Brophy 73
Westview 64
By Erik T. Masingill ’12
THE ROUNDUP
The No. 9-seeded Broncos maintained the lead all four quarters Saturday, Feb. 18 as they advanced to the third round of the state playoffs with a 73-64 road victory over the No. 8-seeded Westview Knights.
“The key to the game was the fact that we made 31 of 39 free throws, and that was the game,” said head coach Mr. Tony Fuller. “They were a very good team, extremely athletic and quick. We made 31 free throws, and they made 7 of 10. I think that got us over the hump.”
The Broncos started off with 17 points in the first quarter while allowing eight to the Knights.
In the second quarter, Westview outscored the Broncos 20-14 to close Brophy’s lead to 31-28 at halftime.
The Broncos answered back in the third quarter by outscoring the Knights 17-14, which gave Brophy a 48-42 lead going into the fourth quarter.
In the final period, both teams provided offense as Brophy scored 25 points and Westview scored 21 points.
The Broncos’ fourth-quarter performance was enough for a nine-point win, which increased their overall record to 23-7.
Brophy also earned an appearance in the quarterfinals Tuesday, Feb. 21 at Arizona State University’s Wells Fargo Arena.
Brophy will take on the No. 1 ranked team in the state and tournament, the Corona del Sol Aztecs (29-1 overall). The Aztecs had a first round bye and then eliminated No. 16 Desert Mountain 55-43 in the second round.
Mr. Fuller said the Broncos still had trouble turning the ball over against Westview similar to their troubles in the first round game against Cienega.
“We still made some careless, unforced turnovers trying to be cute with the ball, making passes that don’t necessarily need to be made or tried,” he said. “We can’t do that tonight against a team like Corona.”
Mr. Fuller also said the team needs to rebound tonight if there is any chance at upsetting the No. 1 seed.
“It boils down to free throws, turnovers and rebounds,” he said. “That’s usually what makes the difference in games. We can win the turnover battle by taking care of the ball, make our free throws and block them out because they’re really big and go to war getting the rebound. I think we’ll have a chance.”