By AMELIO RODRIGUEZ
Niles Daily Star

Halfway through the Lakeland Conference schedule the Brandywine Bobcats girls’ varsity basketball team sits atop the standings with a perfect 7-0 conference record and a perfect overall record.

With every consecutive victory, the Lady Bobcats continue to add to their school record, which currently stands at 11-0.

On the season, the Bobcats have been averaging 52 points a game, while only allowing 23.
Thursday night the Bobcats played host to Coloma. The Comets came in to the game third in the conference at 3-3 and an overall record of 5-4.

Although Coloma gave Brandywine a battle through the first two quarters, the Bobcats pulled away in the second half to a 52-24 victory.

Coloma decided it wasn’t going to give Brandywine any easy baskets early, which would allow them to get into their full court press, so the Comets came out in a zone defense and made the ‘Cats shoot the outside shot or try to force something inside.

Luckily for the visitors the Bobcats could not find their stroke and struggled to score early. The first period was close all the way with the home team clinging to a 12-10 advantage after the first eight minutes of play.

The Lady Bobcats were led in the period by four points each from junior, Lauren Leonard and sophomore Carlie Newman, while the visiting Comets were led by Julie Timm with six of her team-high seven points.

The second period was pretty similar to the first with the host Bobcats outscoring the visiting Comets by a tally of 11-6 to take a 23-16 advantage into the half.

The second period saw Coloma knock down three baskets, while the Bobcats only knocked down four. The difference, however was that two of Brandywines baskets came from beyond the 3-point line.

“You know, give a lot of credit to Coloma in the first half, I thought they played really good and we didn’t shoot the ball well, but that’s a tough zone,” Brandywine coach Josh Hood said.

The second half began to look like a 5-4 team versus a 10-0 team.

The Lady Bobcats were able to get their press working in the second half and they came out of the locker room with a 7-0 run on their way to outscoring the Comets 18-3 in the stanza to take a decisive 41-19 lead after three periods.

Newman led the ‘Cats in the third period scoring 10 of her game-high 19 points, while sitting out the fourth stanza.

In the final period, Brandywine held Coloma to one basket and three free throws for five total points, while it would toss in another 11 of its own, led by Teila Smith with five and Morgan Smallwood with four.

Brandywine would outscore the Comets 29-8 in the second half to pull away for an easy victory.

“I’m really proud of our girls. We made adjustments at halftime and I thought the girls did a really good job or responding and getting after them in the second half,” Hood commented.

“Good teams find a way to win and I think on a night when we didn’t shoot particularly well, we still found a way to win and that’s a tribute to our girls.”

Another tribute to the Lady Bobcats is consistency.

On a night where they struggled shooting the ball in the first half, they still managed to hit their average of 52 points, and although they weren’t able to press much early on, they still held the opponent near their average of 23 points.

Next up Brandywine will travel to Cassopolis on Thursday night, where it will take on the Rangers, while trying to stay consistent and perfect.

COLOMA 24
Olivia Zvoner 1 0-0 2; Erin Cross 1 0-0 2; Kaytlyn Veverka 2 1-5 5; Shelby Simmons 1 0-0 2; Shatoria Dancer 2 0-0 4; Karleann Stankiewicz 0 2-2 2; Julie Timm 2 3-5 7. TOTALS: 9 6-7 24
BRANDYWINE 52
Carlie Newman 6 4-4 19; Nicole Newman 2 0-0 5; Mackenzie Shelton 2 0-0 5; Kelsey Prestly 0 3-4 3; Morgan Smallwood 3 2-2 8; Telia Smith 2 1-4 5; Lauren Leonard 3 1-2 7; Madison Pellow 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 18 11-16 52

Coloma 10 16 19 24
Brandywine 12 23 41 52
3-point baskets: Coloma 0, Brandywine 5 (C. Newman 3, N. Newman 1, Shelton 1). Total fouls: Brandywine 11. Coloma 12. Fouled out: Pellow (B), Varsity records: Brandywine 11-0, 7-0 Lakeland; Coloma 5-5, 3-4 Lakeland. JV score: Coloma 50, Brandywine 28 (Morgan Antus 8)