Brophy 48
Hamilton 57
By Ian C. Beck ’12
THE ROUNDUP
It was a White Out at Brophy Feb. 5 but the black-clad Hamilton Huskies crashed the party and ended the Broncos’ five-game winning streak with a 57-48 victory.
“It’s being the hunter (rather than) the hunted. We were hunted tonight and we didn’t step up,” head coach Mr. Tony Fuller said.
Brophy went into halftime trailing the Huskies 23-13. They trailed by as much as 15 in the opening half.
Seven of Brophy’s 13 first half points came from the free throw line and the team made only three shots from the field.
Brophy had just four points in the first quarter. They found themselves behind 6-0 out of the gate, then saw the lead expand to 17-2 before they added their second basket.
“Physically they just pounded us, we didn’t want any part of it,” Mr. Fuller said.
Mr. Fuller was hit with a technical foul and the crowd was at one point chastised for throwing paper airplanes onto the court, all part of a frustrating game.
Brophy surged early in the second half, cutting Hamilton’s lead to 25-20 with 5:44 remaining in the third. But the Broncos were hit with a technical foul that gave Hamilton two points from free throws and the ball back.
The Huskies hit a three-pointer on the ensuing possession, then Brophy drew another technical foul. Hamilton hit their two free throws then added another three.
In a flash the Huskies had the lead back to 15 in a 10 point swing and the Broncos could not recover.
Chris Pierre ’11 was a bright spot for Brophy, scoring 13 points and coming up with two steals. James Harper ’12 added 10 points and five rebounds and Sai Tummala ’11 contributed with eight points and five rebounds.
The Broncos found themselves in foul trouble for much of the game and had nine team fouls at halftime.
Brophy was also hurt by turnovers, but answered back with 12 steals of their own in the course of the game, three of which came from guard Ryan Milne ’10, who also added seven points.
The home loss ended Brophy’s five-game winning streak that included the upset of top ranked Mesa and beating rival St. Mary’s Jan. 30.
Brophy will play at Desert Vista Feb. 9.
