By TOM NYHUIS
Niles Daily Star

The Brandywine girls’ basketball team chalked up another win Thursday evening, a 42-26 win over conference rival Buchanan.

The Lady Bobcats’ eighth win in as many games is the best start by any girls’ varsity team in the history of Brandywine High School.

It also evened the girls basketball program record to 392 wins and 392 losses. The victory gives Brandywine the Lakeland Conference lead with a 5-0 mark, while Buchanan drops to 1-3 in league play and 1-6 overall.

Carlie Newman hit three 3-pointers and 3-of-4 from the free throw line to lead the Bobcats with a game-high 12 points. Kelsey Prestly added eight and Lauren Leonard chipped in with seven.

“We struggled in the first half shooting the ball and when a team plays a zone like that you have got to knock shots down,” Brandywine coach Josh Hood said. “Carlie did a good job in the second half getting us going and the other girls did a good job finding her as well. We needed other people to step up and we did an adequate job in the second half to sustain the lead and win by 16 but there is room for a lot of improvement.

“We are excited to be 8-0 but there is a long way to go and we need to play with a lot more intensity if we want to accomplish our goals. We need to stay hungry and not be content winning games. We need to come out and play at a high level if we want to win the Lakeland Conference and advance in postseason play.”

Brandywine couldn’t shake the Lady Bucks in the first half as they went into the intermission with just a six point lead, 21-15, as the Bobcats struggled to get their offense going. Brandywine led 14-8 after the first quarter.

“We lacked energy but I give a lot of credit to Buchanan,” Hood said after the win. “They came out and played really, really hard. Our whole program is based on defense and I thought our intensity and our communication was non existent for most of the game. I’m proud that we got the win. I’ve been hearing all week about the Buchanan jinx and how this program can’t beat Buchanan over the last 15 years or however long it has been. It’s a win but we have a lot of things that we need to improve on. We had a very sloppy first half at Berrien Springs on Tuesday and tonight it was a lethargic effort I thought.”

In the third quarter Brandywine out-shot the Lady Bucks 12-6 and then held Buchanan to just five points in the final eight minutes of play to take the win.

Julia LaBounty and Elizabeth Hein each scored six points for Buchanan. LaBounty pulled in a team-high five rebounds as the Bobcat’s controlled the glass 31-21.

Morgan Smallwood pulled in six to lead the Bobcats.

Hein was sidelined early in the first half picking up three fouls in the first half.
“When she (Hein) was in early we had a rhythm and things were going in a flow and things were evenly matched,” Buchanan coach David Cleveland said. “When she got herself in foul trouble and had to sit it changed things a bit. In the second quarter we made a run to end the second quarter to pull within six. I felt decent there. We did OK in the third but not enough scoring.”

Each team had problems keeping control of the ball as Buchanan finished the night with 24 turnovers while Brandywine turned over the ball 19 times.

“A few of them (turnovers) were forced but some were just in a hurry to make a pass trying to do the right thing trying to get some more buckets,” Cleveland said of his teams ball handling. “We had the shots in the first half we just couldn’t get them to fall and when they aren’t falling you have to keep your head up not put your head down and stay positive.”

Hood praised the visiting team on its effort.

“I give a lot of credit to coach Cleveland he is doing a great job. It’s a transition for him but he’s doing a great job. They’ve lost a lot of close games but they battled tonight and his girls played really, really hard.”

Brandywine will host Covert on Monday, while Buchanan’s next game will be played on Tuesday at Lakeshore. Their game on Saturday has been postponed to a later date due to the tragic accident in which two Bridgman students were killed on Tuesday.

BUCHANAN 26
Elizabeth Hein 0 6-8 6, Chelsea Adolph 2 0-0 4, Amanda Wynn 1 0-0 2, Julia LaBounty 2 2-7 6, Krystal Avance 1 2-2 4, Erin Glavin 2 0-1 4, Jordan Helt 0 0-0 0, Nicole Rutherford 0 0-0 0, Courtney Adolph 0 0-0 0, Amanda Anglero 0 0-1 0. Totals 8 10-19 26
BRANDYWINE 42
Carlie Newman 3 3-4 12, Nicole Newman 1 0-3 2, Michaela Greer 0 0-0 0, Mackenzie Shelton 0 2-2 2, Kelsey Prestly 3 2-4 8, Morgan Smallwood 2 1-2 5, Teila Smith 1 0-0 2, Lauren Leonard 3 1-4 7, Madison Pellow 2 0-0 4. Totals 15 9-19 42

Buchanan 8 15 2126
Brandywine 14 21 33 42
3-point baskets: Brandywine 3 (Carlie Newman 3) Buchanan 0, Team fouls (fouled out): Brandywine 18 (none), Buchanan 19 (none). Rebounds: Brandywine 31 (Smallwood 6), Buchanan 21 (LaBounty 5). Turnovers: Brandywine 19, Buchanan 24. Varsity records: Brandywine 8-0, 5-0 (Lakeland) Buchanan 1-6, 1-3 (Lakeland). JV score: Brandywine 36 (Morgan Antus 9) Buchanan 34 (Pachia Benson 11, Kelsi Powers 11)