Brandywine rolls into Division 3 state championship game with 52-39 win over Lake City

Published 7:59 am Friday, March 22, 2024

By Scott Novak

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EAST LANSING — The historic run of the Brandywine winter sports teams continued Thursday afternoon as the Bobcats rolled to a 52-39 win over Lake City in the Division 3 girls basketball semifinals at the Breslin Center at Michigan State University.

What started with the Bobcats winning a pair of individual state wrestling championships early in the month, has continued with the boys basketball team winning its first-ever state title last week at the Breslin Center.

The run will continue at 4 p.m. Saturday when the Brandywine girls faces either Ypsilanti Arbor Prep for the Division 3 crown.

The Bobcats (26-1) left no doubt who was the better team Thursday afternoon as Brandywine put the game away in the first half as it used a combination of outside shooting and the inside work of senior Kadence Brumitt.

“Last night I was just comfortable with where our girls were and where their head space was,” Brandywine Coach Josh Hood said. “They were not just excited about getting to Michigan State. This had a different feel about it. They were coming her on a business trip and that is exactly how they approached it.”

Brumitt had seven of the Bobcats’ 13 first-quarter points, which included a banked 3-pointer and three rebounds. Brumitt would finish the contest with a double-double as she had 14 points and 10 rebounds.

Brandywine was 7-of-14 from 3-point range in the first half, and finished the game hitting 43.5 percent (10-of-23) from beyond the arc. A total of seven different Bobcats hit 3-pointers in the game, led by junior Miley Young, who was 3-of-6 in the game and finished with a game-high 20 points to go along with five assists.

Brandywine led 13-4 after one quarter as the Trojans (25-3) tried to get the ball to 6-foot-4 Alison Bisalle, who is committed to play at the University of Wisconsin next season. Sister MacKenzie Bisalle, 6-foot-one, was also the focus of the Lake City offense.

The Bobcats did a good job against both players, who scored 12 and 17 points respectively, many of which came when the game had already been decided.

“What we didn’t want to do was led their two big horses beat us,” Hood said. “It was just a commitment to having someone else beat us. The whole strategy was to get the ball out of their hands.”

Hood said the was to put guards — Miley [Young] and Adelyn [Drotoz] on them and try to wear them down,” Hood said. “It is impressive that in one day these girls can work at this and execute it to perfection in a game settling like Michigan State University at the Breslin Center. That is just a testament to the girls buying in and saying ‘hey, after 26 games of doing what we do, which is run and jump press, shoot a bunch of threes and play fast and speed team up. I said hey, what we have been doing for the past four and a half months, we are going to throw it out the window and run this.’ Yesterday was one of the best practices we have had all year, and last night was one of the best nights of sleep I have gotten since the postseason started.”

The Trojans made one run at Brandywine in the second half, cutting the lead to 39-29 with 4:46 remaining in the contest.

The Bobcats would use a 5-0 run to push the lead back to double figures (44-31) and were never seriously challenged the rest of the contest.

Brandywine finished the game hitting 44 percent from the field, while Lake City shot just 33 percent from the floor.

Despite the huge size advantage, the Bobcats outrebounded the Trojans 33-21.

 

BRANDYWINE 52, LAKE CITY 39

At Michigan State’s Breslin Center

LAKE CITY 39

Alison Bisballe 12, Hannah Allen 0, Mackenie Bisballe 17, Baylie Eisenga 0, Payton Hogan 7, Hannah Vasicek 0, Viviannah Harmon 0, Makayla Hall 3. TOTALS: 15-45 8-11 39.

BRANDYWINE 52

Adeline Gill 5, Ellie Knapp 4, Adelyn Drotoz 3, Miley Young 20, Kadence Brumitt 14, Karleigh Byrd 0, Ireland Prenkert 3, Niyah Mason 0, Lily Gill 3. TOTALS: 16-36 10-16 52.

 

Lake City          4          13        21        39

Brandywine     13        27        36        52

3-point baskets: Lake City 1 (Hall 1), Brandywine 10 (Young 3, K. Brumitt 2, Knapp 1, Prenkert 1, L. Gill 1, A. Gill 1, Drotoz 1). Total fouls: Lake City 15, Brandywine 8. Records: Lake City 25-3, Brandywine 26-1

 

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