NORTHVIEW — Brandon Allman has been the head coach of the Brownstown girls basketball team for three years, and this is the third-straight year that the Braves will be vying for a sectional championship.
After a couple postponements due to weather last week, Brownstown finally got to take on West Vigo in the semifinal Tuesday night at Northview High School, and the Braves rolled to a 48-35 victory to advance.
West Vigo got off to a hot start from behind the perimeter in the first quarter. The Vikings hit four 3-pointers in the quarter and held a 16-10 lead over the Braves at the end of one.
Katelynn Fennell, Kenzye Knopp and Adelynn Harris each made one, and Fennell hit two.
Not to be outdone, Maddy Hackman joined the party in the second quarter. Hackman started the second quarter with back-to-back 3-pointers and tied things up at 16 for the Braves, causing a West Vigo timeout.
Brownstown completely flipped the game in the second quarter, outscoring West Vigo 16-4 to take a 26-20 lead into halftime.
“We amped up our pressure a little bit,” Allman said. “We started to pick them up in the half-court, trap a little bit, and then once we were able to start really pressing in the third quarter, we got them out of their comfort zone.”
It was the starters that carried the load for Brownstown as well in the first half. Hackman led the Braves with nine points, Hannah Stahl hit two 3-pointers to score six, Emma Klinge scored five, Andrea Bair four and Kalee Borden two.
The third quarter was even more impressive from the Braves. Holding West Vigo to four points in the second was solid, and they turned around by holding the Vikings to just two points in third.
The quarter started with Hackman hitting her fourth 3-pointer of the contest, and then Klinge jumped a passing lane for a steal and found Stahl sprinting down the floor for an easy layup. It gave Brownstown its first double-digit lead of the game at 31-20, and West Vigo called timeout.
The run didn’t stop there. The Vikings’ first points of the quarter didn’t come until there were 42 seconds left when Fennell, who scored 20 on the night, hit a midrange jumper.
Brownstown took a 41-22 lead into the final eight minutes with its eyes on a sectional final appearance.
Hackman hit her sixth and final 3-point attempt in the fourth for good insurance, and then Allman pulled his starters for most of the quarter to rest them for tomorrow night’s contest.
“I think it’s nice that they got some extra rest,” Allman said.
Hackman led the Braves with 20 points on the night, and 18 of those came from behind the 3-point line.
“She’s just a gym rat,” Allman said. “She loves basketball. She works just as hard on her game as anyone I’ve ever coached. Anytime we can get the ball in her hands, and she has her feet set, I feel like it’s going in.”
Bair and Stahl each scored eight points, Klinge had six, Borden four and Jenna Klosterman two.
Brownstown, in hopes of winning its third-straight sectional title, will take on the winner of Edgewood and host school Northview, who played one another after the Braves’ victory. The sectional final will take place at 7 p.m. tonight.
Allman said he knows a lot about both teams, and he stuck around to watch them play last night.