For The Tribune
BROWNSTOWN
The Brownstown Central girls outscored Madison 5-0 in the final 59 seconds to break open a close game and register a 34-27 victory Tuesday night.
The Braves final five points all came on free throws. The Braves made 11 free throws in the fourth quarter and were 18-for-28 for the game, and Madison was 7-8 for the game.
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Both teams started out cold in the first quarter. Braves were 0-for-6, and the Cubs were 2-for-6 resulting in a 6-3 lead for the visitors.
Hannah Imel had both field goals and all six of the Cubs’ points in the quarter.
Ashley Schroer, who had two free throws for the Braves in the first period, scored the Braves’ first six points of the second quarter. The Cubs held a 12-9 lead following a basket by Imel, before Madison Klinge hit a 3-pointer with 57 seconds left in the half to tie the game at 12-12.
Brownstown shot 3-for-16, and Madison 4-for-15 in the first half.
Neither team could find any consistency in their offense during the third quarter as they combined for 4-for-19 shooting.
Tayler Garland made a 3-pointer and Schroer added a two as the Braves held a 19-17 lead going into the fourth quarter.
Schroer topped the Braves with 18 points and 6 rebounds.
Hannah Imel topped the Cubs (5-8) with 10 points, all in the first half.
The Braves held the Cubs to nine field goals and Karla Rieckers said, “I thought our defense did a decent job. We wanted to speed up the game. In the first half Madison was very mechanical. They would walk up the ball and they would stand out there. We don’t like to play that way, we like to play fast but we could never get into that rhythm.
“We talked at half time that we wanted to speed up the game and try to get more into our transition, which we weren’t doing before. I thought we came back into the second half pushing the ball and getting some open looks in transition. We wanted try to get the lead and get them out of that zone, which helped us.”
Rieckers was pleased with the defense the Braves played on Imel in the second half.
“We switched defense and had couple different people on her. In the second half we put Kristen Stuckwisch on her. She’s been our defensive player of the year the last two years.”
The Braves (11-4) next game will be in the Toby Yoho Tournament on December 29.