Brandywine boys’ basketball coach Nathan Knapp talked to his team for several minutes in the locker room after Tuesday’s 52-28 Lakeland Conference loss to Bridgman.

Few positives from his team left Knapp frustrated.

“I told them (after the game) that Bridgman outworked us tonight,” said Knapp, whose team fell to 2-1 overall and 1-1 in the league. “They beat us to every loose ball and were a step ahead of us. I told our kids that we have to learn from our losses.”

Bridgman, which never trailed, started to take control of the game midway through the first quarter. Justin Kiewel’s 3-pointer gave the defending conference champion Bees an 11-6 lead and was the start of a 10-0 run. Brandywine got the lead under double digits for the last time at 18-10 after Mykal Toxopeus his 2-of-3 free throws.

Bridgman, which improved to 1-2 overall and 1-1 in the league, enters the season having to replace all five starters from last year’s squad.

“I’m really proud of this team,” said Bridgman coach Mike Miller. “From last Tuesday (68-31 loss to South Haven), where every player on my team played meaningful minutes on the varsity for the first time in their lives, until tonight, we’ve come a long way. I’m proud of the way we defended.”

That Bridgman defense forced Brandywine into 21 turnovers-14 in the first half-and into 30-percent (9-of-30) shooting.

In the final five seconds of the first half, two Brandywine turnovers turned into four points for Bridgman and a 28-13 halftime lead for the visitors.

“That’s a coach’s nightmare,” Knapp said about the end of the first half. “We started the game out of control. Their defensive pressure took us out of our rhythm. We forced up silly shots.”

Defensively, Brandywine had a hard time guarding the perimeter. Bridgman finished with eight 3-pointers-five in the first half. Justin Kiewel had four 3-pointers-three in the first quarter-and 14 points for the Bees.

“We didn’t communicate very well,” Knapp said. “We gave us some wide open looks. It was one of those off nights for us. Bridgman came in and played well tonight.”

Brandywine never got closer than 11 points in the second half. That moment came with 2:08 left in the third quarter when Toxopeus hit a 3-pointer.

But Bridgman quickly took back command of the game, going on a 12-0 run to take a 43-20 lead with 6:49 left in the game. That run began with Kiewel and Austyn Allwood hitting consecutive 3-pointers.

Allwood finished with 12 points and Tyler Gnodtke came off the bench to grab nine rebounds to go with his six points.

“Tyler Gnodtke had an outstanding game defensively inside,” Miller said. “Justin Kiewel works very hard on his shooting and he got us off on the right foot tonight.”

Toxopeus scored 10 points to lead Brandywine. Alex Erwin added eight points and six rebounds.

BRIDGMAN 52

Cooper Mojsiejenko 2 3-4 7, Jackson Kamp 2 0-0 5, Justin Kiewel 5 0-0 14, Jacob Parish 1 3-4 5, Matt Hendricks 0 0-1 0, Matt Englund 0 3-6 3, Austyn Allwood 4 2-4 12, Tyler Gnodtke 1 3-4 6, Eric Neiman 0 0-0 0, Brad Montayne 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 15 14-23 52

BRANDYWINE 28

Mykal Toxopeus 3 2-4 10, Alex Erwin 2 4-4 8, Evan Hartman 1 0-1 2, Michael Shelton 1 1-4 3, Austin Searles 1 0-2 2, Courtlan Gordon 0 0-1 0, Michael Schoenleber 0 0-2 0, Brian Kline 1 0-4 2, Alex Ulrickson 0 0-0 0, Brad Millin 0 0-0 0, Alex Brooks 0 1-2 1, Austin Bertschy 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 9 8-24 28

Bridgman 16 28 39 52

Brandywine 8 13 20 28

3-point baskets: Bridgman 8 (Kiewel 4, Allwood 2, Kamp, Gnodtke), Brandywine 2 (Toxopeus). Total fouls (fouled out): Bridgman 22 (none), Brandywine 24 (Shelton, Gordon). Shooting: Bridgman 15-of-35 for 43-percent, Brandywine 9-of-30 for 30-percent. Rebounding: Bridgman 32 (Gnodtke 9), Brandywine 17 (Erwin 6). Turnovers: Bridgman 14, Brandywine 21. Varsity records: Bridgman 1-2 overall (1-1 Lakeland Conference), Brandywine 2-1 overall (1-1 Lakeland Conference). J.V. score: Bridgman 31, Brandywine 23