EVANSVILLE — The matchup between the fourth and fifth seeds in a section tournament are naturally some of the tightest games in an opening-playoff round, and that played out in Evansville on Thursday night between the Brandon-Evansville girls and Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg (10-15).
The Chargers (12-14) got the fourth seed in the field despite a bit of a rough stretch to end the regular season where they lost six of eight games. They turned the page on a new season and held off KMS in a 51-48 final in the Section 6A opener.
“What a fun night for our girls,” B-E head coach Zach Traphagen said. “It’s been a while since this program had won a playoff game, and to do it in the fashion we did it made it all that much more exciting. We certainly didn’t help ourselves out with poor free throw shooting throughout the game, but Olivia (Otto), Hadley (Baune) and Kylee (Dingwall) all stepped up and made some big free throws at the end when it counted most.”
The Chargers went just 13-of-30 overall from the free-throw line, but Baune was 2-for-2 with 9 points overall, and Dingwall went 3-of-5 and finished with 14 points, 10 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals. Otto finished with a team-high 19 to go with 7 rebounds.
“Unfortunately, we had a couple girls leave the game with injuries, so our thoughts are really with EmmaLee Brethorst and Kiley Lund right now,” Traphagen said. “Us coaches are just so happy for the girls and unbelievably proud of them. We get a day to try to recover and then face a very tough challenge on Saturday in Minnewaska.”
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The Chargers now face the top seed in the South subsection when they take on Hancock at 1 p.m. on Saturday in Glenwood. Hancock (24-1) is ranked sixth in Class A through the QRF on Minnesota-scores.net. The Owls beat Benson 75-15 on Thursday in their playoff opener.
Brandon-Evansville faced Hancock on Feb. 12 in a game the Owls won 67-23.
BRANDON-EVANSVILLE 30 21 - 51
KMS 21 27 - 48
B-E TOTALS - FG - 16-45; Three-point FG - 6-20; FT - 13-30; Assists - 10; Blocks - 1; Rebounds - 34; Steals - 12; Turnovers - 14
B-E - Grace Otto - 3 points, 2 rebounds, 1 steal; Olivia Otto - 19 points, 2 assists, 7 rebounds, 4 steals; Sydney Schaefer - 1 block, 2 rebounds; Kaytlyn Pattrin - 1 point, 2 assists, 4 rebounds, 3 steals; EmmaLee Brethorst - 1 rebound; Skyler Bitzan - 1 steal; Hadley Baune - 9 points, 1 assist, 4 rebounds; Kylee Dingwall - 14 points, 4 assists, 10 rebounds, 3 steals; Madison Anderson - 3 points, 4 rebounds; Kiley Lund - 2 points
Girls basketball scores from March 3
(Stats not yet available)
Clinton-Graceville-Beardsley (10-13) 59, Parkers Prairie (11-11) 58
Boys basketball scores from March 3
(Stats not yet available)
Wheaton-Herman-Norcross (16-8) 59, Brandon-Evansville (14-12) 40
Ashby (21-3) 56, Kekhoven-Murdock-Sunburg (15-9) 55
