Houghton Rallies Past Gladstone On Buzzer-Beater

Click HERE to see all of the U.P.'s girls basketball scores/schedules.

GLADSTONE---More than a dozen girls who were on the court when the Gladstone Braves and Houghton Gremlins met last December are now gone.

They've graduated from high school, and in many cases, are now in college. So when the two teams met Thursday afternoon in Gladstone, neither coach quite knew what to expect from their young squads.

But what Houghton's Julie Flipus and Gladstone's Karl Dollhopf got was exactly the same as the last two matchups: a game right down to the wire.

Houghton's Elisa Jurmu scored a game-high 24 points, including the game-winning hook shot at the buzzer, to give the Gremlins a hard-earned 52-50 win over the Braves.

Houghton's Elisa Jurmu (33) and Gladstone's Jess Beaudry (32).

Dollhopf was pleased, however, with how his young Braves team played against a quality Houghton squad.

"I couldn't be prouder of the effort they put out," Dollhopf said. "I really like the way that we played. I think it's something that we can build on. I look forward to 2013."

The game ended much like the last two meetings between these two teams. Last year, the Braves pulled out an emotional, low-scoring battle in Houghton. Two years ago, the Gremlins won in Gladstone...also with a buzzer-beating basket.

"That was a good, good, competitive game," Dollhopf said. "There's definitely some things that we have to fix. We had some foolish turnovers. The girls aren't trying to turn it over. Those are things that we can fix. I'm really optimistic."

Thursday's game saw the Gremlins hit three three-point baskets in the first quarter and take a 19-14 lead. Jurmu had 11 of those 19 points for the visitors. The second quarter also belonged to the Gremlins, for a while anyway, as Houghton took a 26-17 lead.

Alexis St. Cyr basket.

But Gladstone finished the first half on a 13-2 run, with sophomore Alexis St. Cyr scoring seven point during that spurt. The Braves led at the half, 30-28.

Early in the third quarter, the Gremlins scored eight of the first 12 points, and a Jurmu layup put Houghton in front, 36-34, with 3:53 left in the period.

After a Gladstone time out, the Braves went on another run...another 13-2 spurt...fed by a Lexi Hongisto three-point play and two baskets in the final minute by Callie Jensen. The Braves had the lead, 47-38, entering the fourth quarter.

Alison Austin scores from Callie Jensen.

Things changed in the fourth quarter as the Gremlin defense clamped down on the Gladstone offense. The Braves managed just three points in the final quarter, and had several key turnovers, including a bad inbounds pass from half-court late in the game.

Jurmu nailed a three-pointer to pull her team to within 49-47, and then Sydney Dillanger made two free throws with 56.8 seconds to play to give Houghton a 50-49 lead. Gladstone's Jessica Beaudry made one of two free throws to tie the game with 28.5 seconds left, setting the Gremlins up for a last-second play.

Houghton's Jurmu Winning Buzzer-Beater

And Houghton excuted perfectly, as they worked the ball around and got it to Jurmu on the baseline. She powered up a hook shot that went in just before the final buzzer.

"She had a great game," Dollhopf said. "Hats off to Houghton. They're a good team and they're not used to being behind. They stepped it up a notch."

Besides Jurmu's 24 points, Alexa Johnson had ten points and Blaire Zenner added eight for the Gremlins (5-1). The Braves (3-4) got 11 points from Jensen, ten from Lexi Hongisto, and eight points apiece from Beaudry and Alison Austin.

The Braves return to action on January 4 when they host the Escanaba Eskymos.

Click the thumbnails in the ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS box to see videos from the game, and to listen to audio highlights. Thanks to Dan Becker for doing videos, and to Paul Gerard (www.grandpacamo.com) for photos.

Date	Time	Opponent	Score	Record

11/27	7:45 PM	at Negaunee Miners	45 - 56 (L)	0-1

11/30	7:15 PM	Gwinn Model Towners	43 - 37 (W)	1-1

12/4	7:15 PM	Marquette Redmen	37 - 45 (L)	1-2

12/6	7:15 PM	at Ishpeming Hematites	45 - 35 (W)	2-2

12/11	8:00 PM	at Kingsford Flivvers	44 - 51 (L)	2-3

12/18	7:15 PM	at Big Bay deNoc Black Bears	78 - 29 (W)	3-3

12/27	3:00 PM	Houghton Gremlins	50 - 52 (L)	3-4

1/4	7:15 PM	Escanaba Eskymos	35 - 33 (W)	4-4

1/11	7:30 PM	at Manistique Emeralds	52 - 33 (W)	5-4

1/15	7:20 PM	at Marquette Redmen	31 - 66 (L)	5-5

1/24	7:15 PM	Big Bay deNoc Black Bears	56 - 19 (W)	6-5

1/31	7:15 PM	Menominee Maroons	49 - 39 (W)	7-5

2/5	7:15 PM	Ishpeming Hematites	44 - 48 (L)	7-6

2/7	7:15 PM	Westwood Patriots	51 - 22 (W)	8-6

2/9	3:00 PM	at Menominee Maroons	49 - 47 (W)	9-6

2/12	7:30 PM	at Escanaba Eskymos	46 - 47 (L)	9-7

2/13	7:15 PM	Negaunee Miners	49 - 53 (L)	9-8

2/16	2:30 PM	at Sault Ste. Marie Blue Devils	47 - 39 (W)	10-8

2/20	7:30 PM	Kingsford Flivvers	51 - 58 (L)	10-9

2/21	6:45 PM	at Iron Mountain Mountaineers	41 - 51 (L)	10-10

2/25	8:00 PM	at Menominee Maroons	46 - 47 (L)	10-11

2012-13 Upper Peninsula Girls Basketball Playoffs

Saturday March 16, 2013

Gladstone Loses Heartbreaker In District Semifinal

Monday February 25, 2013

Big Second Half Sends Kingsford Girls Past Braves

Wednesday February 20, 2013

Beaudry Scores 21 But Braves Lose To Negaunee

Wednesday February 13, 2013

Gladstone Uses Defense To Turn Back Menominee

Friday February 1, 2013

Gladstone On Cruise Control Against Big Bay deNoc

Thursday January 24, 2013

Marquette Girls Make Late Push To Top Gladstone

Tuesday December 4, 2012

Braves Slip Past Model Towners In Home Opener

Friday November 30, 2012