Brophy 54
Desert Vista 55
By Erik T. Masingill ’12
THE ROUNDUP
Leading the majority of the game, the Brophy basketball team was ready to celebrate their eighth victory of the season over the Desert Vista Thunder Jan. 21.
However, the fourth quarter arrived and the Thunder charged from 33 points to 55 points.
The Broncos fought to protect their lead with 17 fourth quarter points, but in the end Desert Vista’s 22-point quarter was enough for a comeback win 55-54.
“We made a lot of mental errors. Desert Vista caught a hot hand, and we made costly turnovers and missed important free-throws,” said head coach Mr. Tony Fuller.
The Broncos initiated the first quarter with five shots and four free-throws that combined for 15 points. They also limited the Thunder to eight first quarter points.
Desert Vista came crawling back in the second quarter with a 10 point quarter while limiting the Broncos to six points to decrease Brophy’s lead to 21-18 at the half.
In the third quarter, Brophy’s lead increased by a point as the Broncos scored 16 points while the Thunder scored 15 points to bring the score to 37-33.
In the first half of the fourth quarter, Desert Vista sparked a 10-1 run forcing Brophy to take a timeout with the Broncos facing a 43-38 deficit.
The Broncos stopped the run but could not keep Desert Vista down.
Desert Vista guard Jeffery Lowery went to the line for a free-throw attempt with six seconds left in the game with the score at 55-54 Thunder.
“We had a play called ‘Run it to drop it’ to run if Lowery made the free-throw,” Mr. Fuller said.
Instead, Lowery missed the free-throw and Fred Gammage ’12 dribbled up to half-court with a second left.
Gammage fired the shot which bounced on top of the rim and bounced out closing the game with a 55-54 score.
“That shot had no bearing on the game. There were many plays that made the outcome of the game the way it was,” Mr. Fuller said.
Sai Tummala ’11 led the Broncos in scoring with 14 points. Rodrigo Furtado ’11 scored 10 points and James Harper ’12 had nine points.
As a team, the Broncos were 11 for 16 at the free-throw line.
Lowery led the Thunder in scoring with 19 points where six of his points came in the fourth quarter.
The Broncos dropped to 7-4 overall and 2-2 in their region. Desert Vista rose to 7-3 overall and 2-3 in region play.
