Click the thumbnails to see photos and videos, and hear post-game comments from Escanaba Coach Mike Beveridge, Gladstone Coach Andy Cretens, and Tia Schone and Claire Vanginhoven.
GLADSTONE---The last time the Escanaba Eskymos and Gladstone Braves met in girls basketball, the Eskymos won by 25 points just before New Year’s.
But things were different Monday night in the rematch at the Gladstone High School Gym. The Braves upset the Eskymos, 56-52, making clutch plays down the stretch after two Escanaba starters suffered injuries.
Claire Vanginhoven scored 28 points to lead the Braves, but had zero points in the fourth quarter as the Eskymos keyed on her. But Gladstone's other girls found a way to get it done.
"We had some girls step up and make some really big baskets for us," Gladstone Coach Andy Cretens said. "It was really cool to see. We relied on Claire in the first half to keep us in it, and other girls seemed like they didn't want to score and they just wanted to give it fo Claire. She got us going, which is cool. But once the other girls got more comfortable, they just made some huge plays. Super proud of our girls for executing what we needed to do down the stretch."
"I give them credit," Escanaba Coach Mike Beveridge said. "Our goal was to shut Claire down, but once we did that, their girls found a way to put the ball in the hole. But I just think the whole difference in the whole game was that they wanted it more than we did. I think their effort, their energy, their drive, was just a little more amped up than ours. And then when you get into one of those funks, it's hard to get out of it."
It's been a long year for the Braves, with 11 losses in their 15 games heading into this one, including a 59-34 loss in Escanaba. But Vanginhoven says this one was special.
"I'm so excited to end my senior year with an Esky win," she said. "We don't play Esky in districts, so this just feels awesome. We were very scrappy tonight, and I want to say we penetrated the ball really well instead of taking just forced shots. Normally, when they shut me down, it just snowballs (badly), but I'm just so proud of my team for coming through tonight. It was awesome."
This game was close the whole way, with Escanaba in the lead for much of it, but never by more than a few points.
Escanaba led after the first quarter, 15-13, as Katelyn Stalboerger scored six points and Keira Maki added four. But Claire Vanginhoven kept the Braves in the game, scoring 12 of her team’s first quarter points.
Vanginhoven scored seven more points for Gladstone in the second quarter, giving her 19 for the first half and keeping the Braves within 25-24 at the break.
Escanaba kept a narrow lead in the third quarter, but senior Caydence Carter took a tough charge late in the quarter and banged her head on the floor. She would not be the first Eskymo to exit the line-up, keeping the OSF trainers busy.
Jamisyn Bergeron hit a runner in the lane with her left hand to give Gladstone a 39-37 lead going to the fourth quarter. At that point, Vanginhoven had 28 of Gladstone’s 39 points.
In the fourth quarter, the Eskymos went all out to stop Vanginhoven, and they did, as she forced three shots that didn’t fall. But other Braves stepped up.
Maddy Monkevich knocked down a triple with 3:49 left to give Escanaba a 45-43 lead. Monkevich left the game with a dislocated finger moments later. Before that, Stalboerger scored inside to give the Eskymos a 47-43 advantage.
Chloe Hanson hit a short jumper, and the Eskymos were further hampered when Keira Maki hurt her knee, sending her to the trainer’s room.
Bergeron scored an important “and-one’ basket inside for the Braves, and then Hanson found Hall for a wide-open baseline lay-up to tie the game at 50-50 heading into the final minute.
The Braves got a turnover at the other end, and then it was time for another young player to step up.
Freshman Tia Schone, who played all four quarters of the junior varsity game, knocked down a huge triple from the right wing to give Gladstone a 53-50 lead with 45 seconds left in the game.
"I didn't have many points in the JV, and that was the only three I made all night," Schone said. "It's nice to come out here and score points on the varsity. I only get to play in the fourth quarther (the JV-varsity five quarter rule). I shot like 14 or 15 more (triples) in the JV game and that's the only one I made. It feels amazing. I just know that if I would have missed that one, they (teammates) would've been so mad at me so it was nice to make that."
Escanaba was unable to answer, and had to go into “foul mode” on defense. Hall stepped to the line and made one of two shots, and then after Saylor Henderson scored at the other end to make it 54-52, the Braves got back to the free throw line with 9.6 seconds left on the clock.
Schone stepped to the line and made both free throws, and Gladstone had its biggest win of the season.
"Those are stressful," Schone said. "But after the first one, I was like, all the pressure is off. And then the second one goes in, and I was like, thank goodness!"
Mari Bink led Escanaba with 15 points, and Stalboerger added eleven.
"Gladstone played a great game and they did enough to win,"Beveridge said. "But we've got districts coming up. And we've got three strong (regular season) games coming up, too, with Ishpeming, the Soo, and Menominee. Our schedule doesn't get any easier, so we've just got to refocus and get back on track."
Hall scored eight points for the Braves to go along with Vanginhoven’s 28.
Gladstone improved to 5-11 on the season and will host Gwinn on Thursday and host Ishpeming Saturday afternoon.
Escanaba fell to 9-6 and will host Ishpeming Thursday night.
GLADSTONE---The last time the Escanaba Eskymos and Gladstone Braves met in girls basketball, the Eskymos won by 25 points just before New Year’s.
But things were different Monday night in the rematch at the Gladstone High School Gym. The Braves upset the Eskymos, 56-52, making clutch plays down the stretch after two Escanaba starters suffered injuries.
"We had some girls step up and make some really big baskets for us," Gladstone Coach Andy Cretens said. "It was really cool to see. We relied on Claire in the first half to keep us in it, and other girls seemed like they didn't want to score and they just wanted to give it fo Claire. She got us going, which is cool. But once the other girls got more comfortable, they just made some huge plays. Super proud of our girls for executing what we needed to do down the stretch."
"I give them credit," Escanaba Coach Mike Beveridge said. "Our goal was to shut Claire down, but once we did that, their girls found a way to put the ball in the hole. But I just think the whole difference in the whole game was that they wanted it more than we did. I think their effort, their energy, their drive, was just a little more amped up than ours. And then when you get into one of those funks, it's hard to get out of it."
It's been a long year for the Braves, with 11 losses in their 15 games heading into this one, including a 59-34 loss in Escanaba. But Vanginhoven says this one was special.
"I'm so excited to end my senior year with an Esky win," she said. "We don't play Esky in districts, so this just feels awesome. We were very scrappy tonight, and I want to say we penetrated the ball really well instead of taking just forced shots. Normally, when they shut me down, it just snowballs (badly), but I'm just so proud of my team for coming through tonight. It was awesome."
Escanaba led after the first quarter, 15-13, as Katelyn Stalboerger scored six points and Keira Maki added four. But Claire Vanginhoven kept the Braves in the game, scoring 12 of her team’s first quarter points.
Vanginhoven scored seven more points for Gladstone in the second quarter, giving her 19 for the first half and keeping the Braves within 25-24 at the break.
Escanaba kept a narrow lead in the third quarter, but senior Caydence Carter took a tough charge late in the quarter and banged her head on the floor. She would not be the first Eskymo to exit the line-up, keeping the OSF trainers busy.
Jamisyn Bergeron hit a runner in the lane with her left hand to give Gladstone a 39-37 lead going to the fourth quarter. At that point, Vanginhoven had 28 of Gladstone’s 39 points.
In the fourth quarter, the Eskymos went all out to stop Vanginhoven, and they did, as she forced three shots that didn’t fall. But other Braves stepped up.
Maddy Monkevich knocked down a triple with 3:49 left to give Escanaba a 45-43 lead. Monkevich left the game with a dislocated finger moments later. Before that, Stalboerger scored inside to give the Eskymos a 47-43 advantage.
Bergeron scored an important “and-one’ basket inside for the Braves, and then Hanson found Hall for a wide-open baseline lay-up to tie the game at 50-50 heading into the final minute.
The Braves got a turnover at the other end, and then it was time for another young player to step up.
Freshman Tia Schone, who played all four quarters of the junior varsity game, knocked down a huge triple from the right wing to give Gladstone a 53-50 lead with 45 seconds left in the game.
"I didn't have many points in the JV, and that was the only three I made all night," Schone said. "It's nice to come out here and score points on the varsity. I only get to play in the fourth quarther (the JV-varsity five quarter rule). I shot like 14 or 15 more (triples) in the JV game and that's the only one I made. It feels amazing. I just know that if I would have missed that one, they (teammates) would've been so mad at me so it was nice to make that."
Escanaba was unable to answer, and had to go into “foul mode” on defense. Hall stepped to the line and made one of two shots, and then after Saylor Henderson scored at the other end to make it 54-52, the Braves got back to the free throw line with 9.6 seconds left on the clock.
Schone stepped to the line and made both free throws, and Gladstone had its biggest win of the season.
Mari Bink led Escanaba with 15 points, and Stalboerger added eleven.
"Gladstone played a great game and they did enough to win,"Beveridge said. "But we've got districts coming up. And we've got three strong (regular season) games coming up, too, with Ishpeming, the Soo, and Menominee. Our schedule doesn't get any easier, so we've just got to refocus and get back on track."
Hall scored eight points for the Braves to go along with Vanginhoven’s 28.
Gladstone improved to 5-11 on the season and will host Gwinn on Thursday and host Ishpeming Saturday afternoon.
Escanaba fell to 9-6 and will host Ishpeming Thursday night.
