Brandon’s varsity girls basketball team couldn’t quite break free from their Goodrich counterparts for the first three periods of their Sept. 5 contest.
However, the Blackhawks pulled away from the Martians in the fourth quarter to earn their first win of the season, defeating Goodrich 53-41. The Blackhawks improved to 1-1 on the season, while the Martians fell to 1-1.
The Blackhawks took a 35-31 lead into the fourth quarter before sealing the game. ‘We talked about coming out strong in the fourth quarter,? Brandon coach Bryan Ray said. ‘We talked about getting some easy baskets, because we knew Goodrich had some spurts left in them.?
Brandon had a stretch in the beginning of the fourth quarter where they scored six straight points to increase their lead to 10, and Goodrich coach Jason Gray said that proved to be too much for the Martians to handle.
‘I think it was a couple trips in a row where we got caught on our heels and they got fast break opportunities,? he said. ‘Going into the fourth quarter and giving up six straight points is tough to come back from.?
The Blackhawks gained the early advantage with a 12-6 first-quarter advantage, but the Martians hung tough with the Blackhawks during the second quarter, as Gray urged the Martians not to settle for jump shots and attack the basket inside. Brandon took a 25-20 lead at halftime.
Several Brandon players contributed positively to the team’s victory. Mikki Nuccio led the Blackhawks with 11 points, and Maria Schmidtke contributed what Ray described as a ‘tough nine points.? Ray said Schmidtke had the best game of her career and Nuccio had one of her best games as well.
Meg Donnay added eight points, including 4-of-6 from the free throw line, and Savannah Stedman contributed a solid all-around game with six points, 10 rebounds and five blocks. She also started four fast breaks and took a charge early in the game.
‘She can dominate a game in so many ways,? Ray said of Stedman.
In addition, Ray said he was pleased with how many Brandon players got involved in the game’s scoring.
‘It just makes it so much tougher to defend us if we have everyone scoring,? he said. ‘For this early in the season, I was pleased with how well we played as a team.?
On the Goodrich side of things, junior Kortni Elsworth, the Martians? leading scorer last season, was held to just one free throw. ‘She had a lot of foul trouble,? Gray said. ‘She’s also pretty adept at getting to the basket, but they had a 6?2? player (Stedman) in the middle, which made it pretty difficult.?
Gray said the Martians did have some solid individual performances, particularly from senior Ashley Short, who led the team with 13 points; senior Casey Tubbs, who scored eight points and ‘handled the ball very well?; and senior Autumn Haggadone, who scored seven points and held Stedman to six points.