Game plan works in favor of Bees

Published 11:39 pm Tuesday, March 7, 2006

By By ERIKA PICKLES / Niles Daily Star
BRIDGMAN - The Brandywine basketball team had a plan heading into Monday evenings District 3 game against host Bridgman.
That plan was to slow the tempo of the game down and run a spread offense in hopes of making the game close and frustrating the Bees.
However, Bridgman also had a plan and that was to be patient with the Bobcat offense.
In the end, it was the Bees' plan which worked, as they went on to take a 71-26 win in the first round of the district tournament.
Brandywine's game plan did work for the first quarter and part of the second, but turnovers and missed shots quickly changed that.
After the first period, Bridgman had a 10-4 lead, which extended to 36-13 at halftime.
After the first half, the game plan completely fell apart for the Bobcats and Bridgman went on to play the way it usually does - fast paced.
Brandywine struggled to keep its offense going, but the Bees knew how to handle it.
Brandywine was held to just six points in the third, while the Bees went on to score 18, bringing the score to 54-19 heading into the fourth.
With 6:16 left in the game, Bridgman's Jon Malm nailed a three-pointer to give the Bees a 62-21 lead and start a running clock.
After that, the Bobcats scored only five points, a three-pointer and free throw from Justin Ely and a free throw from D.J. Elrod. Bridgman added an additional nine to post the final score.
For Brandywine, Caleb Frazier had six points, Bill Bussey and Ely each had four and Matt Wieger and Elrod had three.
Todd Hendricks led the Bees with 12 points, Dan Kunde had 11 and Dan Ponegalek had nine.
Bridgman, now 20-1 overall, will take on Watervliet on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.
The Bobcats end their season with a 4-17 record.
BRANDYWINE 26
Justin Ely 0 1 1-2 4, Adam Prescott 0 1-3 1, Matt Wieger 0 1 0-1 3, Cory Barber 0 0-0 0, Chris Casey 0 2-2 2, Billy McDonald 0 0-0 0, Caleb Frazier 3 0-0 6, D.J. Elrod 0 3-4 3, Bill Bussey 0 1 1-2 4, Kyle Low 0-0 0 0, Kevin Curran 0 0-0 0, Matt Beaver 1 1-2 3, Ryan Hartman 0 0-1 0, Danny Williams 0 0-0 0, Cody Smith 0 0-0 0.
BRIDGMAN 71
Todd Hendricks 3 2 0-0 12, Boo Ott 0 1 2-2 5, Zach Welsher 2 1-2 6, Dan Kunde 3 1 2-3 11, Jon Malm 0 1 3-4 6, Dan Ponegalek 3 1 0-1 9, Nick Sweet 2 1 0-0 7, Blake Ivers 0 1-2 1, Zac Nemitz 1 2 0-0 8, Casey Berli 1 0-1 2, Pat Kading 0 0-0 0, Seth Coffing 1 0-1 2, Craig McNees 1 0-0 2