Castor

GWINN — Gladstone junior Reece Castor didn’t like the first half against Gwinn Tuesday night, but the second half was a different story.

The Braves trailed 41-39 at halftime, limited the Modeltowners to six second-half points and cruised to an 83-47 Mid-Peninsula Conference victory. It also was a night Castor scored 26 points to surpass the 1,000-point career scoring mark.

“They gave us a run for our money in the first half,” said Castor, who now has 1,007 career points. “We just locked down on defense and they weren’t as aggressive as the first half.”

And what about reaching the 1,000-point milestone?

“I couldn’t get there without my teammates,” Castor said. “Give them as much credit. Without them doing all the things they do, I wouldn’t have got it. It’s just small part of the season. We have to look at the bigger picture.”

Gladstone (6-3, 5-1 Mid-Pen) worked through a frustrating first half, which saw Gwinn’s Tucker Taylor score 26 of his 32 points in the first two quarters and Austin Forbes tally all 14 of his points in the first 16 minutes.

“I give them credit,” Gladstone coach Dane Quigley said about the Modeltowners. “Tucker Taylor had an outstanding first half. We didn’t come out with good energy in the first half. We did not have an answer for Tucker Taylor in first half. We just couldn’t stop him. He scored in transition and in the post. He came ready to play.

“We had a little talk at halftime on how to stop Taylor and Forbes from scoring at will,” added Quigley, whose team went on a 40-4 run in the second half. ” We went to the bench and rotated players, stayed fresh and used our press.”

Four players scored in double figures for the Braves — Castor (26 points, 12 rebounds, four assists), Brad Spindler (13 points, 12 rebounds, six assists, three steals), Carson Shea (12 points) and Rudy Peterson (12 points, five assists). Jeff Stenson also had five rebounds and Braeden Lamberg chipped in with three steals.

The Braves totaled 39 rebounds and shot 48 percent from the floor, including making 12 3-pointers.

Quigley was pleased with his team’s intensity in the second half as it looks ahead to Thursday’s home game against Negaunee. He also shared in Castor’s memorable accomplishment of hitting the 1,000-point milestone.

“Its a tremendous accomplishment especially to do it as a junior,” Quigley said. ” We still have 11 games and the district and he’s already over 1,000. It’s a testament to all the work he puts in. He’s not just a scorer, he does other things too. He rebounds well and distributes the ball well and he’s always coming up with steals. He makes everybody else better.”

The summary:

Gladstone 20 19 22 22 — 83

Gwinn 22 19 4 2 — 47

Gladstone — Shea 12, Downey 4, McKnight 2, Peterson 12, Spindler 13, Hanson 3, Ness 6, Gierke 3, Castor 26, Holm 2. FT: 11-17. F: 14; Fouled out: none; 3-point field goals: Shea 2, Peterson 4, Spindler 2, Hanson, Gierke, Castor 2.

Gwinn — Forbes 14, Anderson 1, Taylor 32. FT: 5-9; F: 12; Fouled out: none; 3-point field goals: Forbes 4.