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Esky rallies past Braves

Austin Hemmingson | Daily Press Escanaba’s Nicole Kamin shoots between Gladstone defenders Megan Crow (far left) and Ahna Larson (23) during Monday’s game at Gladstone. Looking on for the Braves is Maddie Ahlgren.

GLADSTONE — Kelly O’Connell had a decision to make.

Filling in for head coach Mike Beveridge, who was suspended for a game after being ejected at Kingsford last week, O’Connell and his Escanaba girls basketball team trailed rival Gladstone 33-27 after the third quarter. The game was starting to get away, and his best player — Nicole Kamin — had four fouls. He decided to leave her in the game.

It paid off for him.

Kamin scored 12 of her game-high 19 points in the fourth quarter as the Eskymos outscored the Braves 20-6 in the final frame to rally for a 47-39 road win Monday night in a battle of Great Northern Conference rivals.

“I just rolled the dice… I decided I’m going to go with it,” O’Connell said. “The other thing I told my team at the end of third quarter is basketball is such a game of runs. They made their run, now let’s make our run. And I think we answered the bell.”

As she’s done all season, Taylor Ray started the quarter with a big 3-pointer from the left wing to pull the Eskymos (10-6, 4-3 GNC) within three. After Maddy Monkevich got free in transition for a layup, Kamin completed a 3-point play with 5:09 left to give the Eskymos their first lead of the game at 35-33, and they would not let it slip.

“Since I’m not with these girls every day, our base offense is the same, but the hard part for me tonight is that when I needed something to go to Nicole or Taylor, I didn’t have that,” O’Connell said. “So I was designing stuff on the board, and they responded well. We spread them out a little bit with Nicole on top. We ran a few of our JV quick hitters that we run, and I think they did pretty well on that.”

After Andie Balenger tied the score at 35 with a baseline jumper on the Braves’ next possession, Kamin scored nine points in the final 3:11 to help seal the win. She primarily did it by attacking the basket in transition to get to the free throw line, where she went 8 for 9 in the quarter after going just 1 for 4 in the first three quarters.

“Throughout the whole game (Maddie) Ahlgren was kind of face-guarding me and not letting me get it, but when they were trying to pressure us I was able to get away and get the foul and then go shoot my free throws,” Kamin said. “(The win) feels good. It was a little nerve-wracking coming in without our head coach, so it was kind of different. We were able to get it done, though.”

The Braves (5-12, 1-6 GNC) had appeared to be starting to take control late in the third quarter. After Kamin picked up her fourth foul with 1:41 left in the period, the Braves finished the quarter on a 6-0 run to take all the momentum into the fourth.

However, as has been the case for much of the season, they couldn’t make the big plays when it counted.

“As I’ve said many times and the thing we just still gotta figure out is finding ways to not give up momentum-breakers,” Braves coach Andy Cretens said. “The two 3s — the wide open one to Taylor Ray and the wide open one to Mari Bink (in the third quarter) — if we eliminate those two 3s we probably win the game… We’re on the verge of pulling ahead or keeping our momentum going, then we let them slide back in or let their momentum keep going. We just can’t make the big plays when we need to make the big plays.”

Entering the contest on a four-game losing streak, the Braves came out as the aggressor. They built a 14-6 advantage after the first quarter and led 20-17 at halftime before taking a six-point lead into the fourth.

“We did some really good things tonight. Our energy was where it needed to be, and I think that’s the most important thing for us is that our energy is there,” Cretens said. “Defensively, our girls executed our game plan unbelievably. Our girls did a great job sliding over on other girls and taking charges… We’ve worked on that a lot. I gotta give them props for sliding over and executing that, which is awesome.

“Sometimes it just comes down to us knocking down shots or not. We gotta make shots for us to be able to make a run in the playoffs and finish out the season on a good note.”

Megan Crow led the Braves with 12 points, 11 rebounds, three blocks and two steals. Ahlgren added nine points and four steals, while Marnnea LaFave also chipped in nine points.

Bink added nine points for the Eskymos, while Monkevich had six points and eight boards. Kamin added nine rebounds to her scoring effort. Esky committed nine turnovers and Gladstone had 14.

Esky, which also won the JV game 49-23, hosts Ishpeming Thursday. Gladstone hosts Gwinn Thursday.

Escanaba 6 11 10 20 — 47

Gladstone 14 6 13 6 — 39

Escanaba — Barron 5, Kamin 19, Monkevich 6, Lancour 2, Ray 6, Bink 9. FT: 12-19; F: 17; Fouled out: None. 3-point field goals: Barron, Ray, Bink.

Gladstone — Balenger 8, Ahlgren 9, Larson 1, LaFave 9, Crow 12. FT: 9-14; F: 19; Fouled out: None. 3-point field goals: Ahlgren 2.

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