Photo by Nick Henthorn Bellaire’s Eliana Mason shoots a 3-pointer from the wing during the Big Reds’ game against the Linsly Cadets at the Brooke Tip-Off Tournament on Thursday. Mason scored 10 points in the game.

BROOKE — Playing in their first game of the season, the Linsly Cadets hardly had an opportunity to dip their toes in the water of the new year.

The Cadets’ 37-35 win over the Bellaire Big Reds (1-2) was more like in a cannonball into the team’s 2023-24 season, a bruising contest in which Linsly needed a go-ahead basket with seconds remaining to leave their opening bout of the Brooke Tip-Off Tournament with a victory.

Off an inbounds play, and with Bellaire aggressively doubling ball-handlers, Alayna Cook found Rosa Sohlberg under the basket with eight seconds to play, Sohlberg converting a layup without a defender around her.

A last-second half-court heave by Bellaire was no good and Linsly survived to start the year 1-0.

“This was our first game, they had two under their belt,” Linsly head coach Rebecca Upton said. “We were supposed to play Shenandoah on Tuesday and ended up having to reschedule to accommodate them, so this was our first game. To come out against Bellaire who is very seasoned, who already had two games under their belt this season, who are extremely physical, I have a ton of respect for what they do and we knew what it was going to be.

“We panicked in moments, but we held tough when we needed to. That vision by Alayna Cook at the end to find Rosa wide open underneath the basket, a lot of people would panic in that moment. She didn’t, she’s a senior, she’s one of our leaders, she found the open girls and we got ahead and held on.”

The first half was a plodding affair where neither team could put together scoring runs or get out in transition, Linsly leading 6-2 after one slow-paced period.

It was more of the same in the second quarter, Linsly taking a 16-8 advantage into halftime. They never trailed in the half, or at any point in the game, winning wire-to-wire.

“It was kind of a tale of two halves,” Bellaire head coach John Farrier said. “The first half was dreadful, we had eight points. The second half we actually played some basketball, scored about 30 points and we took care of the ball.

“First half, I bet we had more turnovers than shot attempts, second half we didn’t have very many turnovers at all. When you take care of the ball you give yourselves opportunities to put the ball through the hole, and we did get some.”

In the second half, Bellaire came out with a full-court press, and that decision changed the entire makeup of the game. Both teams sped up, and after scoring eight points in the first half, Bellaire scored 10 in the third quarter, and trailed by five, 23-18, going into the fourth quarter.

Farrier was assessed a technical foul with just under a minute in the third, Haylen Cook sinking the two technical free throws.

Cook led the Cadets with 14 points, five rebounds, three steals and three assists. Abby White scored 10 points for Linsly, knocking down two 3-pointers. Rosa Sohlberg scored nine points, and Alayna Cook scored four with four rebounds and two assists. Jade Purpura had seven rebounds and two steals for the Cadets.

For Bellaire, Zara Harveth scored 15 points, 13 in the second half, with seven rebounds and two steals. Eliana Mason scored 10, eight in the fourth quarter, where she knocked down a pair of late 3-pointers that pulled the Big Reds to within two, 34-32, and then later tied the game 35-35.

Allie Ault scored, six points, herself making two 3-pointers on the game.

Kayla Edgar had three points and three steals, and Tamya Morgan scored one point and grabbed three rebounds.

Bellaire outscored Linsly 27-21 in the second half, and after the game, Farrier regretted waiting until the second half to turn up the heat.

“I told the girls, I’ll take this loss,” Farrier said. “Some of them were asking to press in the first half, and I said to wait, to hold off on it. We came out in the second half pressing, and I felt like the up-tempo helped us get kickstarted.

“I told them that this loss is on me because I waited too long to put on a press and that really got us into a rhythm. That was my fault for waiting too long, I feel bad for our girls because they played a great second half.”

Late in the game, Bellaire played the foul game to stop the clock and force Linsly to knock down free throws. Alayna Cook was sent to the line three times and shot 4-6. Rosa Sohlberg shot 3-4 in the fourth, while Haylen Cook shot 1-2, 6-8 on the game.

The Cadets went 13-18 as a team.

“Not terrible,” Upton said. “Haylen, a couple misses from her, that’s atypical, that’s who we want there. For her to even miss two, that’s atypical for her. Not terrible but that’s where we’re going to have to be consistent, is at the line.”

WEIR 71, BROOKE 21

BROOKE – Weir overwhelmed the hosts of the Brooke Tip-Off Tournament, with Rayna Hoover scoring 22 points to lead the Red Riders over the Bruins.

Hoover went 9-12 from the foul line to help her to her total.

Janai Turner scored 18 for Weir, while Brayley Lash scored 11 and both of Olivia Baker and Mea Kaufman scored seven.

For Brooke, Ryle Schwertfeger scored 12 points, nailing a pair of 3-pointers to lead her team on their home court.