ISHPEMING — A strong start wasn’t enough for the Gladstone boys here Tuesday night in a 69-51 basketball loss to Westwood.

“I thought we played a real nice first quarter,” said Braves’ coach Dane Quigley. “We scored 22-23 points, which is right where we wanted to be, then we had trouble scoring from there. We were kind of sluggish in the second quarter. It was sloppy play on our part.”

Rane Castor led the Braves with 11 points and Caden Alworden hit nine in the Mid-Peninsula Conference contest.

Westwood improved to 5-2 overall and 3-1 in the M-PC. The Braves are 3-4 overall and 3-2 in the M-PC.

“I thought Westwood played with a lot of heart,” said Quigley. “They were more physical than us. They’re a real solid team.”

The Braves, who won the jayvee game, visit Kingsford Thursday.