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Girls basketball: Gladstone knocks Flivvs out of districts

Kingsford’s Brooke Kriegl grabs a rebound against Gladstone in a Class B District 64 tournament game on Monday, Feb. 26, 2018, in Kingsford, Mich. (Adam Niemi/Iron Mountain Daily News)

KINGSFORD — Gladstone dominated the inside and ousted Kingsford from the Class B District 64 tournament Monday.

Taylor Hunter’s 24 points and 13 rebounds sparked the Braves past the Flivvers 56-36.

“Taylor played her best game of the year,” said Gladstone head coach Andy Cretens. “She’s a senior and plays with a sense of urgency, passion and heart. She doesn’t want to go home yet.”

Hunter, who averages less than five rebounds per game, scored on five of her seven offensive rebounds.

“That was the key,” Kingsford head coach Mike Cross said of the 5-foot-8 Hunter’s performance. “Taylor is a really good player. She’s one of those players you have a difficult time boxing out.”

The Braves host Escanaba on Wednesday.

Gladstone (12-9) had scored eight times on putbacks before Kingsford (9-11) notched its first from reserve Aby Pickett with 17 seconds left in the game.

“It came down to rebounding and we didn’t do a very good job,” Cross said. “They got so many offensive boards.”

Gladstone collected 36 rebounds — 15 offensive. Sophomore Andie Balenger was next behind Hunter with eight rebounds.

Despite the overwhelming advantage on the boards, Gladstone managed a 24-21 lead at the half.

“In the first half I thought we were fine other than those second-chance buckets,” Cross said.

Flivver junior varsity call-up Maggie Strehlow hit a triple at the buzzer for the intermission difference.

“We knew they wanted to shoot threes,” Cretens said of the Flivver offensive strategy. “It was a little frustrating because they banked two in (by Brooke Kriegl and Renee Roberts). But that’s basketball. You never what’s going to happen. That three in the corner before halftime was kind of a heartbreaker because that gave them a little momentum.”

In the second half, Kingsford extended its pressure but Gladstone moved to a 35-25 lead with three minutes left in the third quarter.

The margin was eight after three quarters and the Flivvers could move no closer. Kingsford had five second-half field goal droughts of more than two minutes.

Gladstone, which played a 1-3-1 zone in last week’s loss at Kingsford, went primarily to a man defense in the district opener. The Flivvers scored 15 points in the second half.

“We prefer to run a 2-3 but we wanted to throw something different,” Cretens said. “We match up really, really well. Kaitlyn Hardwick and Taelor Zeise are long and they defend really well. They do a good job on the Kriegls and keep them out of the paint. They did a heck of a job because that’s what they want to do.”

Jordyn Kriegl led the Flivvers with 10 points while Brooke Kriegl and Olivia Allen each had eight.

Cross anticipated a man defense and Gladstone going inside for the bulk of their 22 field goals. But he didn’t see his Flivvers scoring less than 40 points for the fifth time since late January.

“We didn’t shoot particularly well but the key was keeping them off the glass,” said Cross, who figured the Braves for a handful of baskets from outside the paint. “They hit shots when they needed to hit shots.”

Zeise added 10 points for the Braves. Maddie Ahlgren had eight points. Hardwick had seven points with five assists.

Megan Crow, a 6-foot-3 freshman, scored just two points but her effect wasn’t found in the stat sheet.

“Megan does a ton of good things and draws so much attention,” said Cretens, noting the freshman can sometimes see two and three defenders. “Our focus all year is we have two tough players inside with Megan Crow and Taylor Hunter. Those two are a match-up nightmare for teams.

“Most teams in this area don’t have two post defenders. We can take advantage of some mismatches and we love to get inside.”

The Braves will attempt to beat Escanaba for a third time this season.

“Gladstone and Escanaba, what more can you ask for in a district game?” Cretens said. “I’m glad we have them at home. We have to make sure we handle our business and play with the energy we played with today.”

Gladstone 14 10 12 20 — 56

Kingsford 9 12 7 8 — 36

GLADSTONE (56): Balenger 2, Ahlgren 8, Zeise 10, Hardwick 7, Hunter 24, Servant 1, Spaulding 2. FT: 12-17. F: 12. 3PT: None.

KINGSFORD (36): J. Kriegl 10, B. Kriegl 8, Strehlow 3, Lorenzoni 1, Kowalkowski 1, Allen 8, Pickett 2, Roberts 3. FT: 6-13. F: 16. 3PT: J. Kriegl 2, B. Kriegl 2, Strehlow 1.

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