(Niles Township) — Even after a performance that was far from perfect, the record for Brandywine girls basketball is just that…perfect.

Josh Hood’s Bobcats improved to 26-0 with a 45-32 triumph over Kalamazoo Christian before a packed in and frenzied crowd at the Bobcat Den.

“You simulate these situations in practice, but you never know they’re going to react, especially in a regional championship game in front of over a thousand fans at the Bobcat Den how they’re going to react,” said a joyful Hood afterwards. “Christian cut it to six. These girls haven’t had a ton of close games and they showed a ton of poise.”

Brandywine used tenacious defense and a pair of threes from Miley Young and Mackenna Price to grab a quick 14-7 lead, taking command of the game. But when the threes stopped dropping in the second, the ‘Cats stuck to it on defense to take a 21-14 lead into the locker room at halftime.

“The biggest key is to really stay on ’em, not watch them do all the moves back and forth,” noted Young afterwards. “Just get up in their grill and try to make ’em work hard.”

That strategy continued in the third, as Young went coast-to-coast at the end of the quarter to put Brandywine ahead 32-19 after three.

The Comets finally started getting some offensive flow in the fourth, behind All-State player Jordyn Bonnema who finished with 12. When Lily Manion knocked down her second three of the stanza, Kalamazoo Christian trailed 38-32 with three minutes remaining.

Finally, Brandywine started knocking down free throws. Young went five-of-six from the stripe to close it out with 12 points, matching Lily Gill for team-high honors.

“How about this crowd tonight?” asked Hood, looking at the celebration. “It’s special. These people rally around us. They always support us. It is our little slice of heaven here at Brandywine that a lot of people don’t know about, but now they’re finding out about.”

Brandywine moves on the state quarterfinals next Tuesday in Kalamazoo, facing Calvin Christian