The Milan Ladycats beat the Brookfield Lady Bulldogs on Saturday, February 27, 2021 for the Class 3, District 16, Championship and advance to play Lawson on Wednesday, March 3 at Lawson. Brookfield, the Number 6 seed, battled Number 1 seed Milan in a true Championship atmosphere and a close encounter to the final buzzer. The Ladycats trailed by 1 at intermission, scored first to begin the third quarter, a 3-pointer by Jordyn, and not give up their lead the rest of the contest.
Milan won the opening tip, Jordyn scored the first bucket, was fouled, converted the 3-point opportunity, then dropped in a long 3-pointer and Milan led 6-0. After a quick Brookfield timeout, the Lady Bulldogs answered with 2 buckets, cutting the deficit 6-4. Cady scored 4 straight for a 10-4 Ladycat lead. The Lady Bulldogs struck back with 5 points before the end of the quarter to trail by 1 at quarter’s end, 10-9.
In a battle of 2 evenly matched squads, both teams took turns with the lead. Milan took the largest lead of the quarter, 20-17, with 2:24 before intermission. However, Brookfield scored the final 4 points before halftime, the last 2 points with 11 seconds on the clock for a 21-20 halftime advantage. Cady and Jordyn each had 5 points apiece. Fanny had 1 assist, Jordyn 2 steals.
The Ladycats made the halftime adjustments as did the Lady Bulldogs, especially after their leading scoring threat was injured early in the quarter. Milan outscored Brookfield 13-7, taking a 33-28 lead at the end of 3 quarters. Jordyn scored 7 and Cady 6. Tough pressure defense began to wear down the Lady Bulldogs, forcing them into several turnovers.
Brookfield battled back in a do or die situation, scoring four straight to open the final stanza, cutting the deficit to 1 point, 33-32. Milan took a quick timeout, responded with an 8-0 spurt to put some distance between the two and a 41-32 lead with 1:17 left in the game. The Lady bulldogs ran out of time and energy, scoring only 2 more points and ending their season. Milan 41, Brookfield 34. Milan wins the Class 3, District 16 Championship to move on to Wednesday’s competition.
Jordyn led Milan with 21 points, 9 rebounds, and 4 steals; Cady 20 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals, and 1 block as the only two scorers for the Ladycats. Auburn 7 rebounds and 2 steals; Fanny 1 rebound, and 3 assists; Janissa 3 rebounds; Emma 2 rebounds; Hallie 2 rebounds, and 1 steal.
Congratulations Milan Ladycats!
