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Braves squelch Gwinn’s cage bid

Avery Bundgaard | Daily Press Gladstone’s Owen Hanson (30) and Gwinn’s Isaiah Guevara (20) scramble for a rebound Tuesday at Gladstone.

GLADSTONE — A big second quarter helped the Gladstone boys basketball team defeat Gwinn 84-66 here Tuesday night.

The Braves (6-1) pressure defense and fast paced transition offense set the tone for them in the non-conference game.

“Our idea is to move up and down the floor and we’re going to get more possessions,” said Gladstone coach Clayton Castor. “We want to turn people over and we did that tonight.”

Sophomore Reece Castor led the Braves with 28 points.

“Reece is playing really strong right now,” said coach Castor. “I think as a sophomore I’m so proud of him as a coach.”

Junior Brad Spindler added 22 for the Braves.

“Brad is playing really well,” said Castor. “Offensively he’s right up there with Reece. He’s averaging about 22 points per game.”

Sophomore Austin Forbes led the Modeltowners (5-6) with 22 points. Senior Reed Wiedenhoefer scored 20 and sophomore Tucker Taylor added 17.

“Austin, Reed, and Tucker are our three main threats,” said Gwinn coach Jim Finkbeiner. “It seems like every night its someone different. One night it’s Tucker and one night it’s Reed. Austin’s pretty constant. scoring about 16 points per game.”

Gwinn took an early lead and led 21-20 after the first quarter.

“It’s important to come out with that strong start,” said Finkbeiner. “You can’t back down from a good team like this. We needed to come out and set the tone.”

The Braves applied a tough full court pressure defense and pushed the ball as they went on a 17-4 run in the second quarter to lead 44-34 at halftime.

“We knew this was going to be a dog fight,” said Castor. “I’m glad our kids responded in the second quarter. I think they showed a lot of character.”

The Modeltowners scored two early baskets in the third quarter to draw within six. The Braves responded with a 17-5 run to extend the lead to 73-53 going into the fourth quarter.

The pace slowed down in the fourth quarter as Gwinn outscored Gladstone 13-11.

Gladstone travels to Menominee Friday.

Gwinn                     21 13 19 13 — 66

Gladstone              20 24 29 11 — 84

Gwinn – Forbes 22, Stein 7, Taylor 17, Wiedenhoefer 20; FT: 5-6; F: 10; Fouled out: none; 3-point field goals: Forbes 3, Wiedenhoefer 2.

Gladstone – Gibbs 6, Stephenson 4, Botruff 8, Peterson 8, Spindler 22, Ness 2, Schwalbach 3, Castor 28, Lamberg 3; FT: 8-8; F: 14; Fouled out: none; 3-point field goals: Peterson 2, Spindler 1, Schwalbach 1, Castor 3, Lamberg 1.

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