Gladstone sophomore Lonnie Davey (white jersey) aims to get past Marquette’s Connor Feirstine during a Great Northern Conference basketball game on Nov. 26, 2024 at Gladstone High School. (“The Big Dog” Mitch Vosburg/Daily Press)

GLADSTONE — After losing all five starters from a season ago to graduation, Gladstone boys’ basketball debuted new faces in its season opener on Tuesday.

Much to the dismay of the purple and white faithful, Gladstone’s first game of the 2024-25 season was plagued with turnovers in a 76-36 home loss to Marquette.

“We knew Marquette was going to come out and play physical. They have three (future) college basketball players on their team, if not more,” Braves coach Jake Kiesby said. “Our goal was to compete regardless of the score. I thought we did that for moments of (the game).”

Sophomore Lonnie Davey and freshman Alex Prins got the starting nods at either guard spot for their first career varsity starts. While both displayed flashes of what they will become further along the line, both were smothered by the Sentinels’ full-court press, which also featured traps in the corners.

Not only are the Sentinels the favorites to repeat at Great Northern Conference champions, but they never trailed in Tuesday’s game.

“I was expecting really good things,” Marquette coach Rich Ledy said. “We’ve been practicing hard. Everyone’s attention to detail is way better than it has been the last couple of years.”

The Braves did show signs of competitiveness in the first quarter. Despite falling into an 8-0 hole, Gladstone began to find success with a 9-4 run to pull within three points at 12-9.

But Marquette pulled away late in the frame to take a 21-12 lead after the first quarter.

The Sentinels then turned three Braves turnovers into eight points to start the second quarter.

In total, the Sentinels finished the first half on a 34-10 run to take a commanding 46-19 at the half.

“We’re long, we’re athletic and we’re deep,” Ledy said. “I think we’re understanding each other more. I think they’re understanding what we’re trying to accomplish better, and they bought in. That’s huge.”

Sure, a 40-point loss on opening nights stings. But that’s only the big picture.

Kiesby set a challenge entering the game for the Braves to look deeper than the big picture. To place a higher level of emphasis on work ethic, battling for loose balls and flat out competing.

It was those little goals entering the game that was the main goal for a rebuilding Braves squad.

“We hit those little goals,” Kiesby said. “We talked before the game about how there’s 60, 80, 100 little wars in this game. We were going to lose some, but what ones were we going to win? We won some of them, and we can go back on film and grow. If we looked at the big picture we wouldn’t be seeing that growth and how to get better.”

The Braves are idle until Dec. 2nd, a road game against Ishpeming. But until then, Kiesby knows what to expect out of the Braves.

“They want to get better. They won’t sit down and get knocked down. They’ll continue to push and fight,” Kiesby said. “You can get beat and wake up feeling sorry for yourself, or you can be motivated. I’m going to see how many kids we have come into our gym ready to work, get better and get motivated from this.”