It will truly be a family affair tonight when No. 2-ranked Concord takes on No. 4-rated Brandywine in the Class C Quarterfinals at Bangor High School.

The Bobcats (24-1) have a brother and sister combo as its head coach and point guard, as well as an assistant coach and Brandywine’s all-time leading scorer.

Josh Hood coaches his sister Mackenzie Shelton, while assistant coach Kalie Newman coaches her sister Carlie Newman.

Concord takes that more than a step farther.

Not only does Concord coach Jeff Redmon has his daughter Megan on the team, but he also has three cousins – Andrea, Julayne and Macee Brigham on his squad.

That group of players, much in the same way that Carlie Newman, Madison Pellow and Mackenzie Shelton did, have turned Concord into a state power.

Bright lights

You have to wonder how Concord will react to playing in the school’s first-ever state quarterfinal.

While Bangor High School is not the Breslin Center at Michigan State, it still is a huge stage and teams who are new to that stage react differently.

It is almost like the first time that the Bobcats got to the Final Four under former coach Dave Radar.

Brandywine committed too many turnovers to overcome in the state semifinals in a loss. The team just did not play well in that highly charged atmosphere.

Move to a few years later and when Newman and Pellow were freshmen, Brandywine did not play well in its first regional since the trip to the semifinals and lost a game perhaps it should have won.

It was a bigger stage than the ’Cats were used to playing on and it affected their performance.

Old hat

While Brandywine coach Josh Hood will probably never admit it, he and his team were expecting to be exactly where they are tonight.

Despite losing three key players from their first two regional championship teams, the Bobcats knew they had the talent to win both at the district and regional levels again this season.

Hood has said time after time that he wanted to build a program that consistently wins. He wanted a program that doesn’t rebuild, but reloads.

Legacy

There is no doubting that Newman and Pellow will be leaving behind the greatest legacy in Brandywine girls basketball history when they wrap up their careers this week.

The two have been part of three straight Lakeland Conference championship teams. They have helped the Bobcats put together a 32-game league winning streak that Brandywine will take into next season.

The two Bobcat seniors are part of four consecutive district championship teams, three consecutive regional title teams, three straight quarterfinal appearances and a state semifinal.

Oh, by the way, Brandywine has also fashioned an 88-11 record over the last four seasons.

Miss Basketball

The winner of tonight’s game in all likelihood will face the new Miss Basketball Thursday in the state semifinals in East Lansing.

Madison Ristovski of Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett was awarded the state’s top honor Monday.

Ristovski, who has signed to continue her career at the University of Michigan, averaged 19.2 points per game with nine assists, six steals and three rebounds this season.

Her team is playing Riverview Richard in the quarterfinals tonight. The winner squares off against either Brandywine or Concord Thursday afternoon at 1 p.m. at the Breslin Center.