Brookfield East girls lose hoops thriller at the buzzer

Brookfield East continues to show improvement even though the Spartans dropped their third straight decision to open the season.

East dropped a 53-50, missing a chance to tie the game when a 3-point shot missed at the buzzer.

"We were leading by two at halftime, but had a rough third quarter," East coach Mike Goodman said.

After a 13-13 first quarter, East outscored the Crusaders, 16-14, in the second period for a 29-27 lead at intermission. But then the Crusaders went on an 18-6 run in the third period to make it 45-35 after three quarters.

"The fourth quarter was played very hard and passionately and we earned a chance to win the game," Goodman said. "A few decisions near the end of the game were questionable, but we are learning on the job with younger players and older players that haven't had much experience in close games. We got better after this game."

East outscored Catholic Memorial, 15-8, to get down for a chance to tie the game at the end.

Freshman Mariah Miller and sophomore Kellie Goodman both had 13 points, freshman Angela Pichler had 11 and junior Adriana Gibbs had eight. Tori North (14), Courtney Farley (13) and Bridget Farley (10) led the Crusaders.