Todd Rose | Daily Press Gladstone’s Claire Van Ginhoven (1) shoots a layup over Kingsford’s Elizabeth Cross (15) Tuesday at Gladstone. Looking on for the Flivvers is Laura Bracket (30) and Christina Glodowski (10).

GLADSTONE — Thanks in large part to a big run in the fourth quarter, the Gladstone Braves girls basketball team (3-1) defeated the Kingsford Flivvers (1-3).

With about five minutes to go in the game, the Braves held the lead 38-34 as their head coach Andy Cretens called a timeout. In the remaining time, Gladstone would go on a 14-2 run, the only Flivvers points coming from a pair of free throws from Allie LarVarnway.

Up to that point, Cretens said, it was small issues that were biting the Braves.

“It was just the little things,” Cretens said. “We just kept making silly, silly, mistakes and just not executing our gameplan.”

One thing that took the Braves out of their comfort zone was the Flivvers press, said Cretens.

“It was the first time we really saw a press,” he said. “We just let it get to us a bit.

“We’ve got a big learning curve. Our two, point guards that bring the ball up are new to varsity, so it’s new to them. We just have to keep getting better.”

The Flivvers started strong in the first, outscoring the Braves 11-9. While Gladstone would take over control in the second, one area Kingsford shined was guarding Megan Crow.

In the first three quarters, Kingsford held Crow to 6 points.

“She’s (Crow) used to that double and triple team, getting elbows in her ribs and stuff like that,” Cretens said. “She doesn’t wear down because she’s so used to it. It wears on the other team. She just doesn’t get tired.

“Kingsford did an outstanding job taking Crow away from us,” said Cretens. “We had to adjust and take some outside shots.”

Enter Claire van Ginhoven to help with those outside shots. She had 15 points, all coming from threes.

“Claire did an awesome job,” said Cretens. “She hit five threes, think that ties our school record for threes in a game. She did a great job knocking down some shots for us.”

Also breaking 10 points tonight for the Braves was Alaina Trudeau with 11, including two threes.

Despite the loss, Kingsford coach Jon Lorenzoni mentioned his delight with his team’s performance.

“I’m happy with the heart, I’m happy with the way we played,” Lorenzoni said. “We played with a lot of heart.”

Lorenzoni, despite being pleased, said there was definite room for improvement for the Flivvers.

“I think one thing we need to work on is some movement on our offense,” he said. “I thought we got a little bit stagnant on offense. The kids were playing hard, they were getting some loose balls, they were getting some offensive rebounds … Something we really need to work on offensively is movement.”

Talia Wallis and Erica Malone each put up 10 points to lead the Flivvers in scoring. Malone also put up a pair of threes while Wallis had one.

Both teams take a day off before playing on Thursday. The Flivvers will play the Maroons in Menomine while the Braves travel to Iron Mountain to battle the Mountaineers.

Kingsford 11 6 13 6 — 36

Gladstone 9 15 10 18 — 52

Kingsford — Walis 10, Malone 10, Gladowski 6, Geronimi 4, Bracket 4, LarVarnway 2; F: 6; FT: 3-9; Fouled out: None; 3-point field goals: Malone 2, Wallis.

Gladstone — van Ginhoven 15, Crow 14, Trudeau 11, Hall 4, Larson 4, Hanson 2, Bergeron 2; F: 15; Fouled out: None; 3-point field goals: van Ginhoven 5, Trudeau 2.