By By ERIKA PICKLES / Niles Daily Star
NILES - For the second game in a row, Brandywine's varsity basketball team reached 50 points when all was said and done.
On Thursday, the Lady Cats took a 50-44 win over visiting Coloma in Lakeland Conference action.
On Tuesday, Brandywine, now 5-4 on the season, took a 50-36 win over South Haven.
But one thing Roeder admits his team still needs to cut down on is turnovers.
The Bobcats had 26 against the Comets, compared to Tuesday night's 17 against the Rams.
Brandywine got in such a rush, that its 21-point lead early in the third quarter turned into a six point win at the end of the game.
After a 32-17 lead at halftime, Brandywine extended the lead in the third when senior guard Rachel Batman made two back-to-back buckets to give Brandywine a 36-17 lead.
Sophomore Katie Smallwood, who had eight points and 13 rebounds on the night, added another basket to bring Brandywine's lead to 38-17 early in the third.
That's when Coloma struck back. Two steals in a row from Jordan Partee added a quick four points to the Comets' score, along with five additional points before that.
Another basket from Shanda Hines closed the gap to 12 points, 38-26.
Two points from Brandywine's Mallory Barber and a free throw from Kelli Zache put the Bobcats over the 40 point mark, but one last basket from Coloma's Hannah Barrett with seven seconds left brought the Comets within 13 points of the lead, 41-28, heading into the final quarter.
It didn't take long for Coloma to cut the lead to single digits early in the fourth.
Melanie Galles opened the scoring for the Comets in the final period and Kalie Newman scored Brandywine's first bucket to bring the score to 43-30, but three made free throws by Galles and two from Barrett brought the Comets within striking distance as the Bobcats struggled to get the ball up the court.
Kelli Konopka was next to score for Brandywine, going 1-for-2 on the line and Smallwood added two additional points to the Bobcats 46-35 lead.
With both teams in foul trouble, most of the fourth was played from the free-throw line.
Coloma's Jayme Walters hit a pair of shots from the line, while Newman went 1-for-2 and Kelli Konopka went 2-for-2 to bring the score to 49-37 with 40 seconds left to play.
Walters, of the Comets, hit two back-to-back buckets to cut the lead to eight with 16 seconds left.
Kelli Zache made Brandywine's last free throw, to put the Bobcats at 50, while Chelsea Barrett added a basket and a free throw with one second left to put Coloma at 44.
Newman had 11 points, seven steals for Brandywine, while Batman had 11 points, five steals.
Smallwood added eight points and 13 rebounds and Kelli Zache had two points, five rebounds.
Brandywine's next game is Tuesday, when it meets with Buchanan at tbe Bucks' court. Game time is set for 7 p.m.
Brandywine's JV team also picked up a 31-19 win over Coloma Thursday evening.
Missy Cooper led her team with 13 points, while Alexa Perry had seven and Michelle Smith added five.
Brandywine 12 32 41 50
Coloma 9 17 28 44
BRANDYWINE
Kalie Newman 2 1 6-4 10, Connie Brant 0 0-0 0, Kendra Zache 0 0-0 0, Rachel Batman 4 4-3 11, Brooke Allen 0 0-0 0, Kelli Konopka 1 4-3 5, Kaite Smallwood 4 0-0 8, Kelli Zache 0 5-2 2, Ashley Casey 0 0-0 0, Kari Konopka 1 4-2 4, Emily Low 1 4-2 4, Mallory Barber 2 3-1 5
COLOMA
Andrea Balsis 1 0-0 2, Melanie Galles 3 7-4 10, Hannah Barrett 3 4-4 10, Jordan Partee 1 0-0 2, Shanda Hines 2 0-0 4, Haley Gire 0 0-0 0, Jayme Walters 3 1 4-4 13, Monica Haase 0 0-0 0, Amanda Bell 0 0-0 0.