Minutes in the fourth quarter belonged to the Brandywine bench Monday as the Bobcats rolled past River Valley, 63-30, in non-conference boys basketball action.

A mercy-rule running clock was in effect with 1:18 left in the third quarter after Brandywine’s Austin Knapp scored to give the hosts a 63-22 lead.

“All in all I was pretty happy with our performance,” said Brandywine boys basketball coach Nathan Knapp. “We had a few breakdowns that we have to eliminate, like the turnovers, and we missed lay-ups and free throws.”

Brandywine, which improved to 2-1, had 17 turnovers and finished 10-of-26 from the free-throw line.

River Valley, which fell to 0-3, totaled 22 turnovers, 17 of which came in the first half. The Bobcats also held the Mustangs to 30-percent shooting (10-of-33). River Valley’s first field goal came with 4:53 left in the second quarter. The Mustangs trailed 23-5 after that basket.

“I keep preaching to our team that defense is going to win them games,” Knapp said.

Austin Knapp ignited a sluggish Brandywine team in the second quarter. Knapp’s 10 points, including two 3-pointers, highlighted a 12-0 run which gave the Bobcats a 23-3 lead.

Knapp finished with 17 points, five rebounds, three steals and two blocked shots. Zach Schmidt added 14 points for Brandywine.

The Bobcats punished the Mustangs on the boards, finishing with a 40-16 rebounding advantage. Andrew Boocher grabbed eight rebounds and Andrew Duckett added seven to lead Brandywine.

 

BRANDYWINE 63, RIVER VALLEY 30

RIVER VALLEY 30

Jake Clark 3, Tim Snyder 0, Gabe Zeiger 16, Greg Palen 5, Devin Alexander 2, Lars Wittenburg 2, Austin Byers 0, Austin Jones 0, Andrew Bellaire 2. TOTALS: 10 9-18 30

BRANDYWINE 63

Zach Schmidt 14, Chandler Plew 7, Andrew Duckett 6, Austin Knapp 17, Vinny Peel 5, Cole Searles 5, Marquise Davis 0, Andrew Boocher 6, Drew Krueger 0, Zach Grishaber 3, Tim Batchelor 0, Kudzai Nyasvisvo 0. TOTALS: 23 10-26 63.

 

River Valley    3          16       22       30

Brandywine  11          34       63       63

3-point baskets: River Valley 1 (Zeiger), Brandywine 7 (Plew 2, Knapp 2, Schmidt, Searles, Grishaber). Total fouls (fouled out): River Valley 17 (none), Brandywine 19 (Nyasvisvo). Shooting: River Valley 10-of-33 for 30-percent, Brandywine 23-of-53 for 43-percent. Rebounding: River Valley 16 (Palen 5), Brandywine 40 (Boocher 8). Turnovers: River Valley 22, Brandywine 17. Records: River Valley 0-3, Brandywine 2-1