The Tioga Lady Bulldogs and Collinsville Lady Pirates varsity basketball teams met for the first edition of the Battle of the Bridge in 2026, with the Lady Pirates taking the win 79-32 at home Jan. 9.
The Lady Pirates controlled both ends of the court, smothering the Lady Bulldogs’ offense for the first three quarters while their offense lit the scoreboard up like a Christmas tree en route to a 47-point victory.
“We played well enough in the first half that we were able to back off in the second half,” said Scott Brandewie, Collinsville head girls basketball coach. “We’ve had some pretty close district games, and we feel like we’re the superior team, so we shouldn’t have games that close, so tonight I said, ‘Let’s make sure we play like we’re the better team,’ and they did, and I’m proud of them.”
Collinsville came out firing in the first quarter, blitzing the Lady Bulldogs and jumping out to a 25-5 lead at the end of the opening period.
The Lady Pirates extended their lead with an 18-5 second quarter, sending the two teams into halftime with Collinsville up 43-10.
Collinsville continued to pour on the points in the third quarter, outscoring Tioga 20-4 and taking a 63-14 lead into the final quarter.
The Lady Bulldogs took the scoring edge in the fourth quarter, 18-16, but the Lady Pirates held on to win 79-32.
Senior point guard Ashleigh Ortowski led Collinsville with 27 points, followed by senior shooting guard Kendall Brandewie, who finished with 11 points.
“The main thing that helped us score that [number] of points was that no one was being selfish with the ball,” Kendall said. “We moved the ball and took open shots.”
Junior post player Jaydee Matlock highlighted the Lady Pirates’ defensive performance that held the Lady Bulldogs to 14 points through the first three quarters.
“We started out in our press, came out strong and just put a lot of pressure on them, and they couldn’t really handle the pressure, and we just kind of went from there,” she said. “In the
