Gladstone sophomore Adele Ostlund, right, guards Marquette’s Hayley Taylor on the perimeter during a Great Northern Conference girls’ game played Tuesday at the Braves’ gym. (Escanaba Daily Press photo by Mitch Vosburg)

Up next: Marquette plays is first home game of the season at 7 p.m. Friday vs. Gwinn

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GLADSTONE — When Gladstone and Marquette collided for the first time a year ago, it came with no shortage of drama.

The Braves won 44-42 off a buzzer beater. So what did the first meeting between the Braves and Sentinels have in store this season?

This matchup saw Gladstone earn the win once again, but learn something valuable about itself while improving to 2-0 in the Great Northern Conference. The 50-35 win came with discovering that the Braves are able to play as a cohesive, effective unit on both ends of the floor with reigning First Team all-state selection Lillie Johnson able to rest on the bench.

“Our girls did an outstanding job, and we proved that we can play without Lillie on the floor,” Braves coach Andy Cretens said. “It showed that other girls have put in the time and have the confidence now to do things without her. That makes us really hard to guard when you know that we have other players like yourself who can step up.”

Johnson, a junior who eclipsed the 1,000-point plateau in the first game this season, had her usual night. It was a game-best 25 points while making some plays look flawless that would be difficult for the “average Joe.”

But the remaining seven players on the Gladstone roster continue to flourish. While Johnson was the only player to score in double digits for the Braves (5-0, 2-0 GNC), key players had their spurts.

But no spot provided more of an emphasis than the third quarter.

Marquette’s 1-2-2 zone began to creep up to halfcourt while attempting to trap any and every ball handler in the corners. While Gladstone did take time to adjust, it still produced points, matching all of the Sentinels’ 13 points in the third quarter thanks to a triple and a jumper from sophomore Eva Pankonien, two press-breaking layups from sophomore Adele Ostlund, a steal turned into a transition layup from junior Addy Blowers and freshman Tiahna Reynolds, emerging as a pesty defender for opposing teams, splitting a pair of free throws.

Oh, and Johnson split a pair of free throws in the frame.

“That’s what’s really cool about this team,” Cretens said. “You can’t sleep on anybody.”

All of this came off the heels of the Braves’ defense bottling up Marquette (1-5, 0-1) to a single basket in the second quarter. It was Sentinels senior Brianna Anderson dropping a dime of a pass to senior Aubree Blackburn with 33 seconds left in the second quarter.

The layup snapped a 15-0 Braves’ run that saw Johnson score 12 of her 25 points.

It’s a skid which Marquette coach Ben Smith said needs to change if the Sentinels want to accomplish what they desire this season.

“We do some things pretty well, but we don’t do them well long enough,” he said. “If we want to get to where we want to get to, we have to make sure that we have our ups beat a little bit higher and last longer, and have our dips not last the whole second quarter. They can last a couple possessions here or there.

“Then we have to stem the tide with someone stepping up and make a play so we can get things moving on the right path again.”

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Takeaways

Marquette: While the Sentinels have yet to score 50 points in a game this season, their defense shone again. Gladstone’s 50 points are the lowest it’s been contained this season. The Sentinels are allowing 43 points per game through six games and have allowed exactly 50 points for the second time during their season-opening, six-game road trip.

Gladstone: Players are beginning to emerge on both ends of the floor, but trying to figure out who is going to be the big contributor on any given night is hard to predict. Against Kingsford it was 16 points from Blowers. Against Iron Mountain it was senior Mayce Hanson. On Tuesday it was nine points from Ostlund and eight points from Pankonien.

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Next game

Marquette: Hosts Gwinn at 7 p.m. Friday for its home opener.