Dennis Grall | Daily Press Hunter Botruff of Gladstone reaches for the basketball as it is protected by Ryley Alaspa of Sault Ste. Marie Saturday at Gladstone. Watching is Reece Castor of Gladstone.

GLADSTONE — Reece Castor and the Gladstone boys’ basketball team played Sault Ste. Marie in a Saturday matinee.

Castor scored 31 points in the leading role of “Statement Game” as the host Braves rolled to a 74-47 non-conference victory. Gladstone entered as the fourth-ranked Class A-B-C team in the U.P. and Sault as No. 5.

Statement game?

“I think we always hear in the U.P. we can’t compete with downstate teams,” Gladstone coach Clayton Castor said. “When we get a team that’s 14-1 in our place, and half of their games are downstate competition, and we can take it to them the way we did, it’s a big signature win for us. We always hear we play a Class D schedule and different things.”

Gladstone (11-2) took control midway through the second quarter and was never threatened the rest of the way.

Reece Castor, the 6-foot-5 sophomore point guard, scored 20 points in the first half as Gladstone built a 49-29 lead at intermission. Castor hurt the Blue Devils by attacking the basket, including six three-point plays after being fouled.

“We just wanted to come out here today and be aggressive,” said Reece Castor, who made 13-of-14 free throws while collecting nine rebounds and three steals. “We’ve been hearing a lot about how the Sault is a really good team, a legit team this year, so this kind of shows that Gladstone is a good team this year, too.”

The Braves were aggressive on offense and defense.

And Reece Castor’s supporting cast was up to the challenge — Brad Spindler produced 13 points and five rebounds, Joe Gibbs scored eight points and Jack Stephenson added seven points and three assists.

Sault (14-2) only other loss is to Petoskey. The Blue Devils, according to coach Mike Fitzner, didn’t answer the Braves’ mindset.

“They came out and they were a heck of a lot tougher,” Fitzner said. “They were a lot more aggressive out of the gate. They took it right at us. They were playing to win the game and we were back on our heels. Defensively, I thought we were very soft.”

Ryley Alaspa made four 3-pointers en route to a team-high 14 points for the Blue Devils. Junior 6-7 forward Brandon Paul scored 11 points and Tristan Johnston added nine points.

Paul, who averages nearly 20 points per game, picked up his third foul early in the second quarter and was forced to the bench. Fitzner didn’t like the call and was whistled for a technical.

Gladstone led 24-18 at the time of the technical and Gladstone parlayed it into a seven-point swing and 31-18 advantage as Reece Castor converted a three-point play, two free throws off the technical and another basket after getting possession of the ball.

“I’ll watch it on film, but from my angle (Paul) went straight up and was actually backing away as Castor came in,” Fitzner said. “They called it on him. At that point, I kind of felt I needed to do something to maybe get our guys going a little bit and use that as a motivator for us. Those calls happen. It’s certainly not the reason we lost today. They outplayed us.”

The game slowed down in the third quarter as the Sault outscored the Braves 8-6. Gladstone made 2-of-8 shots and had a stretch of four straight turnovers.

“The third quarter we went into a little bit of a lull,” Clayton Castor said. “That was my fault. I backed off. I really wanted to get into the half court and make them work. I thought we forced some shots. I told the kids after the third quarter, ‘That’s my fault. The foot is back on the gas and let’s go.'”

Neutralizing Paul was a key for the Braves as Hunter Botruff, Gibbs and Spindler were called on to defend Sault’s big man, who erupted for 29 points last month against Escanaba.

“They worked hard to keep the ball out of his hands,” Fitzner said. “We’re a team that likes to play inside-outside. We want the ball to touch his hands a lot. We didn’t do a good job of moving it around and getting the ball into him early. And that really stalls us if we can’t get the ball inside. Again, credit to their defense.”

The Braves made 27 of 48 shots and had 14 turnovers.

Gladstone, which won the jayvee game 78-38, will host Negaunee Tuesday.

Sault Ste. Marie 12 17 8 10 – 47

Gladstone 21 27 6 20 – 74

Sault Ste. Marie — Jones 1, Knowles 3, Johnston 9, Bailey 1, Alaspa 14, Paul 11, Thompson 8. FT: 15-23; F: 20; Fouled out: none; Technicals: Coach Fitzner. 3-point field goals: Johnston, Alaspa 4, Thompson.

Gladstone — Gibbs 8, Stephenson 7, Botruff 2, Peterson 4, Spindler 13, Hanson 2, Stenson 2, Ness 2, Schwalbach 3, Castor 31. FT: 17-24; F: 22; Fouled out: Gibbs. 3-point field goals: Stephenson, Peterson, Schwalbach.