Lions beat Freedom for first regional title since '22

By David Nordby

The Brillion News

BRILLION – It was a whirlwind 24 hours for the Brillion girls basketball team that concluded with cutting down the net to celebrate the team’s first regional championship since 2022.

On Friday night, the No. 4 Lions beat No. 5 Seymour 46-41 in a wild game that featured a double-digit comeback by the Lions in the final 10 minutes. To add to the memorable night, Amaya Brooks scored her 1,000^th career point during the comeback.

After the semifinal, the Lions soon found out they would host the Division 3 regional final on Saturday, after No. 8 Freedom beat No. 1 Denmark 59-54 in their own overtime game.

That led to Saturday night when the Lions outpaced Freedom in the second half to win the regional 61-53. Freshman Kaitlyn Schuman scored 24 points, Amaya Brooks added 18 and Emma Schuh scored 10. There was plenty of credit to go around with the rotation of those three, plus Grace Krueger, Kara Hedrich, Paydin Hale and Emma Krahn.

“Feeling pretty good, on cloud nine definitely,” Schuman said. “Just working to get to this point and having to play back-to-back, the feeling is just amazing.”

Brillion’s defense helped build a 50-36 lead before it preserved the win against the Irish.

“Having that help defense really helps us, and then if we have a steal, pushing the ball down the court helps us get those layups,” Schuman said.

The Lions will play No. 2 Winneconne in the sectional semifinal on Thursday, March 5, at Waupaca at 7 p.m.  

Complete coverage of the regional round will be featured in the March 5 print edition of the newspaper.