One and done: Mountaineers fall to Braves
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GLADSTONE -- Despite a solid victory over Iron Mountain last Friday, the outcome of the MHSAA Division 3 District 66 girls basketball first-round matchup between the teams looked like it might swing the Mountaineers' way Monday night.
However, the Braves found a solution at halftime and topped Iron Mountain again, this time 46-37, to advance to the district semifinals against host Menominee on Wednesday.
Trailing by two after the first quarter, the Braves (9-14) and Mountaineers (7-14) traded the lead back and forth until the final seconds of the second when Gladstone's Jamisyn Bergeron drained a triple to put the Braves up 21-17 as the teams headed to the locker room.
"It was big," Braves coach Andy Cretens said of Bergeron's shot. "We've talked about in the past, we always seem to give up a basket at that point -- at the end of the half or the quarter, and it's nice for us to be able to do that. It's weird how it works, but it just gives you a lot of momentum going into the locker room. One shot can change a lot in that moment."
The trey was the fulcrum for the Braves' victory as the Mountaineers faltered on offense in the third quarter.
"We just couldn't hit any of our shots for some reason," Mountaineers coach Karen Ellis said. "One of our starters (Annslee Runsat) had an injury early on, and that kind of took the chemistry and flow of the game away from us. (She's) our only senior. She's a leader on the court, and it kind of took the wind out of our sails for a little bit there."
The Mountaineers played a combo man-zone defense on Gladstone's Clair von Ginhoven and the move worked. The senior scored just eight points after running up 26 in the Braves victory three nights previous.
Nevertheless, the Braves had other step up, namely Chloe Hanson (13 points) and Aliana Martinez (10 points and 12 rebounds).
Ellis said she was happy with the play of her team, despite the defeat.
"I just wish more of our shots went in," she said. "Overall, I'm very ecstatic that we had Chloe Maycroft and Anya Kleiman right on Claire, and to hold her to eight points was really good."
The Mountaineers were led by Ellison Powell with 21, and Runsat chipped in 10.
"We're really going to miss her next year," Ellis said of Runsat. "She's a leader on the court and a leader off the court. It's really going to affect our game, but I'm very happy that I was able to coach her. She did a great job."
Justin St. Ours is sports editor of The Daily Press in Escanaba and may be contacted via email at jstours@dailypress.net.