By By ERIKA PICKLES / Niles Daily Star
NILES - Brandywine's varsity basketball team put an end to its three-game losing streak Thursday evening with a 55-15 win over visiting Covert, bringing the Lady Cats' record to 8-8 overall.
On Tuesday, Brandywine suffered a 59-49 loss to the Bees, who are undefeated in the Lakeland Conference.
The Bobcats opened Thursday's game with a 23-4 lead in the first quarter and extended the gap to 35-14 after the second.
Entering the second half, Covert ran a slower paced game, keeping the ball around the half court mark on offense for almost all of the third period.
But the spread offense wasn't much help, as the Bobcat defense held the Bulldogs scoreless in the third quarter. A running clock midway through the period also wasn't much help for Covert.
Brandywine was able to add an additional 10 points to the score, bringing it to 55-14.
In the fourth, the game turned to more of a back and forth running game as both teams failed to put the ball in the hoop and time quickly wound down.
Monique White was the only member of Covert's team to score in the second half and the only player to score in the fourth quarter, going 1-for-2 at the free throw line with around three minutes to play, bringing the final score to 55-15.
Everyone on the team contributed points during the game and all had an equal amount of playing time.
Ashley Casey lead the Cats in scoring with nine points, all coming from the three-point arch.
Kari Konopka and Kelli Zache both added eight, Kendra Zache had six, Kelli Konopka had five, Brooke Allen, Katie Smallwood, Emily Low and Mallory Barber all had four and Rachel Batman added three.
Connie Brant and Kalie Newman did not dress for the game due to an illness and an injury.
Brandywine travels to New Buffalo on Tuesday for a non-conference game set to begin at 7:30 p.m.
JV game
Brandywine's JV basketball team also picked up a 29-20 win over Covert Thursday.
Kalee Antisdale and Andrea Wright both led the Lady Cats in scoring with six points each.
Missy Cooper, Becky Medlin and Alexa Perry each added four.