Adam Hinch/Daily Press Escanaba senior Nick Garcia looks to make a play with the ball against Gladstone on Dec. 20, 2024 at Gladstone High School.

GLADSTONE — With only seven miles separating Escanaba and Gladstone Friday night’s edition of the Battle of the Bay went to Escanaba as they defeated Gladstone 38-36 in Great Northern Conference boys basketball action.

The Braves got on the board first on a layup by senior Aaron Hughes and Escanaba answered back with a mid-range jumper by Nick Garcia to tie the game at two. Hughes responded with another layup for the Braves to put them in front 4-2. Hughes had 9 points and 12 rebounds on the night.

“I would not expect anything less with this kind of rivalry,” Eskymos coach Tom Gereau said. “It’s a stressful game. I was stressed coming into the game and stress level is still high after the game.”

Eskymos senior Javon Stevenson scored on a layup to tie the game. moments later Stevenson split on a pair of free throws to give the Eskymos a 5-4 lead.

Junior Mike Rexford hit a jumper to put the Braves back in front, and junior Lonnie Davey connected on a 3-pointer from the corner to extend the Braves lead to 9-5.

The first quarter ended with the Braves up 9-7 as Stevenson made a pair of free throws to close out the quarter.

The Eskymos opened the second quarter on a 5-0 run including layups by junior Taylor Asgaard and Nick Garcia to give the Eskymos a 12-9 lead.

“This game was very intense,” Asgaard said. “There is no love between these two teams whether is football, baseball its always a battle when these two teams play.”

The Braves pulled within one as freshman Alex Prins hit a mid-range jumper to cut the deficit to 12-11. The Eskymos quickly responded with a 3-pointer by Nick Garcia to extend the lead to 15-11.

“This was a really gritty game,” Garcia said. “There was a couple of moments when it got a little ugly I got punched in the face but that’s how the Esky Gladstone rivalry is.”

The Braves responded with a 3-pointer by Rexford. Moments later after Hughes split a pair of free throws, Davey hit a mid-range jumper to give the Braves a 17-15 lead. The two teams went into the halftime break with Gladstone leading 18-16.

Gladstone added two its lead in the second quarter, as Hughes and Davey each hit shots to put the Braves up 22-16.

“We came into this game knowing we had to execute plays,” Davey said. “We did’t execute our stuff and we lost. It was a winnable game for both teams and we didn’t perform our best.”

Escanaba answered back with a 3-pointer by sophomore Hayven Sandoval-Nolde to cut the deficit to three. Asgaard hit back-to-back shots to put the Eskymos back in the lead at 23-22 after three quarters of play.

The Eskymos picked up right where they left off to start the fourth quarter as Garcia connected on a 3-pointer and moments later senior Alex Morgan went in for a layup and drew the foul and the Eskymos led 28-22.

Davey responded for the Braves on a 3-pointer from the corner to cut the deficit to 28-25. Davey had 20 points on the night to lead the Braves.

The Eskymos extended the lead to 34-29. Davey hoisted up a 3-pointer in the corner and knocked it down and drew the foul but missed on the free throw and the Eskymos lead was down to two.

Sandoval-Nolde drove in for a layup to extend the Eskymos lead to 36-32.

The Braves got a layup by Hughes at the buzzer but fell two points short.

Escanaba 7 9 7 15 — 38

Gladstone 9 9 4 14 — 36

Escanaba — Stevenson 14, Garcia 9, Morgan 2, Asgaard 8, Sandoval-Nolde 5. FT: 11-17; F: 18; Fouled Out: Asgaard; Technicals: Stevenson; 3-pointers: Sandoval-Nolde 2, Garcia 1, Stevenson 1.

Gladstone — Davey 20, Prins 2, Rexford 5, Hughes 9. FT: 6-12; F: 17; Fouled Out: None; Technicals: Gereau; 3-pointers: Davey 3, Rexford 1.