Gladstone freshman Alex Prins brings the ball up the court against Manistique on Jan. 22, 2025 at Manistique High School. (Adam Hinch/Daily Press)

MANISTIQUE — Freshman Alex Prins shined for Gladstone boys basketball as it defeated Manistique 81-57 here Wednesday.

Prins finished with 11 points, 13 assists, eight steals and three rebounds. He was two steals away from earning a triple-double

“Our chemistry is really coming along,” Prins said. “I have played a lot with Lonnie. We are working on continuing to build every time out.”

Gladstone opened the second half on a 10-0 run. Sophomore Gabe Sadler drove to the basket for a layup. Moments later, Prins delivered a pass to Lonnie Davey who knocked down a 3-pointer from the corner to extend the Braves lead to 36-24.

Gladstone junior Teagan Reynolds took a pass from Prins and went to the basket for a layup. Moments later Prins came up with a steal and kicked it out to Davey who knocked down a 3-pointer from the wing and the Braves led 41-24.

“We could not do anything we do without Alex,” Davey said. “He’s our point guard and one of our captains. We would not have won the game without him.”

Manistique senior Blake Mason hit a pair of free throws to end the Braves run.

The Braves answered with a 14-3 scoring run. Reynolds drove to the basket for a layup. Moments later Owen Gereau knocked down a 3-pointer to extend the lead to 46-26. Reynolds scored on a layup, then Prins came up with a steal and drove to the basket for a layup to give the Braves a 50-26 lead.

“We knew we had to come out of the second half with some energy,” Prins said. “The first half wasn’t very good. We made some good passes and did a good job of forcing turnovers in the second half.”

Prins got his sixth steal and drove to the basket for a layup and Reynolds followed it up with a layup of his own and the Braves led 55-29. Reynolds finished with 20 points.

“We have a hard time stopping other teams’ runs,” Gladstone coach Jake Keisby said. “We have made that a point in practice and tonight I thought we did a good job of that. They got a run in the second quarter and we came out in the second half making good passes and getting into position and attacking the basket and getting stops on defense.”

Manistique cut the Braves lead to three on three different occasions but never closed the gap further.

“Every night has been a tough night for us,” Manistique coach Cody Kangas said. “We have to play with more heart. It doesn’t matter what we do defensively. We get beat in transition and are lazy on the defensive side and commit to many turnovers on offense.”

The Braves return to action Friday as they host Menominee. Manistique travels to Negaunee Friday.

Box score

Gladstone 14 17 27 26 — 81

Manistique 4 20 12 21 — 57

Gladstone — Gereau 3, Davey 23, Prins 11, Sadler 11, Reynolds 20, Hughes 10, Miron 3. FT: 10-18; F: 19; Fouled Out: None; 3-pointers: Davey 3, Gereau 1, Prins 1, Miron 1

Manistique — Bonneau 11, Jackson 2, Vincent 3, Segerstrom 5, Goudreu 6, Bellville 5, Mason 11, Graphos 2, Pugh 4, Tennyson 8. FT: 11-16; F: 16; Fouled Out: Bellville; 3-pointers: Bonneau 2, Pugh 1, Segerstrom 1, Vincent 1