Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

BUCHANAN — The host Buchanan girls basketball team got a monkey off its back Thursday night.

The Bucks, despite letting a 23-11 halftime lead get away, were able to regroup and defeat arch rival Brandywine 42-37 in a key BCS Athletic Conference Red Division showdown.

The Bucks dominated the first half, leading 12-2 after one quarter and by 12 points at halftime.

Brandywine, which starts a pair of freshmen this year, turned up the pressure in the second half and was able to not only catch the Bucks, but take a brief 26-25 lead on a 3-pointer from freshman Kadence Brumitt with 1:40 to play in the third quarter.

Buchanan did not flinch. The Bucks regained the lead before the end of the period and then played well enough down the stretch to hold off the Bobcats.

“We survived,” said Buchanan Coach Gabe Miller. “We made it a little closer than it needed to be. In the third quarter, Josh [Brandywine coach Hood] came out with a defense I have never seen them play before. A lack of summer ball and a lack of preseason, we just were as prepared as we would be.”

Labria Austin led the Bucks with 12 points, while Alea Fisher, who returned to the Buchanan lineup after missing the first couple games due to injury, added eight points. Her layup in the losing minute of the game helped seal the victory.

“This was the first big-time road game for these girls,” Hood said. “Buchanan had everybody from a team that won 15 or 16 games last year.”

Hood’s game plan was to make someone other than 6-foot-3 Faith Carson beat them. They did just that by holding her to two points.

Brumitt led Brandywine with 15 points. Freshman Ellie Knapp added 11.