Wolverines Rally Late For Monster Win Over Braves

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PERKINS----In a game of runs, the Mid Peninsula Wolverines had the big spurt down the stretch to pull out a 67-61 win over the Gladstone Braves Thursday night in Perkins.

Brett Branstrom scored a game-high 25 points (and 22 rebounds), including a put-back off a missed free throw that broke a tie with 49 seconds left.

Justin Pedersom skies into the air for the Braves as Trey Branstrom (4) defends.

That turned out to be the winning basket. The Wolverines outscored the Braves, 14-2, over the final five minutes of the game to turn a 59-53 deficit into a big victory.

Mid Peninsula had fallen behind because of several rushed shots and a bad pass that Michael Cretens intercepted and turned into a fast-break layup for the Braves.

An irritated Wolverine Coach Mark Branstrom called time out right there.

"We were shooting ourselves in the foot," the veteran coach said. "We were turning the ball over just like we were doing in the second quarter over at their place.

"I just felt, enough is enough. Just play your game without turning the damn over and we'll have a chance to win this game!"

Indeed. And after that time-out, it was the Braves that came unglued, and Evan Winkelbauer was huge. He picked Michael Cretens' pocket and got a driving layup to bring Mid Pen to within 61-58, and after another Gladstone turnover, Winkelbauer drained a three-pointer to tie the game at 61-61 with 1:09 left.

"He's been in a little bit of a slump, but tonight, he played both ends well," Mark Branstrom said. "He played defensively extremely well. And that three that went in? His previous three looked perfect and it didn't go in. But I'm very happy for him on the next one. He's got his confidence back and played exceptionally well."

Mid Peninsula's Evan Winkelbauer (3) goes in for a layup on Jared Hunter (left) and Jared Vuksan (right).

"That was huge," Brett Branstrom said. "The funny thing was that when they (Gladstone) got done shooting free throws, I told him that we 'don't need a three, get a quick two'.

"But Evan is quick to pull the trigger and he knocked that baby down!"

The Braves hurried themselves on their next two possessions, hoisting up harried three point attempts that were not close.

And after each miss, and after each turnover, the Braves ended up putting Brett Branstrom on the line. And he sealed the deal.

Also after that time out, Brett Branstrom was put back inside, on the post, instead of out on the perimeter, where he had spent most of the evening.

"Under the circumstances, that's the name of the game every time," Mark Branstrom said. "This year, we're going to the hole with it and trying to get everyone to the line."

Gladstone Coach Phil Griebel was flabbergasted.

"We got tight. We got tentative. We got stupid," Griebel said. "We did a lot of dumb things tonight. We lost our cool down the stretch. We didn't execute the plays that we ran in the huddle. We have a lot to work on."

Blake Ballard had a big game for Gladstone.

On the bright side for Gladstone, Justin Pederson came off the bench and gave the Braves a boost with several athletic defensive plays and a pair of fourth quarter hoops.

"He had a lot of energy tonight," Griebel said. "He did some good stuff for us and I was real proud of him, stepping in for Mike (Cretens) like he did."

But none of it was enough because the Braves couldn't sustain the momentum they had built at times during the game. It was a 20-20 tie after a fast-paced, up-and-down first quarter, led by Blake Ballard's eight points.

Mid Pen got a pair of threes from Chad Branstrom in the second quarter and led, 34-30, at halftime. But Cretens shook off a bad ankle to score eight points in the third quarter for Gladstone, allowing the Braves to close to within one entering the fourth.

And when Gladstone made its surge in the fourth quarter, it looked like the Braves would do just enough to earn the win. But the Wolverines made the plays down the stretch, and beat the Braves for the second time in school history.

"We were outplaying them, but we were killing ourselves with mistakes," Brett Branstrom said. "We just had to go out there and do what we do, and not let their pressure effect us. And that's what we did towards the end."

Brett Branstrom for the layup.

"I give all the credit to Mid Pen," Griebel said. "They outplayed us. They deserved to win. We got beat. What can I say?"

Besides Brett Branstrom's 25 points and 22 rebounds, Winkelbauer had 15 points and Chad Branstrom added 13 points. Mid Peninsula improved to 5-1 on the season, avenging an earlier 68-61 loss to Gladstone back in Dcember.

Gladstone (4-2) got 15 points from Ballard, 12 from Cretens, and 11 from Jared Vuksan.

The Braves have a make-up game at Westwood Monday night, and then will host Kingsford in a Great Northern Conference game on Jan. 11.

Click the thumbnails in the ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS box to see more pictures taken by Eric Thompson, videos taken by Tom Seronko, and radio highlights from Thursday night's game.

Date	Time	Opponent	Score	Record

12/3	8:00 PM	at Forest Park Trojans	0-1 - 47 (L)	1-0

12/6	7:45 PM	at Bark River-Harris Broncos	64 - 48 (W)	2-0

12/13	7:00 PM	at Republic-Michigamme Hawks	60 - 41 (W)	3-0

12/18	7:15 PM	at Gladstone Braves	61 - 68 (L)	3-1

12/28	7:30 PM	Rapid River Rockets	54 - 49 (W)	4-1

1/3	7:15 PM	Gladstone Braves	67 - 61 (W)	5-1

1/10	7:30 PM	Carney-Nadeau Wolves	40 - 56 (L)	5-2

1/14	7:30 PM	Big Bay deNoc Black Bears	71 - 44 (W)	6-2

1/17	7:30 PM	at Superior Central Cougars	60 - 68 (L)	6-3

1/25	8:00 PM	at North Dickinson Nordics	60 - 56 (W)	7-3

2/1	8:00 PM	at Carney-Nadeau Wolves	55 - 62 (L)	7-4

2/5	7:45 PM	Bark River-Harris Broncos	45 - 53 (L)	7-5

2/6	7:30 PM	Forest Park Trojans	52 - 49 (W)	8-5

2/8	7:30 PM	Munising Mustangs	46 - 40 (W)	9-5

2/12	7:30 PM	at Big Bay deNoc Black Bears	44 - 37 (W)	10-5

2/15	7:45 PM	at Rapid River Rockets	58 - 47 (W)	11-5

2/22	7:30 PM	Republic-Michigamme Hawks	74 - 48 (W)	12-5

2/23	7:00 PM	at North Central Jets	47 - 57 (L)	12-6

2/25	7:30 PM	North Dickinson Nordics	64 - 36 (W)	13-6

2/28	7:30 PM	North Central Jets	41 - 54 (L)	13-7

3/4	7:00 PM	at North Central Jets	65 - 87 (L)	13-8