Brashear Lady Tigers Come Up Short in Novinger Tournament 3rd Place Game

A strong offensive performance by ChaRae Cole wasn't enough to overcome Novinger Friday night.

The Brashear girls learned something that Knox County and Bevier had already discovered: it isn't easy to beat Novinger in their own house. With a third place trophy on the line, Brashear and Novinger faced off for the first of several matchups this season. Novinger got off to a quick start putting up 8 points in short order. Brashear finally got things going, but were only able to close the gap to 6 points, 12-6 at the end of the first quarter. ChaRae Cole started to find the range for Brashear in the second quarter putting up 8 points, but Novinger still managed to get their lead back to 8 points. 26-18 by half-time. By the 2nd half, Brashear was starting to be hampered defensively by foul trouble for starters Kimberly Elsea and Christina Scudder. Even though Brashear outscored Novinger 14-10 in the 4th quarter, Novinger's Kourtney Brawner had already done too much damage with an 11 point scoring outburst during the 3rd quarter. Brashear ended up taking the loss 49-41, the same 8 point deficit that had haunted them since the 1st quarter. Brashear was led by ChaRae Cole with 16 points, Christina Scudder scored 8, Hailee Kelsey had 7, Chelsey Collop and Jessi Hill scored 4 each, and Kimberly Elsea had 2 points. For Novinger, Kourtney Brawner led the way with 21 points, Katelyn Brawner scored 10, Anna Grgurich had 9, and Whitney Middleton had 7 points.

Brashear will travel to Linn County Tuesday night and will be back at Novinger Friday.