Braves survive a scare
Crow’s free throws send Braves to district final
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GLADSTONE -- The tension could be cut with a knife here Wednesday as the Gladstone boys' basketball team and the Menominee Maroons battled for a decisive advantage in a Division 2 district semifinal. In the end, the Braves held on to beat the Maroons 75-74.
The game came down to the last 30 seconds as Menominee's Keaton Uecke hit a layup to take a 74-73 lead with just 17 seconds left.
However, the Maroons fouled Jared Crow on the other end and he went 2-for-2 from the free throw line to put Gladstone ahead 75-74.
"We had to make (the free throws) to move on," Crow said. "That's all that was going through my head, 'I just have to make these.'"
A last-second Menominee drive to the basket was stifled by a frenzied Braves' defense.
"I tip my hat to the Menominee team," Braves' coach Dane Quigley said. "They were ready to play and had a game plan in place that they executed really well. They matched our tempo tonight. What it's all about right now is just getting to another game, and I think our seniors showed that tonight."
The Maroons (4-17) scored first as Keagan Monroe hit a jump shot less than a minute in.
Over the next two minutes, Gladstone's Reece Castor and Crow put up six unanswered points for a 6-2 lead.
A triple from Menominee's Aidan Bellisle cut the deficit to 6-5. Another triple from the Maroons' Dante Sartorelli at tied it at 8 with 4:53 left.
The Braves then went on a 14-7 scoring run the last four minutes of the period for a 22-15 lead.
The teams traded baskets in the second quarter until Bellisle hit a trey to trim Menominee's deficit 26-24 with 6:26 left. After two missed free throws from Gladstone seconds later, Monroe scored to tie it at 26.
Gladstone pulled ahead 30-26 in the next minute on the back of two free throws from Quinn Downey and a basket from Carson Shea.
With 2:27 left in the half, Menominee tied it at 34 on two free throws by Brock Barrette and back-to-back baskets from Uecke.
Another triple from Bellisle with 1:47 left gave Menominee la 37-36 lead.
Gladstone led 42-39 at halftime due to a 6-2 scoring run in the last 1 1/2 minutes.
"Defensively, we stayed with the game plan we went in with," Maroons' coach Sam Larson said. "It wasn't stellar, but it was enough to keep us in the game. (In the second quarter) we started being a little more patient. It let us hit some easy baskets."
In the second half, the Braves (14-7) continued their run to lead 49-39 after three minutes. Both teams struggled to stop the other, but the Maroons outscored Gladstone 18-15 for the quarter to trim the deficit to 60-54.
"We shored up our man-to-man defense," Quigley said. "We had a big lead in the third quarter and they wouldn't go away."
Gladstone extended its lead to 63-54 less than 30 seconds into the fourth quarter with a basket and free throw by Castor.
The next three minutes saw the Maroons go on a 13-4 scoring spurt to tie it at 67 with 4:17 left in the game.
Two free throws from Castor put the Braves ahead 69-67 with 3:51 remaining.
With 2:38 left, Bellisle hit another triple to give Menominee a 70-69 advantage. It was extended 30 seconds later on a basket by Monroe.
Castor hit two free throws with 35 seconds left to regain the lead 73-72.
In what could have been a game winning drive, Uecke hit a layup to give Menominee the lead again 74-73.
A controversial call let Crow sink two free throws in the final seconds to seal the game for the Braves.
Another controversy happened shortly after on Menominee's final drive to the basket. There was confusion between the officials as to whether the Maroons would get a chance at the line before time expired, but it was ruled that time ran out before any foul occured.
Overall, Larson was happy with the Maroons' performance.
"We had a really tough time guarding Reece Castor tonight," Larson said. "Our guys played really hard. We battled and fought back any time we were down. We were able to fight back into the basketball game, and I'm really proud of them overall."
Quigley thought the X-factor was his seniors' determination.
Of the upcoming game with Escanaba (12-8), Quigely said, "We have to come with more of a sense of urgency. I think we were a little complacent at the beginning tonight. We split with Esky during the year. We know they're going to play physical, and we just have to match that."
Monroe led the Maroons with 20 points. Bellisle added 18, Uecke finished with 13 and Sartorelli chipped in with 10.
Gladstone's leading scorer was Reece Castor with 34 points, while Shea added 17.
Gladstone hosts Escanaba for the district final Friday at 6 p.m.
Menominee 15 24 15 20 -- 74
Gladstone 22 20 18 15 -- 75
Menominee -- Monroe 20, Bellisle 18, Uecke 13, Sartorelli 10, Conway 8, Barrette 5. FT: 5-6; F: 21; Fouled out: Bellisle, Sartorelli; 3-point field goals: Bellisle 4, Sartorelli 2, Barrette 1.
Gladstone -- Reece Castor 34, Shea 17, Crow 8, Downey 8, Peterson 3, Ballard 3, Rane Castor 2. FT: 14-23; F: 12; Fouled out: None. 3-point field goals: Peterson 1, Shea 1, Crow 1.