The Annawan Bravettes hung tough and outlasted Serena 42-35 to win the title of the Lady Bruin Christmas Classic.
It may not have been the exact win that Annawan Coach Jason Burkiewicz drew up in preparation for Thursday’s championship game against Serena, but as the saying goes, “a win is a win.” If that particular win also happens to be for a tourney title, even better.
It most likely wasn’t the game that Serena Coach anticipated either as his team could muster just 11 first half points.
Both teams struggled in the early going, but Serena eked out a 6-1 first quarter lead. All six of Serena’s points were scored by Rayelle Brennan.
The Bravettes started to thaw in the second quarter as senior center Kaylee Celus scored nine of Annawan’s 15 points. The Bravette’s defense held Serena to just five second quarter points. The score was 16-11 at the break.
Annawan outscored Serena 26-24 in the second half, which was enough offensive output to pull out the win.
Zoey Vance scored nine fourth quarter points and 14 in the second half to lead the Bravettes down the stretch.
“We were disappointed in our offensive effort tonight,” said Annawan Coach Jason Burkiewicz. He estimates that, conservatively, his team left 20 easy points on the table in uncontested bunnies.
Burkiewicz, however, was pleased with his teams’ defensive efforts. “Our defense was right where we thought it would be. We discussed how we thought we could hold Serena to under 40 points.”
The Bravettes accomplished that goal. “Our defense saved us,” added Burkiewicz. “We probably caused close to 40 turnovers.”
Vance topped all scorers with 16 points and Celus contributed 14 in the winning effort. Brennan led Serena with 12 points and Gwen O’Connell added eight in vain.
St. Bede
In the lead up to Thursday’s tournament championship game, Annawan had a big 66-52 win against the host Bruins.
The Bravettes used a balanced scoring attack to overtake St. Bede. In all, five Annawan players scored in double digits.
The Bravettes were down 20-15 in the first quarter and trailed 31-29 at the half.
St. Bede’s 6’0 senior center, Ali Bosnich, scored nine first quarter points and 13 in the first half. Ashlyn Ehm added six first quarter points for the Bruins.
Clara Bella VanOpdorp hit two 3-pointers and scored eight in the first quarter for the Bravettes. Kaylee Celus contributed six points in the first frame.
Annawan outscored St. Bede 14-11 in the second quarter and VanOpdorp led the way with six points (connecting on 4 of 5 at the charity stripe).
The Bravettes turned the tide after halftime. They outscored St. Bede 22-8 in the third quarter and held a 51-39 lead with a quarter left to play.
Elaina Manuel made two threes and scored seven third quarter points for Annawan, while VanOpdorp and Zoey Vance had five a piece.
Olivia Goodley scored the bulk of her points in the fourth quarter, making nine of her 13 points in the final frame.
Bosnich and Ella Hermes each added six points in the fourth quarter for St. Bede.
VanOpdorp scored a game-high 21 points. Goodley had 13, Celus and Vance added 11 each and Manuel contributed 10 points in win.
Bosnich tallied 19 and Hermes added 12 for St. Bede.
The Bruins are now 11-6 on the season.
