Gladstone junior Lillie Johnson (21) attempts a 3-point shot during a Great Northern Conference game against Escanaba on Feb. 10, 2025 at Escanaba High School.

ESCANABA — Big games lead to big moments.

Gladstone junior Lillie Johnson is no stranger to big moments, especially against arch-rival Escanaba.

Take last season for example. In the first meeting between the Delta County schools Johnson, then a sophomore, dropped 30 points with 20 coming in the first half and 12 clustered in an 18-2 run to close the first half. In the second meeting Johnson dropped 37 points, including 18 points in the fourth quarter, in a 60-51 home win over the Eskymos on a night where the school raised over $3,000 for her Mom’s breast cancer treatment to earn the regular season sweep.

Monday night proved to be no different. Johnson dropped 29 points in a definitive 66-32 win on Escanaba’s home floor to earn No. 2 Gladstone’s second-straight Great Northern Conference title.

“It’s a great feeling going onto their home court and still coming out with a win,” Johnson said. “It’s a rival. It’s always a great feeling.”

But what was Johnson’s breakthrough moment for the Braves (15-1, 6-0 GNC) in this meeting? Well, it came in the third quarter with the Eskymos (8-9, 2-4) within striking distance at 30-25.

Junior Addy Blowers, sophomore Eva Pankonien and Johnson connected on back-to-back-to-back 3-pointers.

Then Johnson heard something said on the Escanaba bench.

“I heard the bench say ‘force her left, she only goes right,'” Johnson recalled. “Once I got the left handed layup it (triggered) something in my mind where I was like ‘alright, well, they think they can stop me just going right. Yeah, they can’t stop me either way.”

After the bold proclamation was muttered from the Eskymo bench Johnson proved that the Eskymos really couldn’t stop her either way. In fact, Johnson went on to score 16 of the Braves next 19 points.

By the time she exited the game after knocking down a pair of free throws the lead blossomed to 58-27 as she received a thunderous ovation as she made her way to the bench with 5:49 to go.

In the end it was a 28-2 run with 19 points from Johnson which earned the Braves their second-straight regular season over Esky.

Johnson wasn’t the only Gladstone player to pop off on Monday. Blowers netted 15 points, all off 3-pointers, in a performance which Escanaba head coach Tracy Hudson said hurt the Eskymos the entire game. Pankonien added 10 points and senior Alexa Wetthuhn earned six points.

“Their confidence is high right now,” Braves coach Andy Cretens said. “That’s big, because that’s what those players lack. They didn’t think they could be those type of scorers for us. They are now. That’s big.”

Despite a solid first half effort which kept them within striking distance of the No. 2 team in the U.P., scoring 12 points in the second half and allowing an opposing team’s star player to take over a game was not ideal for the Eskymos. Especially during their final home game of the regular season where they committed 18 turnovers, finished 11-of-28 from the floor and knocked down one 3-pointer off 10 tries.

Trips to Ishpeming, Menominee, No. 4 Sault Ste. Marie and Marquette are all that remains on the schedule before what is expected to be a treacherous district with the Braves, Kingsford No. 5 Houghton and No. 1 Houghton.

“We played the way we wanted. We just didn’t play for four quarters,” Hudson said. “We should’ve stayed in our matchup zone. We panicked a little bit. We got down a little bit. I think it was not so much our defense, but our offense.”

“We have to score more. We have to knock down shots from the perimeter.”

Salo’s sendoff

While her senior season is over due to a torn ACL, Esky senior Emerson Salo did register two points in the game. An agreement was set beforehand which allowed Gladstone to score the game’s first basket in exchange for giving Salo a wide open look to giver her one last basketball memory.

“It gives her a little bit of closure,” Hudson said. “It’s hard when you think you have another third of your season left and it’s gone. I think this is going to be a good memory for her. She’s doing everything that she can to help us.”

Takeaways

Gladstone: During the 2023-24 season the Braves relied heavily on the efforts of Johnson with her supporting cast inconsistently contributing. Johnson is still her typical self, but we’ve reached a point with this team where fans can take any doubts of the supporting cast not carrying their weight into a bag, tie it off, place it in a pit, douse it in gasoline and light a match on it.

Gladstone is no longer a one-trick pony. Four legitimate scoring options are in the starting lineup at the bare minimum.

Escanaba: The orange and black have four games to find a way to play a complete game. Esky has shown the ability to play strong halves, even dominating teams in the third quarter. If the Eskymos want to make noise in March they must find a way to play a complete 32 minutes of basketball in their final four games.

Next games

Gladstone: Stays on the road to face Menominee (6-10) at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday.

Escanaba: Plays at Ishpeming (11-5) at 7:15 p.m. Thursday.

Box score

Gladstone 16 11 23 16 — 66

Escanaba 14 6 6 6 — 32

Gladstone — Blowers 15, Quigley 2, Hanson 4, Pankonien 10, Johnson 29, Wetthuhn 4; FT: 16-18; Fouls: 12; 3-point baskets: Blowers 5, Pankonien 2, Johnson 1

Escanaba — Salo 2, Engebretson 1, LaMarche 9, Braun 3, Stalboerger 2, Lamb 7, Moberg 2, B. Beauchamp 2, Bray 4; FT: 5-10; Fouls: 16; 3-point baskets: Braun 1