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(Photos courtesy of Tanya Hagen)

(Photos courtesy of Tanya Hagen)

(Photos courtesy of Tanya Hagen)

(Photos courtesy of Tanya Hagen)

(Photos courtesy of Tanya Hagen)

(Photos courtesy of Tanya Hagen)

(Photos courtesy of Tanya Hagen)

(Photos courtesy of Tanya Hagen)

(Photos courtesy of Tanya Hagen)

(Photos courtesy of Tanya Hagen)

(Photos courtesy of Tanya Hagen)

NILES — Team defense and Brandywine’s unselfish play carried the top-ranked Lady Bobcats to a hard-fought 45-32 win over Kalamazoo Christian for a Division 3 regional championship Wednesday.

Brandywine (26-0) moves into Tuesday’s 7 p.m. state quarterfinals against Grandville Calvin Christian (20-6) at Kalamazoo Loy-Norrix.

Grandville Calvin Christian won its own regional by beating No. 2-rated Pewamo-Westphaila 39-36. 

Hood, now 349-37 in 16 seasons at Brandywine with nine regional titles, stated afterwards that the latest title is bigger than the girls’ basketball program.

“There’s a lot of people who could learn stuff from our community. Its a group of hardworking people who show up and support our kids. I’m just so proud of these girls and the community. This isn’t just a title for Brandywine girls basketball, its a Brandywine Bobcat Nation championship. It’s about a network of people who give up countless hours as parents, staff, administration and volunteers in our Kiddie Cats’ Program to help make us successful,” Hood said. 

Miley Young’s full-court layup at the third-quarter buzzer put Brandywine up by 12, 32-19 entering the fourth quarter.

But Kalamazoo Christian chipped that deficit to just six points, 38-32 with 2:59 left in the game, following a pair of triples from Carien Ybema and Lily Manion and two free throws by four-time all-state candidate Jordyn Bonnema. 

Brandywine forced Kalamazoo Christian into turnovers on two successive possessions and used a 7-0 run to seal the win. Young made 5-of-6 free throws in the last 1:28 and sophomore Lily Gill capped off the win with an uncontested layup with 6.9 seconds left. 

“I expected a tough game like we had tonight. When you have the likes of four-time all-stater Jordyn Bonnema and a 20-year veteran coach that they (Comets) have in Kelly Allen and her staff and then you throw in Elli VanDussen whose already getting some Division 1 looks and sprinkle in other girls that play hard, it’s going to be a tough fight. We don’t ever look ahead, but we knew that at some point we’d be preparing for Kalamazoo Christian,” Hood said. “Give them credit because they came into a tough environment and we fortunately were able to host it and come away with a win.” 

Young and fellow senior Adeline Gill finished with 12 points each to lead Brandywine, which has now defeated eight different schools that won conference championships this season. Lily Gill added eight points for the Lady Bobcats, while sophopmore guard Mackenna Price contributed six, junior Karleigh Byrd tossed in five Niyah Mason two. 

“We watched film on Kalamazoo Christian’s defense and noticed that they switched alot so we knew we might be able to get them a few times on back-door cuts and easy layups. They are long and athletic, but our quickness is a huge benefit for us,” Young said. 

“We have to keep our tenacity going on the defensive end and raise our percentages on the offensive side. If we contiue to use our quickness on defense we can overcome taller teams and that size doesn’t come into play as much.”

Brandywine had to rely on a superb defensive performance on a poor shooting night. The Lady Bobcats made just 17-of-62 (27.4 percent) from the floor, including just a trio of three pointers, and 8-of-19 at the free-throw line (42 percent). 

“Our program is built on team defense. We like to shoot the three and get up after it. Sometimes you’re going to have bad shooting nights, but if you play defense and don’t worry about the name on your back and scoring points and worry just about playing team defense out on the court, you will have success. Tonight we had a bunch of girls playing for the name on the front of our jersey which says Brandywine. It was a great environment tonight,” Hood said. “Again it takes five girls playing defense in our scheme. Our girls showed poise without any panic even when they came back near the end of the game.”

Bonnema scored 13 points for Kalamazoo Christian and Manion added 10 for the Lady Comets, who were 11-for-46 (24 percent) from the field and 7-for-12 (58 percent) at the charity stripe.

Brandywine used its quickness and physicality to outrebound a much bigger Kalamazoo Christian squad 32-29. 

Lily Gill pulled down six rebounds for Brandywine, while Adeline Gill and Byrd added five apiece. Young contributed six assists and three steals and Byrd also had three steals. 

Brandywine forced Kalamazoo Christian into 17 turnovers. The Lady Bobcats coughed up the ball 10 times.

“We did a great job tonight of limiting our turnovers and spacing things out and attacking the basket at the right time,” Hood said.

Brandywine jumped out to a quick 4-1 lead in a deafening and sold-out Bobcat Den. But the Comets quickly erased their deficit with a Bonnema putback and Elli VanDussen for a 5-4 advantage. 

Young’s triple gave Brandywine a 7-5 lead before VanDussen’s deuce evened the contest up at 7-7.

From there the Bobcats reeled off the final seven points of the period and grabbed a 14-7 advantage. Lily Gill drove the baseline for a deuce, Price drained a triple and Adeline Gill scored inside to key the Bobcats’ spurt.

Byrd’s steal and layup and free throw moments later to open the second quarter, gave Brandywine a 17-10 advantage. Bonnema’s layup brought the Comets back within five. But a Lily Gill layup and short jumper from Adeline Gill sent Brandywine into halftime with a 21-14 advantage. 

The Lady Bobcats were able to build themselves a 12-point advantage after three periods thanks to a pair of Young layups, a Lily Gill layup, Adeline Gill’s deuce in the post and a Price triple. 

Brandywine again had it’s share of bench players filling critical roles with either a basket, assist, steal, blocked shot or contributing solid performances on defense. 

“Everybody has to step up, do the best you can  and work hard in practice. These past couple games we’ve done a better job of getting off to a quicker start. Now we have to push through. We’ve been playing together so long that we are like a family,” said senior Paige Krisher. 

Fellow senior Lexi Troup echoed that statement. 

“It’s not about how many minutes we get but being there to support your teammates when they aren’t doing well and lifting them up. We have to step up in practice and make sure our starters are well prepared for the next game,” Troup said. 

Hood credit a great deal of his team’s preparation for Kalamazoo Christian to his good friend and coaching peer Nathan Knapp, Brandywine’s head varsity boys’ coach, who guided the Bobcats to a Division 3 boys title in 2024. 

“Nathan spent all last weekend and Monday evening breaking down film on Kalamazoo Christian for us. How many schools can say they have a state championship coach at their school doing that for another program besides his own. He deserves a ton of credit for getting us ready with just one day of preparation,” Hood said. 

BRANDYWINE 45, KALAMAZOO CHRISTIAN 32

At Niles

KALAMAZOO CHRISTIAN (32): Reese Gernaat 0, Elli VanDusen 4, Jordyn Bonnema 13, Lily Manion 10, Reagan Zuiderveen 2, Carien Ybema 0, Lucia Penzotti 3. Totals 11 7-12 32.

BRANDYWINE (45): Adeline Gill 12, Karleigh Byrd 5, Adelyn Drotoz 0, Ireland Prenkert 0, Mackenna Price 6, Lily Gill 8, Miley Young 12, Niyah Mason 2. 17 8-19 45.

Kalamazoo Christian 7 14 19 32

Brandywine 14 21 32 45

3-point baskets: Kalamazoo Christian 3 (Manion 2, Bonnema 1), Brandywine 3 (Price 2, Young 1). Total fouls (fouled out): Kalamazoo Christian 18 (VanDusen), Brandywine 10. Records: Kalamazoo Christian 21-5, Brandywine 26-0

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