By SCOTT NOVAK
Dowagiac Daily News

EAST LANSING – For the second time in 10 years, the Brandywine Bobcats faced the St. Ignace Saints in Class C State Semifinals.

Unfortunately for the Bobcats, the results were very similar to the last meeting in 2000.
St. Ignace scored a 64-35 win over Brandywine to advance to Saturday’s state title game against defending champion Flint Hamady.

Here are some observations from Thursday afternoon’s games:

First shot
Sophomore Carlie Newman connects on her first shot just 14 seconds into the game to give the Bobcats a 2-0 lead. Newman would end up just 3-of-11 as Brandywine shoots 33 percent from the field in the contest.

Brandywine then goes inside to Lauren Leonard to make it a 4-0 contest.

Feeling the pressure
Brandywine relentless full-court pressure appeared to give St. Ignace problems early on. The result was a 7-0 Bobcats’ lead less than three minutes into the game.

However, by the end of the quarter, Brandywine actually had one more turnover (5-4) than the Saints.

Overall, the Bobcats’ pressure had little effect on the St. Ignace offense. Brandywine wound up losing the turnover battle 23-17.

Finally!
St. Ignace fans had to breath a sigh of relief when All-State guard Nicole Elmblad finally got on the scoreboard with less than four minutes to play in the opening quarter.

Her first basket made it a 9-4 contest.

Cold streak
Brandywine nearly three minutes without a basket in the opening quarter, but managed to keep the game close with solid defense. Despite the cold streak, the Bobcats were 4-of-9 from the field. The Saints ended the opening quarter 5-of-10.

St. Ignace continued to shoot well throughout the game, connecting on 21 of its 45 attempts. Conversely, Brandywine was 13-of-39 from the field.

Taking control
Right from the start of the second quarter, St. Ignace came out and started to take over the game.

The lead grew from 13-11 after one to 23-16 with 4:46 remaining in the first half when Brandywine coach Josh Hood signaled for a time out. The Saints settled for a 27-20 halftime advantage.

The ‘Read Deal’
St. Ignace’s Elmblad showed fans in the opening half why she is one of the top players in the state of Michigan.

She does it all for the Saints. She can score, rebound and at 5-foot-11 she presents quite a match-up problem.

Elmblad, who is also an outstanding hockey player, finished with 19 points, 12 rebounds, four steals and two assists.

Fast start
St. Ignace came out of the locker room to start the second half and immediately turned a seven-point halftime advantage into a 32-20 lead with just under a minute and a half gone in the third quarter.

Things didn’t get much better for the Bobcats in the period as they were just 3-of-10 from the floor and were outscored 19-8.

Inspirational story
The media learned following the game that St. Ignace’s Samantha Radecki played with a broken foot.

Radecki, who had four points and a steal in 11 minutes of play, came to the pressroom with a boot on her foot.

She will attempt to play again Saturday in the championship game.