By AMELIO RODRIGUEZ
Niles Daily Star

The Brandywine Bobcats played host to the Berrien Springs Shamrocks in a Lakeland Conference showdown Tuesday night.

The Shamrocks came to town with a perfect 6-0 record and they would leave town still unbeaten after defeating the Bobcats 67-51.

In the first period, both teams took their turn holding the lead as Berrien Springs guard Matt Little knocked down a 3-pointer to give the visitors a 3-1 advantage only to see the Bobcats’ Lance Prescott answer with a 3-pointer to give the host team a 4-3 advantage.

The quarter would see a couple more deep balls as well as a couple of easy layups as the visiting Shamrocks held an 11-9 advantage after one period of play.

It was obvious from the beginning that the visitors came to town with a strategy and that strategy was to keep Brandywines’ Jacob Frazier as far away from the basket as possible.
Berrien Springs played zone coverage with a man in front of Frazier, and one behind him.
“We wanted to stay packed in that zone and make it hard for Frazier, we knew we would have a hard time matching up with him, and we didn’t want him to kill us. We didn’t want him having 26 or 27 points,” Shamrocks coach Steve Spenner said.

The Bobcat junior was held to six points in the first half, all in the second stanza, and only 10 total for the game.

Both teams were able to knock down some shots in the second period and the game stayed close with the Shamrocks clinging to a 28-25 lead at the intermission.

The visiting Shamrocks came out of the locker room trying to put away the hosts as they outscored the Bobcats 11-5 early on to jump to a 39-30 lead, only to see the home team respond with a run of its own.

The Bobcats cut the lead to 43-39 to end the third and then they knocked down the first points of the final quarter to cut the lead to 43-41 with just under seven minutes left to play.

That’s when the Shamrocks took control and never looked back.

Leading 45-41, Berrien Springs senior guard Mark Westendorp knocked down a long 3-point basket to help spark a nine-point run that ultimately buried Brandywine.

The Bobcats played poorly on the defensive side of the ball, only forcing four turnovers, and got out-hustled for nearly every loose ball.

Berrien Springs was able to drive the ball to the basket at will it seemed at times and Brandywine was clearly frustrated and did not have an answer as they fell by 16 points, being outscored 24-10 over the last 6:40 of the game.

Brandywine is now 2-2 on the season (1-2 in conference play), while the Shamrocks improve to 7-0 (4-0 in conference).

The Bobcats play host to the Buchanan Bucks on Friday night.

BERRIEN SPRINGS 67
Oluwaseunt Idowu 3 0-0 6, Nolan O’Brien 0 0-0 0, Jeffrey Gumbo 6 1-2 14, Mark Westendorp 4 0-0 12, Matt Little 5 4-5 15, Steven Felusme 4 2-5 10, Tyrice Carter 4 0-0 8, Jonathan Shembarger 0 2-2 2. TOTALS 26 9-14 67
BRANDYWINE 51
Cody Udell 3 0-0 6, Jeremy Zimmerman 0 0-0 0, Jacob Frazier 5 0-1 10, Lance Prescott 6 2-2 15, Stone Hadley 2 3-5 7, Dustin Bell 3 1-2 10, Dustin Sater 1 0-0 3, Corey Luhrsen 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 20 6-10 51
Berrien Springs 11 28 43 67
Brandywine 9 25 39 51
3-pointers: Berrien Springs 6 (Westendorp 4, Gumbo 1, Little 1), Brandywine 5 (Bell 3, Prescott 1, Sater 1). Total fouls: Berrien Springs 18, Brandywine 11. Fouled out: None. Varsity records: Berrien Springs 7-0, 4-0 Lakeland; Brandywine 2-2, 1-2 Lakeland