Former Dowagiac coach Josh Hood has the No. 2 ranked Brandywine girls' basketball team in the Class C Regional championship game Thursday night against Bangor. Hood and the Bobcats edged Schoolcraft 43-42 on Tuesday night to improve to 22-1. (The Daily News/Amelio Rodriguez)

By SCOTT NOVAK
Niles Daily Star

SCHOOLCRAFT – On a night when Brandywine leading scorer Carlie Newman had just a pair of free throws to her credit as time ticked off the clock, a lucky bounce gave her an opportunity to be a hero for the Bobcats.

With 10 seconds remaining in the Class C Regional semifinal Tuesday night, Schoolcraft in-bounded the ball under the Brandywine basket clinging to a 42-41 lead.

The ball was deflected into the hands of Newman, who scored with 8.1 seconds remaining to lift the No. 2 ranked Bobcats to a dramatic 43-42 win over the host Schoolcraft Eagles.

Schoolcraft had a pair of good looks in the waning seconds, but could not get the ball to fall.

Newman’s basket, the only field goal of the night for the prolific scorer, completed the rally for Brandywine, which found itself down by six points in the opening half and eight points in the final 16 minutes.

“I told (Newman) at halftime that she had a really bad game against Bridgman a couple of weeks ago and fans were yelling, ‘0-for-7’ “, Brandywine coach Josh Hood recalled. “I said, ‘Carlie your chance is going to come in the second half. It’s how you react and how you respond.’ And she did it in a big way.”

But the Bobcats clawed their way back into the contest behind the efforts of Madison Pellow and Lauren Leonard, who combined for 17 of Brandywine’s 43 points.

The Bobcats (22-1) entered the fourth quarter down 34-26, but a pair of Newman free throws to begin the quarter cut the lead to six points.

Schoolcraft’s Alice Dorko reclaimed the six-point advantage for the Eagles just over a minute later, but that would be as big as the lead would get the rest of the way.

Brandywine started to whittle away at that advantage, cutting it to 36-33 on a 3-pointer with 5:39 to play and then Pellow scored with 4:08 remaining to trim the lead down to 36-35.

Schoolcraft and Brandywine traded baskets, but with three minutes remaining on the clock, the Eagles’ Carly Scott knocked down a jumper to bump the lead back up to three points, 40-37.

Mackenzie Shelton cut the lead down to 40-39 with 2:47 to play, but a turnover allowed the Eagles to take a 42-39 lead on a basket by Amanda Kotecki.

Leonard scored with 1:32 left to make it a 42-41 contest and was fouled on the play. She was unable to convert on the ensuing free throw leaving the Bobcats down by one.

Schoolcraft had a chance to put the game away with 44.6 seconds remaining in the final stanza and Scott at the free throw line for a one-and-one.

Scott missed on her attempt and was called for over the back on the play, giving the Bobcats the ball and a chance to take the lead.

But Brandywine couldn’t convert at the other end and in a mad scramble for a rebound down on the floor, the Eagles called for a time out with 10 seconds remaining.

Schoolcraft couldn’t get the ball inbounds quickly and as the count was nearing five, the ball was forced into the paint area under the Brandywine basket where it was deflected into Newman’s awaiting hands.

The game was a see-saw affair from the get go.

Brandywine, despite shooting poorly from the field the entire night, was able to take an 11-10 advantage after one quarter.

Schoolcraft was able to take control of the game early in the second quarter and led by six before a rally by the Bobcats gave Brandywine a 19-18 lead heading to the locker room.

Back-to-back bucks by the Bobcats turned an 18-13 deficit into a one-point lead.

Leonard scored both baskets. The first came inside with 34.6 seconds left and the final one came off a steal near midcourt, which she turned into a layup with 9.6 ticks showing on the game clock.

To start the second half, the Bobcats were 1-of-10 from the field and wound up trailing by eight heading to the fourth quarter.

Pellow led the Bobcats, who will face Bangor in Thursday’s championship game, with nine points. Leonard added eight and Shelton seven. Nicole Newman finished with six points on a pair of 3-pointers.

Kotecki had a game-high 13 points for the Eagles, who also got 11 points from Scott and eight points from Dorko.

Brandywine was 18-of-58 from the field and 5-7 from the free throw line. Schoolcraft finished the game 14-of-43 from the field and 12-of-15 from the charity stripe.

“No, I think that’s a testament to our defense,” Hood responded when asked if he could have imagined winning a game and shooting just 31 percent from the field. “Our girls are resilient. What I’m most proud of is that we haven’t had a lot of close games. To be able to come back in a close game on their home floor and do what we did says a lot about these girls from Brandywine.”

The Bobcats will be in search of their first regional championship since 2000 when they take on the Vikings on Thursday at 7 p.m.

The winner advances to the Class C quarterfinals on March 16 at Vicksburg High School.

BRANDYWINE 43
Carlie Newman 1 2-2 4; Nicole Newman 2 0-0 6; Mackenzie Shelton 3 1-2 7; Kelsey Prestly 2 1-2 5; Morgan Smallwood 2 0-0 4; Lauren Leonard 4 0-1 8; Madison Pellow 4 1-1 9. TOTALS: 18 5-8 43
SCHOOLCRAFT 42
Ashley Farver 0 0-0 0, Amanda Kotecki 4 5-6 13, Brooke Gifford 1 0-0 2, Carly Scott 4 2-3 11, Alicia Dorko 4 0-0 8, Bethany Blodgett 0 5-6 5, Tanner Block 1 0-0 3. TOTALS: 14 12-15 42

Brandywine 11 19 26 43
Schoolcraft 10 18 34 42
3-point baskets: Brandywine 2 (N. Newman 2), Schoolcraft 2 (Block 1, Scott 1). Total fouls: Brandywine 15, Schoolcraft 7. Fouled out: None. Varsity records: Brandywine 22-1, Schoolcraft 19-4