Brandon’s girls basketball team has been plagued by slow starts early in the season.
As a result, the Blackhawks are winless after three games this season. The most recent came Sept. 2, when host Walled Lake Northern defeated the Blackhawks 47-36.
Brandon coach Bryan Ray said the Blackhawks, who have three freshmen and three sophomores on the varsity, are still going through some growing pains.
“We’re trying to learn how to compete for 32 minutes and learning how to take care of the ball,” he said. “We’ve missed boxouts and turned the ball over, but we’re improving every single game.”
Northern outscored Brandon 11-4 in the first quarter, and never looked back. Freshman Savannah Stedman led the Blackhawks with 19 points, while Jessica Liebner added six.
On Saturday, Aug. 30, Marquette pulled away to defeat the Blackhawks 48-34.
Two days earlier, Kalamazoo Central got out to a fast start and held off Brandon 36-30 in the Blackhawks’ season opener.
Central outscored the Blackhawks 14-7 in the first quarter and took a 23-15 lead at the half. The Blackhawks outscored Central 12-2 in the third quarter to take a 27-25 lead at the end of the period, but Central answered back in the final period for the win.
Stedman had 10 points to lead the Blackhawks, while Meg Donnay added eight points.
Brandon’s next contest is Tuesday, Sept. 9 when they play their first home game of the season against Rochester Adams, beginning at 7 p.m.