Brandon and Lapeer West played it close to the vest for about a half during varsity girls basketball action Tuesday, Sept. 26.
However, in the second half, it was all Blackhawks, as Brandon outscored the Panthers 24-9 in the half to earn a 42-29 victory in Flint Metro League action at Brandon.
The win enabled the Blackhawks to remain one game behind Fenton in the Flint Metro League race. The Blackhawks are now 5-2 overall and 3-1 in the league, while the Panthers dropped to 2-5 overall and 1-4 in the league.
Five days earlier, the Blackhawks lost their first league game of the season when they dropped a 40-28 contest against Swartz Creek.
Brandon coach Bryan Ray said the Blackhawks did an impressive job shutting down the Lapeer West offense.
‘Lapeer West is one of the better teams in the league,? he said. ‘For us to shut them down to 29 shows we can play with anyone in the league.?
The Panthers had taken a 20-19 lead at halftime before the Blackhawks began to assert themselves in the third quarter, outscoring the Panthers 9-3 to take a 28-23 lead after the third.
‘We switched to a man-to-man defense,? Ray said. ‘The entire team did a great job of shutting them down in the second half.?
The Blackhawks were the more aggressive team in getting to the free throw line, shooting 13-of-22 (59.1 percent) compared to 5-of-10 (50 percent) for Lapeer West.
‘Our big girls attacked the basket all night, and they’re (Lapeer West) more of a perimeter team,? Ray said.
Savannah Stedman led the Blackhawks with 14 points, while Danielle Kwasiborski added eight points. Stephanie Kelly led Lapeer West with 14 points in the loss.
After a scheduled Sept. 28 game at Lapeer East, the Blackhawks have a key game coming up when they host the league-leading Tigers of Fenton Tuesday, Oct. 3 at 7 p.m.
‘As far as the league goes, we still control our own destiny,? Ray said.