Blackhawks win easily, Bradshaw gets 100th win

By RICHIE HALL

SHERIDAN – Sheridan’s Class 2A Sectional 39 semifinal win over Tipton Friday was important for two reasons.

First, the 2A No. 11-ranked Blackhawks’ 62-12 victory over the Blue Devils moved them back into the sectional championship game. Sheridan plays Lapel at 7 p.m. tonight at Larry Hobbs Gymnasium as the ‘Hawks try to defend their trophy.

The win also marked the 100^th victory for Blackhawks coach Jaidlin Bradshaw. The coach has made history for the ‘Hawks before: back when she was Jaidlin Delph, the 2012 Sheridan graduate became the second Blackhawks girls player to reach 1,000 career points.

Bradshaw became the coach in 2018 and has only had one sub-.500 season out of seven as the Sheridan mentor. She is also coaching a 1,000-point scorer in Kenzie Garner, who was one of the leading scorers Friday with 16 points.

“Honestly, I didn’t really even know I was close until the last week or two weeks or something,” said Bradshaw. She gave credit to her players and their parents – past and present – and her “amazing staff.”

“You get recognition as a person with 100 wins,” said Bradshaw. “It doesn’t happen without everybody around. My amazing family, friends, all my support system. I’m very, very blessed to be able to do what I do with all the people around me.”

The ‘Hawks were in control for all 32 minutes. Garner opened with a 3, then Cecilia Timme scored eight straight points. Sheridan led 21-0 after the first quarter and led 42-0 before Tipton’s Kennedy Lancaster got her team on the board with a free throw at the 1:13 mark of the second quarter.

The Blackhawks led 46-1 at halftime and 58-3 after three quarters. Timme joined Garner as a leading scorer with 16 points. Brielle Garner added 11 points.

“We started a little slow,” said Bradshaw. “We just couldn’t put the ball in the basket for about the first minute and a half, two minutes. But then we found a way. I was proud of them for sticking with it and pushing through. It was nice that we were able to rotate everybody quite a bit and get everybody some minutes tonight.”

Kenzie Garner also pulled 11 rebounds for a double-double and dished out five assists. Cecilia Timme made six steals and handed out five assists. Sadie Timme scored seven points, collected five rebounds and made four steals, while Nova Cross had three steals. Shelby Eaton scored six points.

The Blackhawks beat Lapel 57-41 on Jan. 14 in a regular-season game, but the Bulldogs will be a tough team. Lapel is 17-8 and beat Elwood 64-38 in Friday’s other semifinal contest. Bradshaw called Lapel a “super good team.”

“They’re aggressive, they’re physical,” said Bradshaw. “Laniah Willis is an amazing player. They’ll probably switch up some of what they do and we’re probably going to switch up some of what we do. We’re hoping that we’ll be able to play hard and play through whatever the game brings our way.”