BRIDGMAN — The Brandywine Bobcats had the daunting task on Friday night of trying to prevent the Bridgman Bees (20-3) from winning their second straight Class C Boys District championship.

As if that task wasn’t already big enough, they would have to do it on the Bees home court.

Although the Bobcats (9-14) brought a nice crowd with them, most of the ‘beehive’ was full with orange and blue as the Bridgman faithful came out in swarms to support their team.

All of the fans got to enjoy a great first half of basketball, but it was the Bridgman contingent that watched their team roll to the 65-41 win, and their second consecutive Class C District title.

Brandywine came into the game knowing they would be seeing a lot of full-court pressure defense and a lot of 3-point shooting offense from Bridgman and the Bees wouldn’t divert from that plan.

Brandywine’s Austin Searles was fouled making an aggressive move to the basket and he calmly sank both free throws to give the Bobcats the early 2-0 lead. Seconds later, Alex Erwin was able to connect from close range and the Bobcat faithful were getting loud as their team was out front 4-0.

Two free throws by Connor Magro cut the lead in half, 4-2, but back-to-back baskets by Brandywine’s Jacob Frazier gave the ’Cats an 8-2 lead and things were looking good for Brandywyine early.

As the Bees began to turn up the pressure on the defensive end of the floor forcing the Bobcats into turnovers, Josiah Badger and Magro began to warm up on the offensive end of the floor. The two would combine for the next 12 points, including two long-range bombs from Badger, as the Bridgman quickly went from being down 8-2 to leading 14-8.

Pierce Gleason scored on a put-back for the Bobcats to stop the Bridgman streak at a dozen, but Cameron Magro buried another 3-point basket for the Bees and followed it up with a two-point basket to give Bridgman the 19-10 lead after one quarter of play.

In the second quarter the Bobcats defense was able to hold Bridgman to just four baskets, including none over the last 4:25 of the half.

Unfortunately for Brandywine, three of those four baskets were from long range as the Bees built their lead up to 30-14.

Trailing by 16 points with 4:25 remaining in the second period, the Bobcats managed to go on an 8-0 run to end the half and bring the score within eight, 30-22.

Brandywine’s “twin towers” of Frazier and Erwin combined for all 12 Bobcat points in the quarter with Frazier leading the way with eight.

Bridgman came out of the locker room after the break looking to end their shooting slump, while the Bobcats came out hoping to continue to chip away at the lead.

The Bees began to find their stroke again as they outscored the Bobcats 19-7 in the third period, and put the game away. While Bridgman managed to connect on two more triples in the quarter, it was their unselfishness and their ability to find the open player that really buried the ’Cats.

Bridgman had five different players score in the third period, with senior Michael Kamp leading the way with 10, while Brandywine only had two players score. Frazier had four, while Michael Schoenleber drained a three from well beyond the arc.

Bridgman held a commanding 49-29 lead heading into the final quarter of play.

Although the game was lopsided on the scoreboard, Brandywine’s Frazier showed no signs of quitting as he knocked down another seven of his game-high 23 points in the fourth quarter, including a 3-pointer from the corner.

Bridgman outscored the Bobcats once again in the quarter, 16-12 as they pulled away for the win and the district title.

“We were right in it,” said Brandywine coach Scott Smith. “But Bridgman is Bridgman and sooner or later two or three of them are going to heat up. The games they have lost, it’s because they shot poorly.”

Frazier, who clearly didn’t want his senior campaign to end, was a beast throughout the whole district tournament as he came into the night averaging 29.5 points and 15 rebounds. He finished the night leading all scorers with 23 points and pulled down 16 rebounds.

Alex Erwin chipped in eight points for the Bobcats as well.

Bridgman had five players in double digits led by Kamp and Cameron Magro with 13 each. Reeves added 11, while Badger and Connor Magro each had 10.

“Our kids have nothing to hang their heads about, we had a good end to our season,” added Smith.