Braham Stays Poised Defeats Pipestone

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn—The Braham Bombers have been a household name on the hardwood. You probably have even heard the name Dahlman once or twice. The Bombers boys team won state championships in the early 00’s. Now it’s the girls who are putting together a nice run, and yes they will be playing for a state championship Saturday at Target Center courtesy of a 51-47 victory over Pipestone Area.

Bailey Bouman was the story of the game in the first half. The senior shot 10 for 11 and scored 21 points. She was so impressive in the first half, that Braham coach Tim Malone was forced to make an adjustment at halftime.

“Our coach came in at halftime and asked who wanted to step up and guard her,” said freshman Rebekah Dahlman. “I raised my hand and said I’ll try.”

Not only did she try, she succeeded. The freshman shut down Bouman in the second half and led her team to a comeback win as she was the best player on the court on both ends. Dahlman held Bouman to a single layup with sixteen seconds remaining. The first half saw back screens and easy layups, the second saw a team in Pipestone struggle to find any offensive flow.

“We got taken out of our offense and in the second half we just got taken out of our offense,” said Bouman.

The senior stayed positive even as she watched as the Bombers took the lead with 7:49 remaining in the second half. They wouldn’t give it back as Dahlman and company with one senior on the entire roster sustained pressure and scored 15 points off of 13 second half turnovers and punched their ticket for the state championship game.

”This is our first time, and we can win this. We have a chance,” said Dahlman with a huge smile on her face. “I’m speechless right now, I don’t know what to say. Our team is going crazy in the locker room right now. This is such a great experience.”

Just imagine the scene if the Bombers win the championship.