Gladstone junior Addy Blowers prepares to shoot from 3-point range during a game against Iron Mountain on Dec. 12, 2024 at Gladstone High School. (“The Big Dog” Mitch Vosburg/Daily Press)

GLADSTONE — Temperatures outside of Gladstone’s gymnasium were well below freezing on Thursday night, but its girls’ 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 7:30 p.m. Monday. The Braves stay at home next week to host Marquette on Tuesday and Houghton on Thursday. Both games are scheduled to start at 7:15 p.m.

Box Score

Gladstone 16 12 20 8 — 56

Iron Mountain 4 2 8 9 — 23

Gladstone — Blowers 3, Hanson 10, Pankonien 9, Ostlund 6, Reynolds 3, Johnson 21, Wetthuhn 4; FT: 8-14; Fouls: 14; Fouled out: none; 3-pointers: Pankonien 3, Ostlund 2, Blowers 1, Hanson 1, Johnson 1

Iron Mountain — Martilla 4, Wood 5, Video 2, Torres 4, Linsenburg 8; FT: 4-12; Fouls: 15; Fouled out: Martilla; 3-pointers: Wood 1