The senior guard poured in a school-record 43 points for the Trojans as they topped Lehman Catholic 73-39 to advance to a district semifinal matchup with Russia on Wednesday night.
The scoring outburst was not something head coach Tim Bell saw coming, but he said Nelson and her sister, Carly, have been a big part of Southeastern getting closer to the championship form the program enjoyed in the 1980s, ‘90s and early 2000s when they won 16 conference titles and made two state final fours, including winning it all in 1996 under legendary coach Kirk Martin.
“They’ve just shown the the energy and the dedication you have show to be a successful basketball team,” said Hill, who is in his first season as the head coach of the Trojans but has worked with the program for 25 years.
Brooke Nelson made 17 of 27 shots, including 7 of 12 three-pointers, against the Cavaliers to break Alison Lemon’s school record of 42 points in a game set in 2004.
“That really came out of kind of nowhere,” Bell said. “I think certainly she’s been capable of it, but she just especially the fourth quarter shot really well, and we tried to make sure we kept her in there long enough to give her a chance to break it.”
Brooke led the OHC in scoring for the second consecutive season. She averages 18.1 points, six rebounds and 4.2 assists while Carly is averaging eight points and 5.6 rebounds.
Junior guard Sydney Xavier (10.8 points per game) gives Bell a second double-figure scorer while junior forward Ryland Workman is contributing 9.4 points and seven rebounds and junior guard Kaylee Billet leads the OHC in assists with 4.7 per game.
The No. 4 seed Trojans have won six in a row after losing at Madison Plains on Jan 15, but their next challenge is a big one. While No. 6 seed Russia is 13-9 overall, the Raiders were 8-4 in the rugged Shelby County Athletic League, home to defending Division IV state champion Fort Loramie.
“It’s going to be hard all the way out — going up all the way up there, and that’s some good basketball teams up there,” Bell said. “They play a really tough schedule. They’re athletic like us — maybe a little taller — but I think our girls are up for the challenge, and we’re just going to go up there and try to play the best we can.
“I think the OHC is a good league, too. We were successful, but I don’t feel like any any game we went out there, for the most part, was really easy.”
Southeastern had a losing record when the current seniors were in eighth grade, but under seven-year coach Matt Harner the Trojans improved to 13-10 in 2022, went 17-8 in ’23 and were 16-7 with a league-best 11-5 mark in the OHC South to end a 16-year conference title drought last season.
“We’ve got a really talented, fun group coming through right now,” said Bell, who took over for Harner after he took a job as an assistant for the Cedarville University men’s basketball program. “They’ve been working really hard this year, really focused on just trying to get better. I know we were all disappointed with how the season ended last year with a first-round tournament loss to Ansonia, and I think that’s been driving them a lot this year, not to let that happen again.”
“I feel really fortunate to be able to coach this team this year. It’s a great group of girls. I’m having a lot of fun on the court and off the court with them, so I’m hoping we can keep it going as long as we can.”
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