Brophy 62

Mountain Pointe 61

By Jack Davis ’19

THE ROUNDUP

Thanks in part to Colin Besh ’18’s game-winning layup, the Broncos beat the No. 4 ranked Pride to capture a victory in their 2017-18 opener Nov. 28 and make their record 1-0.

“Tonight, we were obviously very excited,” said Jaxson Baker ’18. “Our first game, we didn’t play in a Thanksgiving tournament … we were dying to get on the floor.”

Besh and Baker contributed 13 points apiece, while Marques White ’19 scored 12—including two three-pointers.

Brophy got off to a quick start offensively. The Broncos touted a 35-26 lead heading into halftime, thanks to Baker’s three first half three-pointers.

“My teammates were giving me shots, and I was able to execute and hit them in the first half, which was great,” Baker said. “Everybody was moving the ball around, and that’s really when we’re deadly on offense.”

Mountain Pointe slowly chipped away at the Broncos’ lead, cutting the deficit to eight at the end of the third quarter and eventually taking a one-point lead with about half a minute remaining in the game.

“In the second half, people were getting more driving lanes, and they made a couple more shots. We were giving up a couple threes, which was tough, because they’re a good three-point shooting team,” Baker said.

Ian Burke ’18 finished with 10 points, along with a crucial drive-and-dish assist into Besh’s waiting arms.

Besh banked in a layup to give Brophy a 62-61 lead with 0.9 seconds left.

“I think there was around eight seconds left, and I knew I wanted to attack the basket,” Burke said. “We were having success driving. I got around my defender … Jalen (Graham) stepped up, it was just kind of instinctual—I dropped it off to Colin and he made a huge play.”

Besh said that he was just trying to execute.

“I saw Ian driving down the paint, and I thought I needed to get in good position for a layup,” he said.

The Pride missed their halfcourt heave, sealing Brophy’s win.

“I think this is a great start for us, but we also understand that it’s the beginning,” said head coach Mr. Matt Hooten. “We have a long way to go, but I really thought that our intensity and our defensive energy was huge for us tonight. We had a lot of guys step in and give us huge lifts off the bench, and that was really key.”

Baker echoed his coach’s sentiment on the team’s defensive intensity.

“In the end, we were able to buckle down on defense,” he said. “Coach (Hooten) was able to settle us down, and we were able to execute and get the dub.”