NILES CHARTER TOWNSHIP — In front of a packed house and boisterous crowd in the Bobcat Den, host Brandywine looked and played like the No. 1-ranked girls’ basketball team in Division 3 Monday in an easy 60-32 regional semifinal win over Bronson. 

Brandywine, now 25-0, moves into Wednesday’s 6 p.m. championship against Kalamazoo Christian (21-4). The winner advances to next Tuesday’s state quarterfinal game at Kalamazoo Loy-Norrix.

Kalamazoo Christian won its game easily over Watervliet 70-19 in the other semifinal. 

“We had a couple weeks of games where we didn’t get off to a good start. So the emphasis in the last week has been to start fast and feed off the energy in the building. It’s been three years since these girls have lost a game in their own gym. They take alot of pride in playing at home. It doesn’t get much better when we have the backing of our fans and the fight song playing when we run out onto the court, its very electric. It will be that same way again on Wednesday,” said Brandywine’s head coach Josh Hood. 

Brandywine was able to build themselves a quick 11-0 lead against Bronson and held a commanding 23-6 advantage at the end of the first quarter. 

The Lady Bobcats, who got a trio of three pointers in the opening stanza from Mackenna Price, Adelyn Drotoz and Ireland Prenkert, set the tone from the opening tipoff with their quickness, physicality inside, outside shooting and suffocating defensive pressure.

“We live off our outside shooting. Bronson has the Callowway and Springstead girls in the paint and that’s some tough sledding. They are good four-year players for them. So we knew going against their zone that we were going to have to get the ball from the middle and back outside and be able to knock down some threes. I was really proud again of how we shared the basketball. With our ability to spread things out it’s a different girl that steps up and scores for us each night,” Hood said. 

Price, a 5-foot-4 sophomore guard, hit a pair of triples and senior Paige Krisher added one herself to help Brandywine outscore Bronson 14-9 in the second quarter as the Bobcats built a 37-15 halftime cushion. Miley Young added a free throw and Adeline Gill and Lily Gill both had deuces for the Bobcats. 

Bronson, which finishes 22-3, had a brief momentum swing to start the second half when the Vikings’ Payton Springstead and Ava Hathaway hit back-to-back triples to lessen the Vikings’ deficit to 16, 37-21.

Brandywine quickly regained its composure and outscored Bronson 12-9 in the third quarter and carried a 49-27 cushion into the final period. 

Young scored five of her six points during the fourth quarter to help Brandywine outscore Bronson 11-5 and seal up the win.  

Price finished the night as Brandywine’s top scorer with 15. Senior Adeline Gill and junior Karleigh Byrd added 10 points apiece for the Bobcats, while Lily Gill tossed in eight. 

“Mackenna hit five huge threes for us in her first big game for us. We did a great job of executing some sets for easy baskets right out of the gate. That’s a tribute to this group, they are a very smart team. Miley doesn’t show up for a bunch of points, but she handles the ball well and doesn’t turn it over,” Hood said. 

Brandywine finished 21-of-51 (41.1 percent) from the floor and made 10-of-16 (63 percent) free-throw attempts. 

Aubree Calloway paced Bronson in scoring with 14 points, Springstead added nine and Lydia Wells finished with five for the Vikings, who made 11-of-42 (26.1 percent) shots from the field and 7-of-14 (50 percent) at the foul stripe. 

It was a disappointing end for a Bronson program that’s been knocking on the door the past few seasons but has been unsuccessful in getting past the regional level.

“Niles Brandywine is a small team, but their physicality allows them to push you around, conceal you and frustrate you. They frustrated us tonight. There’s only a handful of teams in the state that are going to finish the year with 22 wins. That’s a big accomplishment for our girls. I’m very proud of them,” said Bronson head coach Tony Lasky.

The Lady Bobcats forced the Vikings into 21 turnovers and Brandywine had 10. 

Brandywine earned a 25-19 rebounding advantage over Bronson. 

Adeline Gill led Brandywine in rebounding with seven, while Young added six and Byrd had four. 

Young also had four steals and five assists and Byrd added three steals. 

Bronson was led in rebounding by Springstead with eight. 

Brandywine defeated Kalamazoo Christian 59-42 in last year’s regional finals enroute to a state runners-up finish and 26-2 record.

“We know what we’re getting into on Wednesday. The game has all the right fixings, multiple all-state players. Kalamazoo Christian has unbelievable talent. The game will have everything like a knock-down drag out Muhammed Ali vs. Joe Frazier Heavyweight Fight,” Hood said. “We’re really excited to be in the Sweet 16 and its something we take alot of pride in. There are 75 teams in Division 3, but no one remembers a regional runners-up. We’re going to watch film right now and get prepared for a good practice on Tuesday and be ready for Wednesday.”

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