The No. 3 Bravettes were behind for the first three quarters of the Wednesday night showdown between Annawan and Princeville, but a big fourth quarter rally propelled them to a 67-57 over the Princes.
Down 45-44 at the end of the third quarter, the Bravettes found a new gear in the final eight minutes and outscored Princeville 23-12 to claim the home LTC win. At 21-5 overall and 8-1 in the conference, Annawan remains in the LTC title hunt, while Princeville slips to 14-11 overall and 5-3 in the conference.
“The girls played a tight one in a postseason atmosphere tonight,” said Annawan Coach Jason Burkiewicz. “Princeville has a nice team with a coach (John Gross) that always has his team prepared. We played from behind by not cashing in early on some easy baskets,” he added.
The Princes had Annawan back on their heels early as they jumped out to 15-7 first quarter lead. The Bravettes made the steady climb back as they outscored Princeville 20-16 in the second quarter, but the Princes remained in the lead at 31-27 at the half.
Both teams had players who could score in bulk. Brianna Brodie scored 16 in the first half for Princeville, while Clara Bella VanOpdorp put in 15 for Annawan. Kaylee Celus added nine for the Bravettes and Paisley Schock chipped in with eight for the Princes.
Annawan outscored Princeville again in the third quarter, 17-14, but Princeville held a one point lead of 45-44 heading into the final frame. Brodie scored 10 more points in the third quarter and Celus matched her with 10 of her own.
A 23-12 fourth quarter onslaught by Annawan shut the door on a Princeville upset. VanOpdorp hit two 3-pointers and scored 10 points in the frame to help propel Annawan to the 67-57 win. Sahara Strietmatter made two treys in the closing minutes for Princeville.
“Our preparation for the uptempo style we prefer to play eventually wore them down,” said Burkiewicz. “I believe their legs were starting to give out and we had plenty left in the tank,” he added.
“We did knock down some big shots but overwhelmingly the key to our comeback was just the girls willing to condition themselves in practice and outlast most teams.”
Brodie topped all scorers with 30 points, Schock followed with 10 and Strietmatter added nine.
The one two punch of VanOpdorp and Celus scored 25 and 22 in the win. Zoey Vance added nine.
