Bainville Comes Back To Edge Circle

Down by eight points entering the fourth quarter, the Bainville Bulldogs came together for an outstanding comeback to edge Circle, 5449, in the Eastern C divisional tournament’s third-place game on Friday, March 7.

Hailey Berwick ignited the comeback with consecutive shots to open the quarter. Elsie Wilson then connected on a pull-up jumper to pull the Bulldogs to 39-37 and force Circle into a time-out.

Tally Berwick scored off a rebound for a 39-39 deadlock with 5:42 remaining in the contest.

The Wildcats didn’t back away as Allie Kountz first hit an inside shot and then fired in a three-pointer for a 44-39 margin with 4:34 left.

Bainville’s Wilson responded by hitting a three-pointer from way out at the 4:21 mark. Two free throws by Addison Hansen tied the game at 4444 with 3:52 to play.

The Bulldogs grabbed the lead on a 16-footer by Wilson with 3:22 left. A free throw by H. Berwick was good for a 4744 margin.

Neither team was able to score again until a steal resulted in Wilson hitting a pull-up jumper to put the margin at 49-44 with 34 seconds left. Circle kept the heat on with another basket by A. Kountz with 19 seconds remaining.

After Wilson sank two free throws, Emma Murphy hit three free throws to cut the gap to 51-49 with 12 seconds left.

The Bulldogs were able to put the comeback victory away on three free throws by Miah Pippenger in the last 11 seconds.

Leading Bainville’s attack were H. Berwick with 21 and Wilson with 17 points. Also scoring were Pippenger with six, T. Berwick with five, Lila Butikofer with three and Hansen with two.

Leading Circle were A. Kountz with 20 and Murphy with 11 points.

A. Kountz grabbed nine rebounds in the game.

Bainville jumped out to a 9-2 lead and held a 12-7 advantage at the end of the first quarter.

Circle held the Bulldogs to

(Photo by Bill Vander Weele)

five points in the second period to gain a 20-17 half-time advantage.