JONESVILLE — Coming into Tuesday night’s Class C Quarterfinal, No. 2-ranked Brandywine knew it had to shoot the ball well from the perimeter and keep No. 3- ranked Manchester off the foul line.

The Bobcats did neither in a 67-43 loss to the Flying Dutchmen.

Brandywine (24-1) hit just one 3-pointer, while Manchester connected on four triples.

The Flying Dutchmen were also 19-of-29 from the free throw line compared.

It was a battle of two quarters in the opening half.

“We missed a lot of threes we usually make,” Brandywine coach Josh Hood said. “We battled, but when you are outsized by several inches at each spot in the post, you got to get them off the block.

“On the flipside, we have go to make threes against a team like that. We have got to make threes because as you see when we go to the basket when we weren’t running our backdoor set she (McKenna Erkfritz) was there to block it. We missed a lot of bunnies in the first half. It’s a five-point game at the end of the first when it could have been 10 or 12 if we had made some bunnies.”

The Bobcats had the best of its in the first eight minutes building up 19-13 advantage behind the play of senior point guard Mackenzie Shelton.

Manchester responded in the second quarter, outscoring Brandywine 21-10 to take a 34-29 lead to the locker room at halftime.

The Flying Dutchmen ran off 15 consecutive points to tie the game at 20-20 and eventually took a 28-20 lead before Bobcat freshman Emily Erwin snapped the streak with a basket with 3:51 to play in the quarter.

Shelton scored again to cut it to 28-24, but Manchester continued to attack the basket to hold off the Bobcats.

Maddie Collins came off the bench to score 14 first half points for the Flying Dutchmen.

“She has a lot of experience under her belt,” Cori Kastel said of Collins. “She and 12 (Sarah Thompson) flip flop as starters. For her to come off the bench is not a big thing. She honestly hasn’t been an offensive threat. Her purpose is to get in there and board.”

Shelton led the way for Brandywine with 14 points.

While Collins did the damage in the opening half for Manchester, its top two scorers took over in the second half.

McKenna Erkfritz, who is 6-foot-1, scored 10 of her game-high 18 points in the second half and blocked multiple shot attempts by the Bobcats, while Taylor Manders scored nine of her 11 points. ErkFritz also blocked four shots.

Brandywine continued to struggle from the field in the final 16 minutes and scored a season-low 14 points in the second half.

The Flying Dutchmen (25-1) outscored the Bobcats 19-10 in the third quarter to turn a 34-29 advantage into a 53-39 lead heading to the final period.

It didn’t get any better for Brandywine in the fourth quarter as it was held to just four points, while Manchester tossed in 14 points.

The Flying Dutchmen finished with four players in double figures. Collins added 18 points and Jessie Manders 11 points to the combined 39 points for Erkfritz and Taylor Manders.

Shelton ended her career with a game-high 18 points, a team-high six rebounds and four steals. Brooke Smith added 10 points and five assists.

Manchester advances to Thursday’s Class C Semifinal at the Breslin Center where it will face Richland Gabriel Richard, who defeated Flint Hamady 47-44 in overtime.

Saginaw Nouvel and Houghton will meet in the other semifinal.

 

MANCHESTER 67

Sarah Thompson 1, Jessie Manders 11, Jesse Coltre 8, Taylor Manders 11, McKenna Erkfritz 18, Maddie Collins 18. TOTALS: 22 19-29 67

 

BRANDYWINE 43

Emily Erwin 5, Rachael Ort 2, Makenna Hartline 0, Mackenzie Shelton 18, Tia Hullinger 0, Victoria Knight 2, Tammy Lee 4, Michaela Hartline 0, Brooke Smith 10, Mikayla Kemp 0.

TOTALS: 17 6-8 43

 

Manchester 13 34 53 67

Brandywine 19 29 39 43

3-point baskets: Manchester 4 (J. Manders 2, Coltre 2), Brandywine 1 (Erwin).

Total fouls (fouled out): Manchester 11 (none), Brandywine 21 (none).

Varsity records: Manchester 25-1, Brandywine 24-1