Gladstone junior Lillie Johnson steps off the bus before a MHSAA Division 2 regional championship game against Fremont on March 9, 2025 at Houghton Lake High School. (“The Big Dog” Mitch Vosburg/Daily Press)

Well, basketball season is officially over.

It was one wild journey with so many fresh faces beginning to emerge across my coverage area. There was also one familiar face — Gladstone junior Lillie Johnson.

This young lady, by all accounts, plays on a different level. Let me explain.

In case you’re new here (or simply need a refresher) let’s run through her resume really fast.

In her career so far Johnson has the program records with 1,591 points and 968 rebounds. She averaged 22.6 points, 12.3 rebounds and 3.6 steals per game this season, which are less than last season. She was named Player of the Year in the Great Northern Conference for the second straight season and was named Player of the Year in the Mid-Peninsula Conference this season. She earned Dream Team honors by the Upper Peninsula Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association twice unanimously and was unanimously named Division 1-3 Player of the Year and Ms. U.P. Basketball this season.

Oh, then there’s her First Team All-State selection in Division 2 last season. She was accidentally misclassified. She was supposed to be on the All State ballot for Division 3.

She was good enough to earn All State honors in a division above where she was supposed to be at.

As my grandpa jokingly says after I do something awesome “eh, tolerable.”

It’s a decorated resume. A resume that I knew she was going to build.

See, not a single one of her accolades (and there are a lot) surprise me in the slightest. And it’s because of one night.

And no, I’m not talking about the night that the state of Ohio made the dumbest move ever thinking Toledo was more valuable than the Upper Peninsula.

No, I’m talking about Feb. 12, 2024. That was the night where the Braves hosted arch rival Escanaba, a feud which is not for the faint of heart.

The Braves were battling several mounds of adversity that season. Senior guard Addie Trombley tore her ACL, MCL and Meniscus in one swoop during the second quarter of their second game of the season against Kingsford. Junior guard Tia Schone tore her ACL and Meniscus five feet in front of me during a loss against Negaunee two weeks before round two against the Eskymos.

That alone can cripple a team. But there are two more layers of adversity in this tale.

Round two between Esky and Gladstone was set to be the latter’s annual Pink Night, an occasion where the school raises money for a community member battling cancer. In 2024, that person was Kate Johnson, who was battling breast cancer at the time. Kate Johnson, to two people, is known as Mom. One of those two people is Lillie Johnson.

So here we were, a new chapter was being etched into a historic, rich, physical rivalry. The Braves and Eskymos were both vying to be front runners in the GNC with the entire school rallying behind Lillie’s family.

No pressure for a high school sophomore, right?

Well, for three quarters Lillie Johnson was being outplayed by Esky senior Keira Maki, a crafty southpaw with a breathtaking knack to finish at the rim who is now at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. Entering the fourth quarter Esky led 44-36, seemingly poised to win the game and take full control of the GNC.

But in that moment between quarters, something changed on Gladstone’s bench. There was Johnson, out of sorts despite netting 19 points up to this point.

Here was the pressure of the rivalry, performing in honor of your Mom. Then there’s the last layer of adversity — what Lillie’s best friend Addy Blowers endured a month prior.

See, Lillie Johnson wasn’t the only member on the team with a family member battling cancer. A month before this game, Blowers and her family were forced to say goodbye to her brother after a bout with brain cancer. He was 6.

Lillie Johnson saw what the worst case scenario of cancer is. She knew what the worst case scenario for her Mom could have been.

But in that moment which preceded the fourth quarter everyone inside Gladstone’s gym, which lacked an empty seat, witnessed something incredible.

To quote my man Brent Smith of Shinedown “So have you ever been caught in a sea of despair? And your moment of truth Is the day that you say ‘I’m not scared.'”

Lillie Johnson, by all accounts, was caught in a sea of despair. And in that moment she told the world she’s not scared.

At that moment it didn’t matter what the Eskymos did. Esky head coach Tracy Hudson, known for his 1-3-1 zone, couldn’t come up with a defense to stop her.

He could’ve thrown a 1-2-2, 2-1-2, 2-2-1, 4-0-1, 3-1-1, 2-3, 3-2, 1-0-4 or any zone at her and it wouldn’t have done a damn thing. In fact, I’m pretty sure he asked one of his assistants to rip a kitchen sink out of the wall from the cafeteria to throw at Lillie Johnson. But that would slow her from a sprint to a furious jog.

Lillie Johnson dropped 18 points in the fourth quarter that night, totaling 37 points and 18 rebounds on 15-of-19 shooting. The Braves erased the nine-point hole for a 60-51 win, ultimately winning the GNC title that year.

The school also raised north of $3,000 that night. Oh, she then proceeded to earn a 32 point, 20 rebound, 11 steal triple-double in a win over Manistique the next night.

All of that was accomplished by a high school sophomore.

Read that again. Let it really sink in.

Now do you see why I firmly believe that she’s a different beast? Because on a night where any ordinary kid would’ve cracked under the pressure she decided to face everything and rise.

It’s the reason why every accolade she earned from the UPSSA wasn’t picked out of thin air. It was voted on… unanimously.

She’s a different beast. She still has a year to go. She possesses a level of humility on par with her playing ability.

She’s Lillie Johnson.

“The Big Dog” Mitch Vosburg is a multi-time award winning sports writer and photographer who serves as sports editor for The Daily Press in Escanaba, Mich. and as a voice for all high school athletes in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. He can be reached at mvosburg@dailypress.net.