Justin St. Ours/Escanaba Daily Press Photo Kingsford’s Talia Wallis (32) shoots in front of Gladstone’s Maddi Ahlgren Wednesday during a Division 2 district semifinal at Gladstone.

GLADSTONE — If anyone thought their win against Menominee Monday was a fluke, the Gladstone girls proved them wrong on their home court Wednesday. After a slow start in the first quarter, the Braves rallied to a 61-46 win over Kingsford with a strong third quarter in the Division 2 district semifinals.

“Absolutely, (there was more pressure tonight than Monday),” Braves coach Andy Cretens said. “Going to Menominee was a weird feeling. I wasn’t nervous at all. The girls weren’t either. We felt like we’d done enough and prepared enough to give ourselves a chance. We just kind of went in there and had some fun. Tonight, I felt like the target was on our back. I was a lot more nervous tonight. It’s just a completely different scenario, especially on our home court.”

The Braves (9-13) led 27-26 at halftime. They extended their lead early in the second half before Kingsford’s Olivia Olkkonen cut it to 33-32 on a second-chance shot with 4:08 left in the third.

Andie Balenger than ignited a 13-2 Braves’ run in which Megan Crow scored nine points that lasted until 44 seconds remained in the quarter.

“Andie got us going in the third quarter,” Cretens said. “She hit a couple mid-range jumpers that were huge for us. I can’t say enough good things about Andie because she held one of the best players in the U.P. (Brooke Kriegl) to seven points tonight. She went from guarding Emma Anderson on Monday to guarding almost the opposite tonight. Her confidence is awesome right now. I think more big things are coming from her in these next few games.”

The Flivvers, who finish the season at 10-11, then scored the final five points in the final seconds to trail 46-39 at the end of the third.

Kingsford trimmed its deficit to five a little over a minute into the fourth on a 3-point play from Kriegl, but it couldn’t get any closer.

“I’m proud of the girls,” Flivvers coach Lisa Harry said. “They gave it all they had, and they fought hard to the end. We couldn’t keep up offensively. We couldn’t really answer. We had one little spurt where we cut it to five going into the fourth. It just seemed like we couldn’t maintain anything offensively.”

With the Flivvers in foul trouble for the last eight minutes, the Braves had plenty of opportunities at the free throw line. Crow found herself there twice, hitting four to finish a perfect 9 for 9 for the night and earn a career-high 27-point game.

“It’s really hard to do (free throws), especially when you’re in front of your student section trying not to mess up,” Crow said. “I’ve stayed after practice to shoot free throws, because as someone tall, you’re going to get a lot of fouls. You might as well make the basket instead of looking silly up there.

“(My 27-point game) makes me feel really proud of my teammates. It means they got me the ball at the right time to put it up. They did the hard part already, I just had to finish it. Basically everyone had good passes (for me). (After the first quarter), we started figuring it out. I started jumping to the ball, and it all just clicked. It was awesome to have that.”

Alaina Trudeau chipped in 11 points for the Braves.

“We had a lot of adversity during the season,” Cretens said. “We told the girls to keep their heads up. Sometimes it was a struggle, but we knew they’d be better for it. We’ve been tested so many times and gone through so much that this is our comfort zone. I can’t express how proud I am of the girls for what they do out there. Us coaches, we’re not doing a whole lot. The girls are stepping up and doing big things for us.”

The Flivvers were led by Maggie Strehlow with 19 points.

“Maggie Strehlow is a strong girl, and she had some beautiful moves in there,” Harry said. “She was getting us some rebounds, and Brooke was creating some opportunities. They were doing a good job containing for the most part.”

Harry was proud of the way the team handled itself.

“We got off to a great start I thought,” she said. “We had some momentum going, but they kind of crawled their way back in. Megan Crow was a big factor offensively. You’re spending so much energy trying to contain her. We let a couple others get away from us as well.”

Gladstone goes on to host Escanaba in the district championship Friday at 7 p.m.

“(Against Escanaba), we just have to make sure to do the little detail things,” Cretens said. “We’ve screwed up in a couple areas that are just mental mistakes. We didn’t shoot it as well earlier in the season, and I feel like we’re shooting better now. I think that’s going to be a big thing for us.”

Kingsford 16 10 13 7 — 46

Gladstone 10 17 19 15 — 61

KINGSFORD: Strehlow 19, Kriegl 7, Doolittle 6, Gladowski 6, Olkkonen 3, Wallis 3, Holmes 2. F: 19; Fouled out: Doolittle. FT: 8-12; 3-point field goals: Olkkonen, Wallis.

GLADSTONE: Crow 27, Trudeau 11, Balenger 9, LaFave 8, Ahlgren 6. F: 11; Fouled out: none; FT: 17-21; 3-point field goals: Balenger, Trudeau.