EVANSVILLE — Last time she left her home floor, Ava Brandenburg sported a knot on her forehead from an on-court collision, and her team lost its regular-season finale.
The Evansville senior and her Blue Devils left the court in much better shape Tuesday night.
She poured in 34 points — 27 in the first half — and chased down 10 rebounds for a double-double in a 76-38 regional playoff win over Clinton.
The Cougars had a difficult time keeping Brandenburg, a recruit of Division II Roosevelt University, in front of them on the defensive end. Evansville won the opening tip and ran a set on its first possession that got Brandenburg an easy layup, and most of the rest of her buckets came at the rim, as well.
She had 10 of her team’s first 12 points and was 12 of 13 from the floor in the first half. The only miss came from beyond the 3-point arc.
“Her dribble-drive, whether it was baseline or up the gut, it was on tonight,” Evansville coach Tony Wiemiller said. “When she’s square at that rim, she’s going to give herself a chance every single time.”
Clinton was able to hang around in the early going, staying within 10-9 before Evansville used an 8-0 run to push the gap to nine and eventually to 14 at 30-16.
Ava Mueller made a free throw and Natalie Bell knocked down a 3 to get Clinton’s deficit back down to 10, but the Blue Devils scored the game’s next 18 points over the last several minutes of the first half and the first several minutes of the second to put the game out of reach.
Brandenburg’s scoring slowed down in the second half, but she became more of a distributor while Kennedy Dobbs scored 10 after the break to keep the Blue Devil lead growing. Dobbs finished with 16 points, and Brooklyn Maves also reached double figures for Evansville with 10.
Zada Maly led the Cougars with 11 points. Playing without Lylah Peters, they were unable to replicate the success they had against Evansville on Feb. 12, when they took an early lead and went into the half tied at 31-all.
In that game, Wiemiller said Clinton was able to push the ball on them and get good 3-point looks. On Tuesday night, it was Evansville pushing the issue and finding success instead.
As the game wound down, Wiemiller was able to sub out his seniors and give the home fans a chance to cheer for their players one more time.
“It was a special night for those seniors,” he said.
The win moves Evansville into a regional semifinal matchup with rival Edgerton. The Crimson Tide, ranked No. 8 in the state by WisSports.net and the top seed in their Division 3 sectional after a 23-1 season and an undefeated Rock Valley Rock Division championship, filled a section of the bleachers at Evansville High on Tuesday night to scout out their next opponent.
Wiemiller said if his team can play “calm, fast and physical” against the Crimson Tide, it will have a chance to spring the upset.
“When we spread the floor and move the ball, it opens up the dribble-drive for the Avas of the world and other players, and then that is going to open up the skip-pass 3’s,” he said. “It just makes us more dangerous.”
That regional semifinal tips off at 7 p.m. Friday at Edgerton High School.
EVANSVILLE 76, CLINTON 38
Clinton 20 18 — 38
Evansville 44 32 — 76
Clinton (fg ftm-fta pts) — J. Maly 0 1-2 1, Hahn 2 1-2 5, Mueller 1 3-5 5, Wilson 2 0-0 4, Shinkus 1 0-2 2, N. Bell 1 0-1 3, Z. Maly 4 2-4 11, A. Bell 1 0-0 2, Brandle 2 1-1 5. Totals 14 8-17 38.
Evansville (fg ftm-fta pts) — Maves 4 2-2 10, Ganoung 1 0-0 2, Klitzman 1 0-2 3, Case 0 2-4 2, Sendelbach 1 0-0 3, Dobbs 6 0-0 16, Crull 1 0-0 2, Brandenburg 15 3-5 34, Vogl 1 2-4 4. Totals 29 9-16 76.
3-point goals — C 2 (N. Bell, Z. Maly), E 7 (Dobbs 4, Klitzman, Sendelbach, Brandenburg). Total fouls — C 13, E 17. Fouled out — None.
Most Popular
Comments / 0