NORTHVIEW — Of all things heading into a sectional championship game, Brownstown junior Kalee Borden was concerned about how she would do her hair ahead of the big game against Northview.

Borden had been going between the low ponytail and the high ponytail all season, and she didn’t know which to choose. She asked for some opinions, and head coach Brandon Allman suggested the hairstyle she used during her freshman season sectional title game, which the Braves won.

Borden went with the braid, and she went on to lead Brownstown in scoring with 17 points as the Braves defeated Northview 46-36 to win their third-straight sectional title on Wednesday night.

“I was kind of nervous, but I guess the braid paid off,” Borden joked.

It marks the third sectional title Borden has achieved during her playing career so far, and each one has been as sweet as the last.

“It’s awesome, honestly,” she said. “These first three years have been amazing, and all three years have felt like family to me.”

Likewise, this is also Allman’s third year at the helm of this program, and cutting down the nets Wednesday night never gets old.

“You value and treasure every single one of these,” Allman said. “The hard work, the dedication, the improvement we’ve seen this season is just a credit to our girls. Those 12 girls and the other seven that are JV girls and have helped prepare them for this moment.”

Borden started Brownstown out the right way in the game, scoring the first five points to give her team the early lead.

The Braves’ defense was also stellar, and they held Northview scoreless for the entire first quarter, leading 13-0 after one and Borden had eight of those points.

“I just know that I didn’t want it to be my last games with these girls, these girls are like family to me,” Borden said. “I knew that we were in foul trouble so someone needed to step up. I know that me being a leader needed to step up.”

The Knights started the second quarter on a 6-0 run to get back into the game, but Borden continued her offensive onslaught. In the first quarter, she did it from behind the arc, and in the second, Borden drove into the paint at will. She scored 15 points in the first half.

“She put us on her shoulders,” Allman said. “She willed her way to the rim and hit a couple big threes.”

Northview had cut Brownstown’s lead to 22-15, but on the final possession of the first half, Borden drove in, missed the shot, got her own rebound, missed that shot, but once again got the rebound and tipped it out to Jenna Klosterman who nailed a 3-pointer from the left corner to give Brownstown a 25-15 lead at the break.

It was a big play to flip the momentum back onto Brownstown’s side after Northview had started to find its way a bit offensively.

In the locker room at halftime, Allman told his team Northview was going to make a run, and that’s exactly what the Knights did.

They cut Brownstown’s lead to just four, 27-23, and it seemed like things were starting to slip from the Braves’ grasp in the third quarter.

That’s when senior guard Emma Klinge stepped up. Klinge drove in for a layup to score her first two points of the game, and then on the next possession she drilled a 3-pointer.

That allowed Brownstown to go on a 10-0 run, capped off by a 3-pointer by Maddy Hackman that she drilled and also got fouled on.

It put Brownstown’s lead back up to double digits as it took a 37-27 lead into the fourth quarter.

“It’s not the first time this season. We showed that (resiliency) multiple times this year,” Borden said. “We knew that we wanted this and we needed to show out tonight, and that’s what we did.”

The Braves were able to hold serve in the fourth and maintain its 10-point cushion at the buzzer. Then, it was time to cut down the nets for the third consecutive season.

This is a season in which the Braves played a difficult schedule and got off to a slow start, but the team pulled it together down the stretch. Brownstown has won five games in a row and have gone 11-3 in its last 14 games, which culminated in the celebration on Wednesday night.

“The last two weeks has just been a different intensity and focus,” Allman said. “It’s all of them. Just our focus and understanding our game plan and being locked what the other team is really good at and being able to take that away. We did that tonight.”

Next up for the Braves will be the regional semifinals on Saturday morning at 10 a.m. at Greencastle High School against a 21-4 Indian Creek team.

“I know that they’re really good,” Allman said. “I’m going to enjoy this one tonight, and then dive into them the next two days.”