BUCHANAN — Benton Harbor girls basketball standouts Kysre Gondrezick and Kalabrya Gondrezick totaled 52 points and the Tigers needed every one of them in Friday’s Class B district final against Buchanan.

The Bucks, who were looking for their first district title since 2002, led late before falling to the Tigers, 70-59.

Benton Harbor, which improved to 17-5, scored the final 13 points in the game with Kysre scoring five points and Kalabrya adding four during that stretch. Kysre finished with 32 points and Kalabrya added 20. Kalabrya has signed to play basketball next year at Michigan State University. Kysre is just a junior, who’s being recruited by several Division I schools.

“They have Kysre and they have Kalabrya,” said Buchanan coach Gabe Miller. “It’s a luxury to have. They’ve been on varsity for three or four years each. They’ve got a lot of experience. I’m in my second-year doing this and everybody I’ve got are two-year varsity players. Down the stretch they could go to two superstars and we’re a team of five. We missed a few shots and just didn’t execute a few times.”

Buchanan, which finishes at 19-4, took its first lead of the game at 59-57 when sophomore Brooke Wesner connected on a 3-pointer with 3:35 left in the game.

The Bucks went scoreless the rest of the way, missing four shots and turning the ball over three times.

Buchanan faced a 7-0 deficit a little over a minute into the game and trailed 36-26 with :05 left in the second quarter.

“My team is tough,” Miller said. “We fell behind against (No. 2-ranked) Brandywine (during the regular season) and came back. There’s no give up in them. They just got a little jittery (in the fourth quarter), but I’m proud of them. The resiliency is there.”

Poor free-throw shooting hurt the Bucks. Buchanan shot only 50-percent (14-of-28) from the foul line.

“We’ve been working on it all season,” Miller said. “We had a stretch during the midseason when we were doing well, then we had snow days and I don’t know if we’ve been above 50-percent since. It’s something we’ve got to work on this summer.”

Wesner did make all four of her free throws after technicals were called on Benton Harbor’s Dennee Brown and Kysre Gondrezick in the final :27 of the third quarter. Those free throws tied the game at 48 after three quarters.

Wesner scored 24 points, including four 3-pointers, to lead Buchanan.

“Brooke’s my most experienced player,” Miller said. “She plays AAU ball and she stepped up tonight. She was fearless and kept us in the game in the first half.”

Chelsey Bennett added 13 points and eight rebounds for Buchanan, while Jayla Bibbs contributed 12 points and 12 rebounds.

 

BENTON HARBOR 70, BUCHANAN 59

Benton Harbor 70

Dennee Brown 4, Gabrielle Dortch 6, Juwana Young 6, Kalabrya Gondrezick 20, Kysre Gondrezick 32, Sherry Walls 0, Shaniya Campbell 2, Kaniya Washington 0. TOTALS: 28 12-22 70

Buchanan 59

Chelsey Bennett 13, Selica Jones 3, Jayla Bibbs 12, Jade Mosier 6, Brooke Wesner 24, Sammi Luzadre 1, Ali Kyles 0. TOTALS: 20 14-28 59

 

Benton Harbor          21       36       48       70

Buchanan                   16       28       48       59

3-point goals: Benton Harbor 2 (Kysre Gondrezick 2), Buchanan 5 (Wesner 4, Mosier). Total fouls (fouled out): Benton Harbor 17 (none), Buchanan 17 (none). Technicals: Benton Harbor 2 (Brown and Kysre Gondrezick). Shooting: Benton Harbor 28-of-52 for 54-percent, Buchanan 20-of-51 for 39-percent. Rebounding: Benton Harbor 23 (Dortch 5), Buchanan 33 (Bibbs 12). Turnovers: Benton Harbor 12, Buchanan 20. Records: Benton Harbor 17-5, Buchanan 19-4