ST. CHARLES – If there is a such thing as a district championship gene, the Brown family has it, and Orchard Farm senior Addison Brown is the latest to exhibit its magical traits.
Brown, who made only nine three-pointers during the regular season, was dominant from behind the arc Friday, going 6-for-7 from downtown and scoring a career-high 23 points to lead Orchard Farm to a 42-27 victory over St. Charles West in the Class 4 District 7 championship game at Orchard Farm High.
Orchard Farm (14-14), which won its second district title in three years, will travel to face Moberly (26-2) in a Class 4 sectional at 6 p.m. Monday.
In 2022, Addison Brown, then a sophomore, and her older sister Katy Beth helped the Eagles win their first district title since 1992 – the year that their mother Betheny starred for the Orchard Farm team.
“It’s pretty great to win it for her and pass it on,” Addison Brown said.
Brown’s previous career high was three 3’s in a game, accomplished only once, but when she drained her first attempt from the right wing, she thought it could be her night.
“When I made my first three, I got really excited and I just wanted to go. It got me hyped up,” Brown said.
Leading 7-6, Brown drained a corner-3, then sank another from straight-away. She went 3-for-3 from long distance in the first quarter, after shooting just 9-for-68 from behind the arc during the season.
“Everyone on our team knows that (Brown) is a much better three-point shooter than what her percentage shows,” Orchard Farm coach Mike Seideman said. “When she comes out with that intensity, and if that first one drops, she gets more and more confident.”
That intensity was contagious for the Eagles. Junior Brooke Williams came off the bench and immediately became a force, deflecting passes and crashing the offensive glass. After her second offensive rebound, she drifted to the corner and drained the fourth Orchard Farm triple to push the lead to 16-6 after one quarter.
The Eagles’ pressure man-to-man defense took it from there. With a focus on St. Charles West leading scorer Alex Nicastro in the post, Orchard Farm switched screens on the interior and pressured passers on the perimeter, holding St. Charles West to just eight points in the first half.
“We just want to be quick and feisty,” said Williams, who also plays volleyball and led the Eagles’ soccer team with 15 goals last spring.
Trailing 22-8, St. Charles West (12-16) began the second half with its own brand of feistiness. A slick post move by Zoey Hollander resulted in a three-point play to open the quarter. A three ball and short jumper by Nicastro, who led the Warriors with 16 points, cut the deficit to nine.
But every time the Warriors made a run, Brown answered from long range. She canned her fourth 3 from the right wing after Hollander’s basket, drained her fifth from straight-away after the Nicastro spurt and opened the fourth quarter with number six to push the Eagles lead to 34-20.
“You get in a district championship game and someone makes six 3’s, that’s phenomenal,” St. Charles West coach Terry Hollander said. “My hat’s off to (Brown). Big game, senior – boom, boom, boom.”
Orchard Farm generated enough offense to win despite leading scorer Bailey Goeke being held to two points and senior Camryn Nelson marred in foul trouble. The Eagles received outstanding play from freshmen Alyssa Wilson and Gracie Pfautsch, who combined for nine points and made clutch, confident plays in the center of the St. Charles West zone.
“I was nervous at the beginning of the game, but after we started playing it was all chill,” said Pfautsch, who started the season on the junior varsity team and has emerged as a varsity postseason starter.
For St. Charles West, a chance to play for a district title did not seem possible after beginning the season with a 3-14 record, but a torrid stretch of nine wins in 10 games, including playoff wins over Visitation and Winfield, put the Warriors in a championship game setting on Friday.
“A lot of credit to our girls. They didn’t get down, they kept believing that they could get better, and when we started winning, things turned around quite well for us,” Hollander said. “I’m incredibly proud of our six seniors. They were great leaders, and when you bounce back like that, you know there’s some real good leadership there.”
And for Brown, who was averaging 7.5 points per game and had a career-high of 19 points prior to Friday, the clutch gene appears to be in her DNA.
“I literally told her yesterday after practice, ‘Addison, tomorrow you have to be the best person on the floor,’ and she played that way,” Seideman said.
Additional district championship photos at metro_sports_stl Instagram.