East Burke advances to 2A state championship game, beats Lincoln Charter
One game away from the biggest stage, East Burke looked to its smallest player.
Junior guard Braelyn Stilwell scored 27 points in the 2A West Regional final, leading the (3) Cavaliers to their first state championship appearance with a 48-39 win over (12) Lincoln Charter.
East Burke remains undefeated at 31-0. Lincoln Charter finishes the season at 25-6.
Stilwell shot 8-for-13 from the floor, including 2-for-3 from three and 9-for-10 from the foul line. She also had four steals and was the lone Cavs player in double digits. Sophomore Kara Brinkley and senior Ally Moore each added eight.
Stilwell came alive in the second quarter, giving the Cavs a much needed spark.
The junior point guard scored 12 of the 17 East Burke points in the second, going on her own 10-0 run, giving her team a 23-14 lead.
That forced a timeout by Lincoln Charter, who managed to temporarily stop the bleeding, cutting the deficit to five (23-18) at the half.
Both teams struggled out the gate, combining for a 1-for-12 from the floor to start the game. Lincoln Charter started 0-for-5 from the floor, but East Burke couldn’t take advantage thanks to three turnovers of their own. Each team suffered from big stage jitters, combining for 16 turnovers in the first half.
Stilwell settled down (17 first half points) and her teammates followed her lead by easing into the game. Brinkley gave East Burke its largest lead of the game (33-22) after hitting one of two free throws in the third quarter.
The Cavaliers never trailed in the second half, but got a serious threat from the Eagles in the fourth.
East Burke started the final frame with two turnovers on their first four possessions. Lincoln Charter took advantage, getting a layup from Symphani Stevens and two free throws from Martha Guinle to make it a five-point Cavaliers’ lead.
The momentum shifted back to East Burke when Kamiah Lawing snagged an offensive rebound and put it back for two. A few seconds later Stilwell got a steal at halfcourt and took it the distance for the layup, putting the Cavaliers up nine with 3:19 remaining in the game.
Stevens kept Lincoln Charter in the game, hitting a triple from the left wing to make the score 40-34. Her teammate Claire David scored a layup on the next possession and the Eagles forced a turnover with less than two minutes remaining. Stevens missed a jumper from the left elbow and East Burke came down with the board with 1:42 left in the contest.
The Cavaliers took 36 seconds off the clock before Lincoln Charter fouled. Brinkley hit two from the line to make it a six-point lead. The Eagles missed another jumper on the following possession and were forced to foul the rest of the way. Lincoln Charter shot 37.5% from the floor in the fourth quarter, connecting on just three field goals. East Burke also hit just three shots from the floor, but were a perfect 8-8 at the free throw line in the last eight minutes.
Stevens led Lincoln Charter with 17 points. David and Kallie Lusk each scored six points.
East Burke will take on the winner out of the East Regional between (1) North Pitt and (3) Seaforth.
Box Score: East Burke 48, Lincoln Charter 39
East Burke: Braelyn Stilwell 27, Kara Brinkley 8 (10 rebounds), Ally Moore 8, Kamiah Lawing 4, Journi McDowell 1.
Lincoln Charter: Symphani Stevens 17, Kallie Lusk 6, Claire David 6, Tyler Beller 5, Martha Guinle 5.
