Kingsford’s Alyvia Kowalski (13) puts up a left handed shot over Gladstone’s Adele Ostlund (12) on Tuesday at Flivver Gym. (Terry Raiche photo)

KINGSFORD — It was raining 3-pointers in Kingsford on Tuesday as the Flivvers girls varsity basketball team faced Gladstone in a Great Northern U.P. Conference clash at Flivver Gym.

However, it was the Braves offense connecting from beyond the arc, and Kingsford (1-1, 0-1) lost its first game of the season, 57-15, to Gladstone (3-0, 1-0).

“I expected Gladstone to be a tough opponent,” Flivvers head coach Ginger Moore said. “They’ve been building and Lillie (Johnson) adds a lot and she makes the players around her better. So we knew that was on the table and, unfortunately, we really don’t have anybody that matches up with her well. … Credit to Gladstone, they hit a lot of outside shots.”

The Braves connected on 10 3-point shots in the contest. But, it was their defensive pressure that carried them over the top. In the fourth quarter, they held Kingsford scoreless.

“Our defense was excellent,” Braves head coach Andy Cretens said. “We were able to watch a little bit of film from their first game against Bark River and saw what they wanted to do. Made a decision to force everything to the sideline and not let them reverse the ball. … It worked really well for us. The girls executed the game plan perfectly.”

Senior Anna Bortolini led the charge for Kingsford in the first quarter. She opened the scoring with a layup, then sent a pass through multiple Gladstone defenders directly to Alyvia Kowalski for another layup and the Flivvers held a 4-0 advantage.

With Kingsford swarming Lillie Johnson, the Braves turned to Addy Blowers. She buried a left corner 3-pointer to cut the lead to one.

“They came out in a 2-3 (zone) so we had to adjust right away, to something we haven’t worked on or talked about, yet, this year,” Cretens said. “But we have enough returning girls, we have a lot of varsity experience with these girls. So we were able to get right into our offense, make some shots and pull them out of that 2-3 zone and we were able to run our normal offense from there.”

Kowalski found Cassie Olson cutting to the basket, on the next possession, and the lead was back up to three in favor of Kingsford.

But, that’s when things began to fall apart for the Flivvers as Gladstone took control of the rebounding battle.

“You can’t give a team like Gladstone multiple shots,” coach Moore said. “I was happy with our first six minutes of play. We executed what we intended to do. But then Lillie went on a run and we have a young team. The wheels started to fall off a bit and it’s hard to shift that.”

Over the next four minutes, Blowers connected on two more 3-pointers, Eva Pankonien added two more as the lead ballooned to 14-points. Johnson also pitched in seven first-quarter points and the Braves took a 22-8 lead into the second.

“Addy Blowers, she hit four threes in the first half,” Cretens said. “Obviously, Lillie draws a lot of attention and the rest of our girls know you’re going to get a lot of open shots from the outside.

“We need you to knock down some shots and she did that for us. Those shots just get us going. If she misses a couple of those, who knows what happens after that. She stepped up big for us.”

Kingsford scored three points in the second quarter and things quickly spiraled out of control as Johnson found her footing. She scored 10 in the frame and the lead grew to 27 points at halftime.

With things under control, Cretens decided to sit Johnson down midway through the third quarter. While it was a good chance to get some younger players experience, it also gave the Braves a chance to rest Johnson.

“It’s two-fold,” Cretens said. “We wanted to give (Lillie Johnson) some rest. She’s been fighting a cold all season, so we were able to get her some rest.

“But, also, we’ve got two freshmen who we need to get more experience and it was a great opportunity for that.”

Gladstone scored 17 points in the second half while holding Kingsford to five points in the same span and locked up the 57-15 GNC win.

Once the dust settled on the game, coach Moore had one focus — improving.

“I want my team to always play with passion,” coach Moore said. “So, right now, I said, ‘This game is over. How do we respond to this and what do we do tomorrow to get back to work?’ We’re not able to read it and react right now. So we get beat on textbook things, which over the course of the year we have to shore up those things.”

Although the score doesn’t immediately point to areas of improvement for the Braves, Cretens wants to see his team improve its decision making as the season progresses.

“We talk about decision making the most,” Cretens said. “In the second quarter, we had eight turnovers. I think we had 15 total and we had eight in the second quarter. We’ve just got to make better decisions, especially when we’ve got them on the ropes. We don’t want to let them back into the game because we’re turning the ball over.”

Johnson led all scorers in the contest with 23 points.

Gladstone also received contributions from Blowers (16 points), Mayce Hanson (2 points), Pankonien (9 points), Adele Ostlund (4 points) and Tiahna Reynolds (3 points).

Kowalski (5 points), Jazzlynne Shaughnessy (2 points), Bortolini (4 points) and Olson (4 points) all contributed to the Flivvers’ offense.

The Braves are back in action today at home against Iron Mountain. Kingsford is off until Monday when they welcome the Mountaineers to Flivver Gym.

NORDICS 46, KNIGHTS 32

NORWAY — After handling Bark River-Harris to open its season, the North Dickinson girls varsity basketball team improved to 2-0 on Tuesday with a 46-32 road win over Norway.

The Knights are now 0-3 on the season.

After one quarter of play, Norway trailed the Nordics, 12-10. But the Knights only scored six points in the second as North Dickinson poured in 16 points. At halftime, ND led 28-16.

Norway’s offensive struggles continued in the third as it scored six points. Mary Cavagnetto and Ashley Carlson each hit a 3-pointer in the frame.

Raina Ledzian led the Nordics with 14 points.

North Dickinson also received contributions from Jessica Harwath (5 points), Alyson Steinbrecher (7 points), Ava Oman (6 points), Lauren Jungwirth (7 points), Aspen Anderson (2 points) and Aunika Lindholm (5 points).

Cavagnetto led the Knights with 10 points. Lauren Adams added nine points, Ashley Carlson had three, Paytan Carlson had four and Lila Kleikamp pitched in six.

The Nordics face the LadyCats in Florence, Wis. today while Norway is off until Monday when they welcome Bark River-Harris to town.

PANTHERS 61, LADY TROJANS 32

CRYSTAL FALLS — The Ewen-Trout Creek girls varsity basketball team’s dominant season continued on Tuesday as it made the trip to Crystal Falls to face Forest Park.

The Panthers jumped ahead early and never let up as they picked up a 61-32 win over the Lady Trojans.

“Ewen has a good team,” FP head coach Kim Bjork said. “Pressure got the best of us in the first quarter. We knew this game would be an early test for us and we’ll definitely learn from it.”

Ewen-Trout Creek opened with 16 points in the first quarter and held the Lady Trojans to two points in the frame.

Forest Park found its footing in the second, scoring eight points. However, the Panthers’ lead was too much to overcome and they rolled to the victory.

Elsie Williams led the Lady Trojans with 11 points. She also recorded five rebounds.

Forest Park also received contributions from Kaidince Woollard (8 points, 2 rebounds, 1 steal), Audrey Williams (3 rebounds), Evie Anderson (2 rebounds), Lily Sarder (1 rebound, 1 steal), Aubrey Warra-Shamion (9 points, 10 rebounds), Jonnie Ketola (1 rebound), Jessie Loehr (4 points, 12 rebounds, 1 steal) and Dalaney Wagner (1 rebound).

The Lady Trojans are back at home today against L’Anse.

REBELS 56, LADYCATS 42

LAONA, Wis. — It was a clash of the top teams in the Northern Lakes Conference on Tuesday as the Florence girls varsity basketball team headed to Laona, Wis. to face Laona/Wabeno.

The Rebels were too much for the LadyCats (3-2, 1-1) to handle and Laona/Wabeno (3-3, 2-0) secured first place in the NLC with a 56-42 win.

Florence struggled to convert attempts into points in the first half, and the Rebels pulled ahead to a 24-14 lead at the break.

The LadyCats responded with four 3-pointers in the second half. However, Laona/Wabeno scored 32 points in the frame to lock up the win.

Kamdan Johnson led all scorers in the contest with 17 points.

Florence also received contributions from CeCe Mills (8 points), Naomi Millan (4 points), Miley VanDenHeuvel (4 points), Kelsi Chrisman (5 points), Bryn Sullivan (2 points) and Abby Peterson (2 points).

The LadyCats are back in action today at home against North Dickinson.