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SCHOOLCRAFT — Four games into the 2024-25 season, Niles Brandywine boys’ basketball coach Nathan Knapp is looking for his Bobcats to step up and become mentally tougher on the court.  

Knapp, who returns just one starter on a Bobcats’ squad that finished 26-3 last season and won a Division 3 state championship, watched his squad fall to 2-2 overall after Tuesday’s non-league road loss at Schoolcraft 60-21. 

“We tested the water tonight and they (Schoolcraft) smacked us in the mouth. Our kids were kind’ve shellshocked and shutdown. We had open shots and didn’t hit them and we didn’t play very good defense. Our rotations were bad and we weren’t communicating,” Knapp said. “I’m not taking anything away from Schoolcraft because they came out and played great half-court man-to-man defense and dictated the game. Life is going to throw you curveballs and tonight our DNA was to roll over an quit. You have to keep fighting.”

The game was a rematch of last year’s regional finals won by Brandywine 41-32. 

But Brandywine, which had won its last two games this season over Stevensville-Lakeshore and Buchanan following a season-opening loss to Coloma, was overmatched this time against a more experienced Schoolcraft ballclub. 

Brandywine, which graduated leading scorer and first-team All-State forward Jaremiah Palmer, along with his brother and starting guard Jamier Palmer, guard Byron Linley and center Brock Dye, returns just one starter in junior guard Nylen Goins.

Despite dressing just eight players, balanced scoring proved big for Schoolcraft. Sophomore guard Kodee Bienz came off the bench to lead the Eagles’ in scoring with 18, including a trio of three pointers. Sophomore Ty Goddard and 6-9 junior Jimmy Miller added 13 points apiece for the Eagles, now 3-0. Senior Luke Rykse (6-6) contributed seven points for the winners.

Rykse (6-6) and Miller along with junior guard Tucker Walther (6-4) were all tough matchups for Brandywine. The Bobcats used their superior length to dominate inside and win the rebounding advantage 40-22. 

Miller led Schoolcraft on the glass with 11 rebounds and Walther snagged seven. 

Schoolcraft connected for 24 field goals, including seven triples, and went 5-of-7 at the foul stripe. 

“We trust all of our kids to handle the basketball and they all have the confidence to do that. Our team is actually really inexperienced. We only have three kids returning from last year’s varsity team that played. Everyone on the team is contributing. Our length allows us to be really consistent and get shots up consistently over most teams we face,” said Schoolcraft head coach Derrick Small.

Brandywine’s biggest sparkplug on the night was 6-4 sophomore  postplayer Will Hubbard who scored eight points for the Bobcats. Goins and Elijhia Burt added five each and junior Ryder Richard scored three points. 

The Bobcats made eight field goals and 3-of-6 free-throw attempts.

Bienz knocked down a pair of triples in the opening quarter as Schoolcraft raced out to a 16-6 advantage. 

The Eagles capitalized in transition by getting several steals at the defensive end in the second quarter when it outscored  the Bobcats 16-6 and built itself a 32-12 halftime cushion.

It was more of the same during the second half with Schoolcraft beating Brandywine down the floor in transition and converting several layups. Jaden Reiber and Bienz both knocked down threes for Schoolcraft during the third stanza as the Eagles increased its advantage to 46-16 entering the fourth quarter.

Knapp is excited though to see how much his team can improve though as the youthful Bobcats begin the Lakeland Conference schedule on Friday against Dowagiac. 

The lone two seniors on Brandywine’s roster are Mason Simmons and Jordan Hester. They are joined by juniors Goins, Richard and Devin Ferenczi, along with seven sophomores and one freshman.

The Bobcats’ sophomore class includes J.J. Henry, Maddox Carpenter, Burt, Hubbard, Jase Deming, Shivam Devdhara (6-3) and Tyler Schoff.

Mason Michelin (6-0) is the Bobcats’ freshman.

Besides Goins, Richard and Hubbard are the only other players with any varsity experience from a year ago.

“We saw some things on film in our wins over Lakeshore and Buchanan where we weren’t very solid defensively that we need to work on. You can’t control the outcome but you can control how hard you play. We have a tough schedule this season. As a program we want to get back to that district title game and see if we can’t get back to regionals. If we could do that and meet Schoolcraft again it would be great to see how much we grow over the season,” Knapp said. 

“This group of kids work hard and get after it every day in practice. It’s a fun group to coach. We’re in the weight room a great deal and they really push themselves. We have to be mentally tougher though and to not be afraid to fail.”

Brandywine defeated Schoolcraft 46-42 in the junior varsity game.