By By ADAM FISHER / Niles Daily Star
One night after River Valley couldn't seem to miss a shot, Brandywine nearly shut down the Mustangs in a 44-37 home victory Wednesday.
River Valley hit 12 3-pointers and scored 64 points in beating New Buffalo on Tuesday. Wednesday, the Bobcats used high-pressure defense to limit the Mustangs to 25 percent shooting in the first three quarters. They hit just 4-of-19 3s in the game, including 1-of-10 in the first half.
The Bobcats keyed on River Valley's leading scorer Brittany Warren, who hit six from long-range against New Buffalo. Brandywine head coach Dave Roeder said he wanted to make sure Warren didn't hurt the Bobcats as she did Oct. 21 when she scored a game-high 17 points against them.
The duo of Brandywine defenders held Warren to three points on 1-of-9 shooting.
River Valley head coach Carol Granholm said Brandywine's pressure was the difference in the game early. The Bobcats defense forced the Mustangs into too many turnovers and missed shots, Granholm said.
Brandywine outrebounded River Valley 41-36. The Bobcats also had fewer turnovers than the Mustangs, 17-13.
Guard Kalie Newman helped get Brandywine going offensively in the first half. She scored seven points in the first period to get the Bobcats out to a 16-6 advantage before the Mustangs closed the gap to 16-10 at the end of the period.
In the second quarter, Newman added four more points and Brandywine went up 29-17 at halftime. She scored 16 points in the game to lead all scorers.
The Bobcats maintained their 12-point lead after three periods. They would need it to withstand a River Valley comeback and get by with a seven-point victory.
Neither team started the final period shooting well. The Mustangs didn't score their first points until three minutes into the quarter. Brandywine didn't score until 4:13 remaining in the game.
Brandywine struggled to score in the fourth quarter, shooting 1-of-7 from the field. After three periods of poor shooting, River Valley warmed up in the last period, hitting 4-of-7 shots.
With 1:40 remaining, the Mustangs pulled to within six points at 42-36, the closest they had been since the first period. The Bobcats nearly gave the game back to River Valley, committing three turnovers in the final two minutes and missing key free throws.
But after each turnover, the Mustangs gave the ball right back to Brandywine on errors. Newman and Batman hit free throws in the final minute to seal the game.
With the victory, Brandywine has now won three of its past five games. The Bobcats move to 6-12 this season.
The Bobcats' junior varsity team also got a victory Wednesday. The JV squad beat River Valley 39-26. Ashley Casey and Connie Brandt each scored eight points for Brandywine.
Brandywine has one more game remaining, a home game against Buchanan tonight at 7 p.m.
Brandywine……….44
River Valley……….37
River Valley (37) - Erika Kettering 0 0-0 0, MaggieHansmann 2 0-0 6, Jordan Cronin 1 3-4 5, Kali Lauzon 0 0-0 0, Heather Totzke 2 0-2 4, Kayla Schmidt 1 0-0 3, Brittany Warren 1 0-0 3, Candyce Lintner 1 1-2 3, Valerie Schlutt 3 2-6 8, Jodi Granholm 2 1-3 5, Lynn Dolan 0 0-0 0. Totals: 13 7-19 37.
Brandywine (44) - Kalie Newman 6 3-12 16, Ashley Antus 0 0-0 0, Kendra Zache 0 0-0 0, Rachel Batman 2 1-2 6, Kelli Konopka 1 1-2 3, Katie Smallwood 2 3-4 7, Kelli Zache 0 2-4 2, Nikki Martyniuk 3 0-1 6, Charlene Juhasz 0 0-0 0, Heather Knuckles 1 0-0 2. Totals: 15 11-26 44 .
RV 10 17 27 37 - 37
BW 16 29 39 44 - 44
Halftime score - BW 29, RV 17
3-point shooting - River Valley 4 (Hansmann 2, Scmidt, Warren); Brandywine 2 (Newman, Batman). Rebounds - River Valley 36 (Lintner 6); Brandywine 41 (Zache 12). Fouls (fouled out) - River Valley 20 (none); Brandywine 16 (none). Records - River Valley 6-14, 4-10 LAC; Brandywine 6-12, 4-9 LAC.