By MIKE BIALKA
Sports Editor

When the game's on the line the Brainerd Warriors' girls' basketball team wants Emilee Branum at the line.

The junior made the two decisive free throws in a 54-52 win over Moorhead in the opening round of the Section 8-4A tournament. In a 60-57 semifinal win over Buffalo she sank three late free throws as the third-seeded Warriors upset the No. 2 Bison.

"I was nervous when I got fouled and had to shoot them," Branum said, "but I had confidence in making them and winning the game."

Warriors coach Carl Hendrickson said Branum's postseason prowess has made her one of the team's leaders.

"She's starting to become a leader, a player the kids are looking for as we come down the stretch," he said. "Everyone is looking for everyone, which is great, but they're finding that Emilee's got a lot of confidence when it comes down to the end of games. They're looking for her to do it for them, and she has the last two games in a big way."

In two postseason games, Branum has erupted for 33 total points, raising her season total to 274 points (10.1 average). For the season she's shooting 66 percent at the foul line, and averaging 4.4 rebounds, along with 58 steals and 37 assists.

"It's just being really aggressive and having a desire to win," Branum said of her postseason success.

Hendrickson said Branum endured a stretch in the regular season when she wasn't shooting well.

"We worked with her on turning the ball when catching it," he said. "She was trying to shoot the ball, but not across the laces, and wasn't getting good rotation. She was falling backward and her shots were short.

"All that came during a time when she was not physically feeling well. Now she's back to where she's working hard, and feeling better. She's got some good confidence. When you're a shooter, confidence is a big part of whether the ball's going to go in or not."

Hendrickson attributed Branum's improvement to an offseason of playing basketball. She played for Comets AAU team out of St. Cloud, which played tournaments in three states in the offseason.

"She's really worked on her game, not only during the season, but in the offseason," Hendrickson said. "She played a lot of basketball and it's really shown this season as we've gone along. She's been asked to handle the basketball a lot more this year than she did last year."

Branum has bumped up her offensive production in addition to usually having to guard the opposition's best player.

"Last year she didn't have to work as hard on the defensive end as she has this year," Hendrickson said. "She's put that together, with her offensive skills, to have what I think is a really nice all-around year with the things we've asked her to do."

Branum's play has been instrumental as Brainerd has won eight of its last nine games and plays St. Michael-Albertville for the section championship Friday night at St. John's University in Collegeville.

"We had some pretty tough games early in the season and throughout the year," Branum said. "Coach said we just need to start blank with the year, and try to get as many wins as we possibly can the rest of the way."

Other notable efforts:

• Kyle Crocker, boys' basketball, score 27 points against Little Falls.

• The 200 medley relay of Alek Rudstrom, Brady Watson, Jon Warling and Evan Reese placed eighth in the state meet.

• The 400 free relay of Rudstrom, Jon Warling, Sam Dellacecca and Reese placed fifth in the state.

• Brock Saatzer, floor hockey, had a hat trick against Burnsville/Farmington/Lakeville.

MIKE BIALKA may be reached at mike.bialka@brainerddispatch.com or at 855-5861.