Iron Mountain sophomore Alysia Wood (15) looks to maneuver the ball past Gladstone senior Mayce Hanson during a game on Dec. 12, 2024 at Gladstone High School. (Mitch Vosburg/Daily Press photo)

GLADSTONE — Temperatures outside of Gladstone’s gymnasium were well below freezing on Thursday night, but its girls varsity basketball team stayed red hot.

The Braves earned a convincing 56-23 win over Iron Mountain to improve to 4-0 on the season.

“I feel really good about our defense,” Braves coach Andy Cretens said. “The girls have bought into what we want to do defensively. They work extremely hard. We take pride in what we do defensively.”

The Braves used a 13-point run in the first to jump to an early advantage before claiming a 16-4 lead after the first frame. Gladstone continued to keep its stranglehold on the game’s momentum, outscoring IM 12-2 to take a 28-6 lead at the half.

Junior phenom Lillie Johnson, who received a collegiate offer from the University of St. Thomas earlier in the day, paced the Braves with 16 points entering intermission, outscoring the Mountaineers herself by 10 points.

She wasn’t the only Gladstone player to accomplish the feat on Thursday. Senior Mayce Hanson earned seven of her 10 points on the night in the first half, including five in the first quarter.

“Gladstone has a nice team and plays very aggressive defense. We were unable to adjust to it,” IM coach Chad Lindeman said. “We have to get some more, different things going on offense. We can’t get ourselves stalled out.”

The Braves saw periods where multiple players shined in their own spurts.

Sophomore Eve Pankonien knocked down two of her three successful 3-pointers in the third quarter. Junior Addy Blowers, fresh off a 16 point performance with five made 3-pointers two days earlier, finished with three points but contributed in every remaining statistical category.

Sophomore Adele Ostlund, a 5-foot 9 forward, also chipped in, but not in the way you’d initially think.

Ostlund erupted from 3-point range in the second half.

It’s a shot she’s had in her artillery, but a shot she hasn’t been confident in until finishing an adjustment period to help her stop flicking the thumb on her left hand on the follow through.

Now the Braves’ first player off the bench is a threat from everywhere on the floor.

“She’s always had that shot, just not the confidence to do it,” Cretens said of Ostlund. “We need her to be able to hit outside shots. She told me she wasn’t very confident in (her 3-point shot). I said ‘you have to, because you’re a good shooter. You put the work in.’

“She has the confidence now.”

The Mountaineers fall to 2-2 in the loss after facing a Gladstone squad that will most likely sit high up on the initial U.P. polls.

“We needed that,” Lindeman said. “This is the level we need to get to. It’s different with new coaches this year. We’re trying to get the program up and running again and get things back to normal. It’s a learning process for everybody.”

The Mountaineers stay on the road to face crosstown rival Kingsford at 6:30 p.m. Monday. The Braves stay at home next week to host Marquette on Tuesday and Houghton on Thursday.

LADYCATS 44, NORDICS 23

FLORENCE, Wis. — For the third game in a row, the North Dickinson girls varsity basketball team (2-1, 0-0) took its talents on the road on Thursday. This time, the Nordics went into Wisconsin to face Florence (4-2, 1-1).

North Dickinson opened the season at 2-0. But, that unbeaten streak came to an end as the LadyCats caught fire in the first half and rolled to a 44-23 victory over the Nordics.

North Dickinson’s offense sputtered out of the gates. It tallied one first half 3-point make from Ava Oman and racked up nine points in the frame. Florence converted three 3-point shots in the same time and took a 27-9 lead into halftime.

The Nordics bounced back in the second half, converting three 3-pointers. Oman, Hailee Siegler and Lauren Jungwirth each made one.

However, the LadyCats’ lead was too much to overcome.

Both teams struggled at the free throw line in the contest. Florence ended the game 0 for 3 while North Dickinson went 1 for 4.

LadyCats’ senior Kamdan Johnson led all scorers in the contest with 18 points.

Florence also received contributions from CeCe Mills (2 points), Naomi Millan (8 points), Miley VanDenHeuvel (8 points) and Kelsi Chrisman (8 points).

The Nordics offense was distributed between Jessica Harwath (2 points), Siegler (3 points), Oman (8 points), Jungwirth (5 points), Aubrey Applekamp (3 points) and Aunika Lindholm (2 points).

North Dickinson took on Carney-Nadeau on Friday and will kick off its home schedule against Escanaba JV on Monday. The LadyCats are back in action on Tuesday when they head to Eagle River, Wis. to face Northland Pines.

PURPLE HORNETS 72, LADY TROJANS 57

CRYSTAL FALLS — Outside of a slow second quarter, the Forest Park girls varsity basketball team stayed step-for-step with L’Anse on Thursday.

However, that lull allowed the Purple Hornets to pull away and pick up a 72-57 win in Crystal Falls.

“We had good effort and energy,” FP head coach Kim Bjork said. “It was a physical game with lots of fouls and turnovers by both teams. L’Anse scored more paint points than we did and that was the difference.”

The Lady Trojans scored 16 points in the opening frame. But, their offense only managed six points in the second quarter. The Purple Hornets scored 32 points in the same period, taking a 10-point lead into the half time break.

Forest Park scored 35 points between the third and fourth quarters. L’Anse scored 40 points in the final two quarters to lock up the win.

The Purple Hornets went 11 for 21 from the free throw line while the Lady Trojans shot 15 for 27.

Forest Park junior Elsie Williams led Forest Park with 20 points. She also tallied two assists, two rebounds and two steals.

The Lady Trojans also received contributions from Audrey Williams (10 points, 1 assist, 1 rebound, two steals), Harper Anderson (1 point, 1 rebound, 1 steal), Evie Anderson (5 points, 1 rebound, 1 steal), Lily Sarder (2 points, 2 assists, 1 steal), Aubrey Waara-Shamion (5 points, 2 assists, 9 rebounds), Dani Alquist (1 steal), Jonnie Ketola (2 rebounds), Jessie Loehr (6 points, 1 assist, 12 rebounds, 4 steals) and Dalaney Wagner (2 points).

Forest Park heads to Escanaba on Tuesday.

COUGARS 34, LADY BADGERS 31

COLEMAN, Wis. — After a slow start, the Niagara girls varsity basketball team caught fire from 3-point range in the second half against Coleman on Thursday.

Despite outscoring the Cougars (4-3, 4-0) down the stretch, the Lady Badgers (2-4, 1-3) fell 34-31 in a Marinette & Oconto Conference clash in Coleman, Wis.

Niagara scored nine points in the first half with senior Mallory Sanicki accounting for six points. Coleman connected on two 3-pointers in the frame and racked up 21 points, taking a 12 point lead into halftime.

The Lady Badgers turned the tables in the second half, scoring 22 points while holding the Cougars to 13 points.

Both teams struggled from the free throw line. Niagara went 10 for 22 from the charity stripe while Coleman was 6 for 15.

Mallory Sanicki led all scorers in the contest with 12 points.

The Lady Badgers also received contributions from Bristol Sanicki (6 points), Sydney Swanson (8 points) and Alivia Kleikamp (5 points).

Niagara heads to Wausaukee, Wis. on Tuesday to face the Rangers. Wausaukee is currently 0-3 in M&O play.

Daily News sports editor Sean Chase contributed to this report.