GLADSTONE — It was a tough ending to the basketball season for the Gladstone boys as they fell to the Kingsford Flivvers 75-37 in a Division 2 district semifinal here Wednesday night

Kingsford (18-3) hosts Negaunee (15-8) in tonight’s championship game at 6 p.m. (CDT). The Braves finished 7-17.

The Flivvers scored the first seven points in Wednesday’s district opener.

Included in the game-opening run were dunks by seniors Morgan Sleik and Gavin Grondin.

A 22-foot jump shot by sophomore Lonnie Davey got the Braves on the board.

Kingsford answered with a 9-0 run, increasing its lead to 16-3 on a putback by Grondin midway through the first quarter.

Gladstone responded with a 7-1 run, slicing its deficit to 17-10 on Davey’s jumper from top of the key.

The Braves, however, couldn’t keep up with the Flivvers, who raced to a 23-11 lead on a buzzer-beating 22-foot jumper by junior Owen Olkkonen at the end of the opening frame.

“We absolutely started the way we wanted,” Kingsford coach Ben Olsen said. “You’re always worried about districts because that’s where teams know you the best. It looked like they wanted to control the tempo, but we wanted to get out and run. We did a good job jumping in front early.”

Kingsford continued to set the pace, extending its lead to 40-15 on a 20-foot jumper by senior Gavin Trevillian moments before halftime.

It was all Kingsford in the second half as it continued to build on its advantage which reached 64-26 on a layup by Sleik with 77 seconds left in the third stanza.

The Flivvers, showing no signs of a letdown from a 72-60 victory over Marquette in their regular-season finale, also did their job on defense, often stealing the ball or limiting the Braves to one shot.

“Defense is something we worked on since Day 1,” Olsen said. “Our opponents are averaging slightly more than 40 points a game. That’s something we hang our hat on. In our home game against Marquette (Feb. 20) we just wanted to be in the fight and we were fortunate enough to control them. We’re fast. We can make a lot of teams struggle.”

Grondin drained five 3-point shots and scored 30 points and junior Jack Kriegl added 12 for the Flivvers, who committed just six turnovers.

“Gavin is the most consistent high school basketball player I’ve seen,” Olsen said. “We have him penciled in for 25 points every night. When you have a shooter like that, it makes everything easier. We also have a good supporting cast. We have guys who can come off the bench and score.”

Davey led Gladstone with 15 points. The Braves’ lone senior Aaron Hughes added nine and received a warm round of applause as walked off the floor for the final time as a high school cager.

“Aaron was our main inside player,” junior teammate Teagan Reynolds said. “We could count on him to go in and get boards. This year was a big learning experience, but we have a lot of guys coming back. We’re excited for next season.”

The Braves committed 25 turnovers.

“Davey and (Alex) Prins are going to be good players the next couple years,” Olsen said. “We were rotating three high-caliber players on Davey. Kudos to him for scoring 15 points.”

Box score

Kingsford 23 17 24 11 — 75

Gladstone 11 4 13 9 — 37

Kingsford — Olkkonen 5, Kriegl 12, Trevillian 8, Sleik 9, Buckley 6, Grondin 30, Finley 3, Erickson 2. FT: 10-15; F: 9; Fouled out: None; 3-point field goals: Grondin 5, Olkkonen, Trevillian, Buckley.

Gladstone — Davey 15, Prins 2, Miron 3, Sadler 5, Reynolds 3, Hughes 9. FT: 6-12; F: 12; Fouled out: None; 3-point field goals: Davey 3.