BRONSON — Survive and advance is what gets preached once the competition becomes a bit more challenging in the state tournament.

The Brandywine girls basketball team has been in this seat several times under the leadership of coach Josh Hood this is the seventh time in his tenure. The Bobcats (22-2) will play for a regional championship tonight following a hard-fought 49-38 victory over Kalamazoo Christian at Bronson High School Monday night.

The game was a chess match the entire time as each team forced mental mistakes and pounding the paint inside for advantage. Brandywine uncharacteristically committed 17 turnovers but the “32 minutes of chaos” that Brandywine is known for forced 28 turnovers off a young Comets team.

“We are happy to be one of the top 16 teams in Division 3,” Hood said. “Our girls have been at this stage before, and I thought played outstanding tonight. [For] our program to have the opportunity to play for a regional title year in and year out is a complete contribution to the girls who put in the time from the Kitty Cat program all the way to this level. All the credit goes to them.”

The difference statistically was the outside shooting with the Bobcats firing from beyond the arch and connecting for seven triples in comparison to Christian’s two.

“We have five girls on the court at all times that can score,” Hood said. “Give a lot of credit to Kalamazoo Christian. They are probably one of the most athletic teams we have seen all year. Those girls don’t get tired, but our girls believe in the system that we play and were able to cause some headaches for them especially in the second quarter when we went on a run tied at 9-9.”

Nicole Sachman led the Bobcats with 15 points, while Zakiyyah Abdullah added 14.

Sydney Duong had a game-high 17 points to lead the Comets, who did not place another player in double figures.

Brandywine will play Centreville (23-0) tonight at 6 p.m. in Bronson starting after the undefeated Bulldogs knocked off Delton-Kellogg 56-35 in the other regional semifinals.

“This is what you should expect from a regional championship game,” Hood said. “Two excellent teams going at each other. Their entire town will pack the gym, and our fans are loyal and travel well with us. It will be an exciting atmosphere.”