MANISTIQUE — The Gladstone boys broke out of the gates quickly here Monday night in an 81-51 basketball rout of Manistique.

Gladstone led 28-10 after the first quarter and 50-17 at halftime of the Mid-Peninsula Conference outing.

“We came out hitting on all cylinders,” said Braves coach Dane Quigley. “We put a lot of pressure on them (with a 1-3-1 half-court trap defense) and got some turnovers right away. We played with a lot of energy. We forced them to take some shots they didn’t want to take. We let our defense create offense for us.”

Noah Ballard, who sank 7-of-8 field goals, led the Braves (7-6 overall, 6-3 M-PC) with 20 points and four assists. Cam Ballard added 17 points and four steals and Rane Castor had 14 points.

“Noah had a real nice game,” said Quigley. “I thought we rebounded well. Lots of guys stepped up and pulled down rebounds.”

Schyler Andersen paced the Emeralds (1-13 overall, 0-10 league) with 11 points. Sammy Warren had 10.

Gladstone, which also won the jayvee game 65-19, hosts third-ranked Marquette tonight at 7:15. Manistique hosts fifth-ranked Westwood Friday.

Gladstone 28 22 24 7 — 81

Manistique 10 7 15 19 — 51

Gladstone — Alworden 3, St. John 9, Johnson 2, Schwalbach 2, C. Ballard 17, N. Ballard 20, Hughes 2, Castor 14, Hagebusch 4, Bernson 6. FT: 8-18; F: 8; Fouled out: None; 3-point field goals: St. John 2, Castor 2, C. Ballard.

Manistique — Block 4, Hoholik 7, Misniakiewicz 2, Blixt 3, Warren 10, Andersen 11, Zajda 4, Dechow 6. FT: 3-6; F: 11; Fouled out: None; 3-point field goals: Hoholik, Andersen.