Todd Rose | Daily Press Gladstone’s Claire van Ginhoven (1) shoots over Gwinn’s Lily Kerry (3) Feb. 19 in Gladstone.

GLADSTONE — The Gladstone Braves were able to sneak away with a win Thursday night as they defeated the Gwinn Modeltowners 33-31 in Gladstone.

At the end of the first half, the Braves held a 25-5 lead over Gwinn, but the second half would be the complete opposite story as the Modeltowners scored 26 points to claw their way back into contention with seconds remaining, though they would come up short.

For Gladstone (6-11) coach Andy Cretens the win felt somewhat empty considering the nature of the second half where the Braves were outscored 26-10.

“We talked about it in the locker room, we don’t feel like we got the win tonight because we had a 25-5 lead at halftime,” Cretens said. “And to allow them to come back into a game — we had it under control, and we’re doing a lot of good things — it’s a little bit frustrating.”

A 17 point quarter from Gwinn, with 12 of those from Lena Pleaugh who had 21 of the Modeltowners’ 31 points, put them right with the Braves with 1:08 left in the game as they trailed 32-30.

A triple from Aliana Martinez earlier in the fourth meant the Braves still had the advantage but only just. Chloe Hanson pushed the Gladstone advantage back to three points with a free throw — something the Braves uncharacteristically struggled with as a team going 3-11 — with 35.4 seconds left.

Pleaugh made a free throw for the Modeltowners with 8 seconds left to make it 33-31, but the Gwinn girls were unable to capitalize on the rebound leaving the final score there.

For the Brave, the game hearkens back to a Feb. 7 loss to Manistique where they stumbled late losing an eight-point lead over the final two minutes before they were bested in overtime.

“It’s something we’ve talked about a lot recently, and we talked about it after the Manistique game, we just need more leadership,” Cretens said. “We don’t have that, and we need it. We’re senior-heavy, so we should have some more leadership out there, but we just don’t have that when things aren’t going well, and we run into some adversity or they make a little run, we need to have a little more leadership.

“We need someone to take some control and have some composure and some poise out there. That’s the missing piece we don’t have. When things are going good, we can do really good things, but our mental toughness and our leadership is hurting us when things aren’t going well.”

Cretens added that he hopes the team can use the experience to learn and build that little bit more as districts begin in just over a week.

Veronica Hall led the Brave sin scoring with eight points, while Jamisyn Bergeron (6), Aliana Martinez (6), Claire van Ginhoven (5), Chloe Hanson (4) and Sophia Rosa (4) all put points up as well.

Aside from Pleaugh’s 21, Jada LaCount (6) and Jordana Hardy (4) were the other two Modeltowners girls to score.

Though they came up just a bit short, Gwinn coach Justin Maki is happy with his team’s effort.

“We went in the locker room (at halftime), and I told them, ‘there’s a right way and a wrong way to lose, and if we’re going to lose this game, we’ve got to do it the right way,” Maki said. “And that’s giving them 100 percent and giving them our best basketball. Surprisingly, they came out and went hard. Once we got to 10 down, we got to 5 and slowly got back into it.

“I’m proud of them. Even if we had a mediocre first half, I think we pull a win out tonight. But, you know, a long bus ride and sometimes you come out flat. But, I’m happy with the way they responded, and that’s a good lesson to learn before districts.”

Gladstone hits the court again this afternoon at 2:30 at home as they host Ishpeming while Gwinn (1-15) heads to Harris to play the Broncos of Bark River-Harris tonight at 7:30.

Gwinn 2 3 9 17 — 31

Gladstone 9 14 6 4 — 33

Gwinn — Pleaugh 21, LaCount 6, Hardy 4; FT: 3-12; Fouled out: Pleaugh; 3-point field goals: LaCount 2.

Gladstone — Hall 8, Bergeron 6, Martinez 6, van Ginhoven 5, Hanson 4, Rosa 4; FT: 3-11; Fouled out: Hall; 3-point field goals: Bergeron, Martinez, van Ginhoven, Hanson.