Blue Ridge Early College girls varsity basketball team hopped a bus to Brevard on Thursday to take on the Lady Blue Devils and ended with a loss of 69-57.
The Lady Bobcats had a slow first half but picked it up later in the game.
“I thought we took a while to get in rhythm offensively,” said BREC Coach Tim Mayse. “I was proud of how we responded in the second half. I challenged the girls to play with effort and mental toughness and to believe that we can compete with anyone.”
BREC Macy Heltsley stakes out the rebound in case Charlotte Sherrill’s (background) shot misses.
He added Brevard did a great job moving the ball on the perimeter and knocking down shots while they pressured the ball and BREC struggled on the boards.
“I thought we were able to get pressure on the ball in the second half and force turnovers,” said Mayse. “Offensively, we were able to get into transition in the second half. We made some clutch shots in the second half and did much better at the free throw line.”
The Lady Bobcats loss comes after a recent victory away against Nantahala where BREC Junior Charlotte Sherrill scored over 1,000-career points helping to clinch the win with a final of 77-22. Sherrill’s mother, Jennifer, also scored over 1,000 career points during her junior year at BREC.
“It’s definitely an accomplishment I’m proud of, especially since my mom got her 1,000 points when she was a junior,” said Charlotte.
BREC Charlotte Sherrill brings the ball down court. Sherrill recently reached 1,000 career points as a junior.
Mayse said Jennifer reached 1000 points and set the single scoring record for a game (44 points) and season (672 points) during her junior year at BREC.
“Many players don’t reach 1,000 points until their senior year,” Mayse said. “We have had players reach 1000 points recently in their senior years (Hunter Stewart and Kaylee O’Dwyer), but not junior years.”
Charlotte will be given her 1,000-point ball during a presentation at Tuesday’s game against Highlands. While excited about reaching the 1,000-point milestone, Charlotte said that didn’t help BREC play against Brevard.
“If we played in the first half like we did in the second half, it would have turned out better,” said Sherrill. “They had some good shooters who were hard to stop.”
Mercedes McLaughlin drives down the court on a fast break against Brevard.
BREC Hannah Carbone said Mayse was a big factor in the Lady Bobcat’s second half performance.
“Coach gave us a really good speech at halftime and pumped us up,” said Carbone. “Both our defense and offense were so much better in the second half. Our offense struggled throughout the entire first half.”
BREC Mahalah Stewart said the first half was riddled with mistakes.
“We had a lot of turnovers and our press break wasn’t breaking their press,” she said. “We shot pretty good, but coming off a win like Nantahala to a loss like this is rough.”
BREC Mahalah Stewart puts 2 on the board against Brevard on Thursday.
BREC next plays Highlands at 6 p.m. at home on Tuesday.
“We are looking forward to a great game with Highlands,” said Mayse. “Should be a fun atmosphere for the fans and players. Rivalries like ours are what makes high school sports special.”
BREC Chloe Fowler waiting for the right moment to set the play into action.
BREC Maddy Potts shutting down options for Brevard’s defense.
BREC Coach Tim Mayse giving direction from the sideline.
Article and photos by Brian O’Shea
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