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STURGIS — Niles Brandywine returned from a two-week holiday layoff and steamrolled Centreville 60-24 Thursday in the opening game of the Sturgis Tournament. 

Josh Hood’s Lady Bobcats, now 6-0, will face Sturgis (6-3) in Friday’s championship game at 6:30 p.m.

Sturgis defeated Mendon 56-20 in Thursday’s other contest. Mendon battles Centreville (3-2) in today’s consolation game at 5 p.m.

Hood was pleased with the effort and execution of his ballclub whose last action was a 56-10 win at Benton Harbor on Dec. 19. 

Brandywine’s quickness, especially at the defensive end of the floor allowed it to score several easy buckets off Centreville turnovers. 

“This is one of the fastest teams I’ve ever had here at Brandywine,” said Hood, whose 2023-24 team ended the year as Division 3 state runners-up. “These girls continue to work hard every day in practice and they want to be in the gym and don’t complain about having to practice over break. Sometimes this group is too unselfish. Last year our motto was ‘We greater than me’ and they’ve really embraced that again this season. No one cares about their stats, all they want are team victories. It’s never about who we play but our effort out there and what it says on our jersey.”

Nine of the 14 players on Brandywine’s roster scored, led by Adeline Gill’s 11 points. Adelyn Drotoz, Mackenna Price and Lexi Troup contributed nine each and Miley Young scored seven and Lily Gill added six. 

Brandywine’s relentless pressure made it difficult for Centreville to bring the ball up the floor. The Lady Bobcats scored the first 22 points and held Centreville scoreless until Lena Reed scored inside for the Bulldogs with 3:05 left in the first quarter. The Bobcats held a commanding 31-2 lead entering the second quarter. 

The Lady Bobcats added 22 points in the second quarter while extending its advantage to 53-12 entering halftime. 

Hood substituted freely throughout the second half as the Bobcats were able to get up by 40 points and set the running  clock into motion. 

Hood has been very pleased with the number of players he has been able to rotate in and out of the game this season.

“Having a group of 10 players that you are able to rotate in and out allows you to be able to sustain pressure without any dropoff. They all understand our system and know that we expect them to work really hard in the few minutes they are in the game. Our kids understand that our defense will create the offense and they have been great at spacing and shooting the three too,” Hood said.”We’re excited to be able to play Sturgis in the finals and at Brandywine we pride ourselves on winning championships.” 

Centreville was led in scoring by Lena Reed and Ellie Reed with six points each and Berkley Shingledecker finished with five. 

The Bulldogs, who wore pink uniforms, were playing the game under alot of emotion following the passing of Christina Bell, a former assistant coach for the Bulldogs who lost a lengthy battle with cancer earlier in the week.