“We had opportunities to stretch the lead and made fundamental mistakes on the offensive and defensive ends,” Badin coach Tom Sunderman said after the visiting Rockets held on for a 53-51 victory at Mulcahey Gym. “We made the game what it was. It was all about us.
» PHOTOS: Terri Adams’ gallery from Badin-McNicholas
“We’re at the point in the season where we can’t have these kind of fundamental breakdowns. If you’re fundamental, you win games. If we do things from Basketball 101, we have two or three losses right now, not six.”
The Rams got a monster performance from senior forward Emma Broermann, who tallied 25 points, 23 rebounds and three steals, yet couldn’t stop McNick from finishing the game with a 7-2 spurt in the last three minutes.
“We knew it was going to be close,” Broermann said. “We came out a little slow without a lot of energy, but once we got in the groove, it was back and forth the whole way. They’re scrappy.”
Julia Brune (19), Liz Huber (12), Christina Poole (11) and Emily Byrne (nine) paced the scoring for the Rockets (11-7, 5-3). Poole converted two big buckets in the last 66 seconds and grabbed 13 boards.
“We know what we’re getting when we come up here, and hopefully they have the same apprehension about coming down and playing us,” McNick coach Gregg Flammer said. “It’s fun. I get my juices flowing a little bit more than usual when we play Badin. It’s girls basketball at its best. Sometimes girls basketball isn’t the most beautiful thing, but even if this isn’t beautiful, it’s 20 kids just going at it. It’s an absolute treat.
“And my kids … what can you say? They did what they had to do to win. We’re small, but we’re about the scrappiest group you’ll ever see. As a coach, I’m sitting here as proud as I’ve ever been. I love those kids.”
Badin traveled to Beechmont Avenue and came away with a 65-62, double-overtime triumph over the Rockets on Dec. 22, and Round 2 was the same kind of taut, physical affair.
McNick survived 21 turnovers and moved ahead for good (50-49) on Poole’s stickback with 1:06 remaining.
In the end, the Rams came out of a timeout with 3.9 seconds left and got a driving 10-foot shot from Shelby Nusbaum that was off the mark. Broermann rebounded and tried to go back up with the ball, but ended up on the floor with Huber as the buzzer went off.
Broermann said there was no question she got fouled on the shot, but it was a moot point. The officials ruled that she still had the ball in her hands at the final horn.
“She’s a great player,” Flammer said of Broermann, who’s headed for the University of North Florida. “I told her good luck with everything. I don’t know her as a person, but she seems to be as great a kid as she is a basketball player. We put two people on her — they were like dresses hanging on her — and she still did what she had to do.”
Broermann started the night tied with Kara Gerbus for second place on Badin’s all-time scoring list with 1,178 points. By pushing her career total to 1,203, she now trails only Kim Richter (1,228).
“By all means, I’m getting there,” Broermann said. “I don’t think it’s going to be like my thousand points, but this has always been my goal to hold the record. So once I get it, I plan on pounding it down and being the all-time leading scorer for a long time.”
Nusbaum had six points and five rebounds for Badin, and Emma Adams contributed a pair of key 3-pointers in the second half. Grace Larkin totaled four assists.
Huber, Brune and Poole combined for the Rockets’ 17 points in the fourth quarter. Byrne hauled in eight rebounds, while Huber had seven and Lydia Geygan added six.
McNick is a game behind Central leader Roger Bacon and will host the Spartans on Saturday afternoon.
“All you can do is give yourself a chance to succeed, and we’re right there,” Flammer said. “There’s a couple games we’d like to have back from earlier in the season, but for the most part, these girls are where they want to be right now.”
The Rams will travel to Purcell Marian on Saturday afternoon.
“We’re definitely determined,” Broermann said. “We’ll bounce back real quick. I have all the confidence in the world with this team. I believe we’re going to go far in the (Division II) tournament. We’ve got shooters. We’ve got people that can play inside. We’ve got people who can drive. We’ve got good passers. We have all the things we need. We just need to put them together.”
McNicholas 14-10-12-17—53
Badin 16-9-14-12—51
MCNICHOLAS (11-7, 5-3 GCLC Central): Liz Huber 4 4 12; Emily Byrne 4 0 9; Christina Poole 5 1 11; Julia Brune 7 4 19; Lydia Geygan 1 0 2. Totals: 21-9-53
BADIN (12-6, 3-5 GCLC Central): Shelby Nusbaum 2 2 6; Jaelynn Scowden 1 0 2; Emily Maher 1 2 5; Mickayla Kowalski 1 0 2; Emma Broermann 11 3 25; Claire MacGowan 1 0 3; Kelly Havens 1 0 2; Emma Adams 2 0 6. Totals: 20-7-51
3-pointers: M 2 (Byrne, Brune), B 4 (Adams 2, Maher, MacGowan)
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