Brophy 56
Mesa 51

By Erik T. Masingill ’12
THE ROUNDUP

James Harper ’12 scored 21 points while the rest of the Broncos made the rebounds, steals and free throws to give the Mesa Jackrabbits their first loss on Jan.29 by a score of 56-51.

The Broncos came off of a 17-point blowout against Chandler, and tonight Brophy continued their streak by coming back from a 12-point deficit to win by five.

In the first quarter, the Jackrabbits made three three point shots to get their team going, but the Broncos were not far away from tying the game with eight points.

The score at the end of the quarter was Mesa leading 13-8.

The second quarter displayed the Broncos connecting more of their shots as they went on a 14-15 run, coming close to tying the score.

However, Mesa would not give up as they continued to maintain the lead going into halftime.

Halfway through the game, the Broncos were trailing the Jackrabbits 28-22.

In the third quarter, Mesa began to run with 14 points while the Broncos scored eight points. Brophy had to call a timeout to talk over a 12-point deficit.

At the end of the third the scoreboard showed a 42-34 Mesa lead.

The fourth quarter ignited the Brophy response; a 22-9 scoring run by the Broncos.

Jon LaVanway ’10 got the ball inside from a Ryan Milne ’10 steal and went up for two along with a foul to provide the three-point play to get Brophy its first lead in the game.

After that, the Broncos made eight more free throws to seal the deal with an upset win at home over the former-undefeated Jackrabbits.

“It was a great team effort out there,” Harper said. “We made it possible with the great coaches we have and we also had the right players to do it.”

LaVanway said defense helped lead to the 34 point second half for the team.

“Yes, we were down the majority of the game, but all coach told us to do was to keep boxing out along with stepping up more on defense and we did that in the third and fourth quarters,” he said.

Coach Mr. Tony Fuller said the win was the result of playing to their ability.

“We knew we were down and we knew we could play better,” Mr. Fuller said. “We had to keep on playing hard and put our nose to the grindstone for the win.”