Brandywine advances to Class C final

Published 4:51 pm Thursday, March 5, 2009

By By DON EDEN / Niles Daily Star
NEW BUFFALO – The Brandywine girls watched their opposite gender classmates Tuesday evening get beat by missing open treys, allowing uncontested layups and not converting free throws and beat Lakeland Conference nemesis for the third time this year 38-31 by making important 3-pointers, playing tough defense and converting charity tosses.
The Wednesday Class C District opener for both teams at New Buffalo started off slowly as each team committed seven turnovers in the opening stanza with Brandywine (16-5) freshman Carlie Newman scoring the only points on a torpedo midway through the period as the Lady Bees held a 7-3 advantage.
"The nerves caused us not to shoot well early and the first period wasn't pretty as a result," said Brandywine coach Mark Zache. "Our defense though has been getting the offense going the whole year."
Turnovers were again prevalent in the second stanza as Bridgman (10-11) equaled their quota from the first which allowed the Lady Bobcats to erase a 9-3 disadvantage. Sophomore Kelsey Prestly converted three points the old-fashioned way with 2:02 remaining for Brandywine as the Lady Bees still led 11-10 until freshman Madison Pellow took a nice pass from senior Alexa Perry to score with 2.2 seconds left for a 12-11 Lady Bobcat lead at intermission. It was the only time Brandywine led the entire half as junior Brandi Gareau of Bridgman was the only hoopster with more than three points with six tallies.
"Wish we could have started with anybody else but Brandywine because in my opinion this game was for the championship," indicated Brandywine coach Amy Houghton. "The girls couldn't have played any harder and they gave it all, but just couldn't make shots."
Senior Tiffany Coffing of Bridgman and Newman traded treys in the first 1:25 of the third quarter and another missle by Newman gave the Lady Bobcats an 18-15 lead as 6:06 showed on the scoreboard. Gareau scored the rest of the eight points for the Lady Bees, but committed a foolish foul as sophomore Morgan Smallwood grabbed a defensive rebound with 0.8 on the clock to send the opponent to the opposite end of the court for a pair of free throws to give Brandywine a 24-22 lead with eight minutes to play.
"We needed somebody to help Brandi with the scoring which we did all year, but Brandywine shut us down with good defense," stated Houghton. "Free throws usually make or break a game and it did tonight."
Brandywine senior Emily Low became the hero with shots behind and before the arc to give the Lady Bobcats leads of 29-24 and 31-27 that they would never relinquish.
"I wanted this game really bad because we loss to Bridgman last year and didn't want it to happen again," explained Low. "I don't usually score so wanted to concentrate at the end to have a big night, so this is very special."
The only field goal in the final 5:24 was a bomb by Gareau as Low, Smallwood and Newman sealed the victory with more made free throws than misses.
"It was nice to see Emily (Low) step up like she did as a senior at a critical time which is what you expect by hitting big shots as experience soaked in during the second half that should help us in Friday's game," said Zache. "Bridgman has taken us out the last 2 years so it was especially nice to beat them, because they always have a good team and are well coached. We will enjoy this win tonight and go on, but anytime you get to the championship game is nice and we have nothing to lose."
Low and Newman each reached double figures with 11 points apiece with sophomore Lauren Leonard being the leading rebounder on seven missed shots as Brandywine won the rebounding battle by a 27-20 margin and committed 19 turnovers compared to 21 for Bridgman. Gareau was the leading Lady Bee in both points and rebounds with 20 and seven respectively.
"The seniors will step up when you don't expect and (Emily) Low did that by stepping up for her team to get the win," commented Houghton. "Brandywine beat us three times this year and will get better since they are young, but we should be good as the junior varsity went 18-2 and won the conference. I never like to see a season end, but next year will always be something to look forward too."
Brandywine will meet Watervliet who beat River Valley 52-27 in the other semi-final with the Lady Bobcats hoping to avenge an earlier defeat to the Lady Panthers and University of Michigan bound Rachel Sheffer.
The game will begin at 7:30 p.m at New Buffalo High School.
"Watervliet is really good because of the tall girl (6-foot-1 Sheffer) which will be a challenge, but we want to win the District," concluded Low.
BRIDGMAN 31
Brandi Gareau 7 3-4 20; Tiffany Coffing 1 1-6 3; Kirstie Evert 1 0-0 2; Adrian Eddy 1 0-0 2; Rachel Swords 1 0-0 2; Shannon Miller 0 1-2 1; Natalie Hendricks 0 0-1 0. Totals: 11 5-13 31
BRANDYWINE 38
Emily Low 3 4-6 11; Carlie Newman 3 2-4 11; Morgan Smallwood 0 5-6 5; Teila Smith 1 2-4 4; Kelsey Prestly 1 1-1 3; Nicole Newman 0 2-2 2; Madison Pellow 1 0-0 2; Alexa Perry 0 0-0 0; Lauren Leonard 0 0-2 0. Totals: 9 16-25 38
Bridgman 7 11 22 31
Brandywine 3 12 24 38
3-point shots: Brandywine 4 (C. Newman 3, Low), Bridgman 4 (Gareau 3, Coffing). Total fouls; Brandywine 13, Bridgman 19. Rebounding: Brandywine 27 (Leonard 7), Bridgman 20 (Gareau 7). Turnovers: Brandywine 19 (C. Newman 8), Bridgman 21 (Hendricks 6). Shooting: Brandywine 9-36, 4-13 3 pt., Bridgman 11-35, 4-14 3pt. Records: Brandywine 16-5, Bridgman 10-11.