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Marquette’s three-point shooting too much for Braves

Ryan Spitza | Marquette Mining Journal Gladstone’s Reece Castor pivots with the ball while Marquette’s Drew Wyble and Marius Grazulis, back, defend Tuesday in Marquette.

MARQUETTE — Monday’s ice storm was a memorable one that turned the Upper Peninsula into a skating rink almost anywhere you went.

Some of that ice seemed to transfer into the veins of the Marquette Senior High School boys varsity basketball team on Tuesday.

The sharpshooting Redmen used a strong perimeter performance as they went 8 of 13 beyond the arc to defeat Gladstone 66-44 at the MSHS Barb Crill Gymnasium.

Sitting at No. 2 in this week’s Upper Peninsula Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association Divisions 1-3 basketball poll, the Redmen improved to 12-3 on the season while No. 3 Gladstone dropped to 9-6.

MSHS head coach Brad Nelson said a slow start with his team down 12-11 after one quarter quickly turned around with 3-point shooting and open looks.

“I thought the first few minutes of the game, we were kind of sluggish and didn’t have a high energy level,” he said. “I told the guys if they play with a high level of energy on the defensive end, you just play more confident. I thought we stepped into our shots and had high-percentage looks.

“In the second half, we settled a few times on 3-balls and I told them at halftime that they’re (Gladstone) going to try and chase us off of the 3-point line and they did. Overall the effort of everybody on the team was outstanding.”

Nelson added that containing Gladstone senior guard and Northern Michigan University commit Reece Castor was a key part in trying to earn a win. “You’ve got to keep him in front of you,” he said. “Anytime he gets below the free-throw line, he’s dangerous and you’ve got to be careful of that.”

GHS head coach Dane Quigley said his team had no answers for Marquette’s offense as the Redmen extended the lead anytime the Braves closed the gap.

“(Marquette) came out right away and hit a 3 in the second half,” he said. “Every time we tried to mount a comeback, they dropped another 3-ball. I thought we started off well and had a good defensive effort in the first half. Obviously we had some lapses in their hot shooting which kind of really tore us apart. (Marquette) had a 24-point second quarter so that was kind of hard to overcome.”

Martysz led all scorers with 16 points, hitting four triples. Ogea and Grazulis each added 13 for Marquette while Brazeau had 12.

Castor finished with 13 for Gladstone while Downey had 12 and senior forward Jared Crow eight.

Now 12-3, the Redmen visit Escanaba Thursday.

Gladstone visits Kingsford (8-6) on Thursday.

Marquette won the JV game 74-57.

Gladstone 12 10 13 9 — 44

Marquette 11 24 15 16 — 66

Gladstone — Downey 12, Shea 6, Ballard 4, Rane Castor1, Reece Castor 13, Crow 8. Totals 18-3-44.

Marquette — Millado 4, Darr 6, Ogea 13, Brazeau 12, Martysz 16, Thomson 2, Grazulis 13.

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