Girls' basketball: Brandon-Evansville closes regular season with victory

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The Brandon-Evansville girls wrapped up their regular season with a 45-36 win over Wheaton-Herman-Norcross last Thursday night.

The Chargers led 20-5 at one point and took a 29-14 lead into the break. The Warriors (12-11) would cut it to as little as five after halftime, but Brandon-Evansville held on behind a defense that held Wheaton to just 25 percent shooting (14-55).

“The first half, we played really well,” head coach Dick Simpson said. “The second half, we gave them some good looks, and [Tracie] Boehmiehner got hot…we ended up going a box-and-one on her, and she didn’t score after that.”

The Warriors’ senior point guard finished with a team-high 21 points to keep her team in the game. Heather Strese countered for Brandon-Evansville with another double-double of 19 points and 15 rebounds.

The difference in the game came at the free throw line. Both teams were identical from the field with six threes and eight field goals from inside the arch. The Chargers won by getting to the free throw line, where they went 11-of-14. The Warriors went just 2-for-4 from the stripe.

The win gave Brandon-Evansville a 17-7 record overall and sent the Chargers into the playoffs on a winning note. They earned the No. 3 seed in the South 6A subsection and will play either Underwood or Clinton-Graceville-Beardsley at home tomorrow night, Thursday.

GAME STATISTICS

BRANDON-EVANSVILLE 29 16 – 45

WHEATON-HN 14 22 – 36

TOTALS – Brandon-Evansville – FG – 14-42; FT – 11-14; Rebounds – 40; Turnovers – 17; Wheaton-HN – FG – 14-55; FT – 2-4; Rebounds – 28; Turnovers – 9

BRANDON-EVANSVILLE – Megan Kokett – 3 points; Kinsley Randt – 8 assists; Hunter Plaster – 3 points; Carlie Steffenson – 6 points; Megan Friedrich – 9 points; Tasmine Okerlund – 3 points, 9 rebounds; Emma Friedrich – 2 points; Strese – 19 points, 15 rebounds

WHEATON-HN – Kelly Posthumus – 3; Taylor Arndt-Krenz – 3; Stephanie Lupkes – 7; Tracie Boehmiehner – 21; Arianna Karsky – 4

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