSTONE---The Kingsford High School boys basketball team was not happy with its effort in a loss to Escanaba last Friday night.

But six nights later, the Flivvers were a bit happier during the return trip to Delta County as they pulled out a 58-54 win over the Gladstone Braves on Thursday.

"Going against Escanaba last week was a real disappointment," Kingsford Coach Dan Olkkonen said. "We've had some ups and downs over the last month and a half. Coming out of Escanaba, we were upset in how we played, because we had a lead they scored 15 points in a row. What I like about our team is its resilience."

Gladstone came out cold as ice from the floor, scoring just two baskets in the first quarter. Kingsford led, 14-4, after the first eight minutes, and 24-17 at halftime. The Flivvers did it with strong defense and some pinpoint passing to score some easy hoops on offense.

"I thought our pressure was great in the first half," Olkkonen said. "And we had some great passes. We ran a lot of set plays tonight. The kids played extremely hard on defense."

Coming out in the third quarter, Gladstone junior Joe Gibbs got the wake-up call. He took over the game by scoring 13 straight points, including three three-point baskets. Reece Castor added a basket in the paint, and all of a sudden, Gladstone led, 32-29.

"Joe really put us on his back and carried us," Gladstone Coach Clayton Castor said. "We've been talking to Joe all year about trying to get to the rim and that would open up his shot. He did a great job of that tonight."

"He's a good player," Olkkonen said. "i've watched him for the past couple of years here and I'm proud to know him and be a coach against him. But after they took the lead, we settled down. Our guys get flustered once in a while, and I just tried to keep it extremely calm (in the huddle during the timeout) and talk to them about what they have to do."

Kingsford weathered the storm and went on to score the final nine points of the third quarter to take a 38-32 lead into the final quarter. Chris Roell made it an 11-0 run with a basket on the first possession of the fourth quarter to make it a 40-32 game.

"We knew that Gibbs is a really talented player," Roell said. "He's a player who can beat you from pretty much anywhere on the court. We knew that Gladstone would make their push, would make their run, especially in this gym. So, we just had to stay calm, stick to our gameplan, keep attacking the basket, and get our stops on the defensive end."

The Braves kept chipping away in the fourth quarter as Reece Castor scored twelve points. But Gladstone never got it closer than four the rest of the way. Roell put the game away for Kingsford by making six straight free throws in the closing minute.

"It's been a new team thing this year: we shoot 25 (free throws) a day," Roell said. "We have it up on our board in our locker room. We put the date and everyone signs their name if they did it. A lot of us like to do it in our 'open hour'."

For Gladstone, it was another tight loss in a Great Northern Conference game.

"Unitil we bring an intensity for 32 minutes, we just are not going to be able to compete against these bigger schools," Clayton Castor said. "Against any school, for that matter. I don't know what it's going to take for us to learn our lesson, but we're just going to keep plugging away and staying positive. But I think the MO is out on us. We're definitely going to have to toughen up."

Gibbs led the Braves (7-6) with 23 points, and Reece Castor added 19. Kingsford got 17 points each from Roell and Nick Glodowski. Dylan DelSanto added eleven points.

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