Mountain Pointe 63
Brophy 59
By Jack Davis ’19
THE ROUNDUP
Matthew Kempton ’17 and Ian Burke ’18 combined for 32 points, but Brophy couldn’t capitalize on this as they fell to Mountain Pointe Nov. 29 in Ahwatukee.
Brophy’s 2016-17 season started the same way that their 2015-16 season ended, a matchup with the Mountain Pointe Pride in hostile territory.
The season opener felt like the culmination of a lot of offseason preparation, and head coach Mr. Matt Hooten said that he was excited about the opportunity to avenge their playoff loss.
The Broncos kept the game close in the first quarter, scoring the majority of their points in the paint.
Connor Dunn ’18 struck first with a putback score. Burke drove to the rim twice for two layups, and Kempton added in four points. The Pride led 14-12 at the end of the first quarter.
Kempton finished with 16 points, four rebounds and two assists.
Burke and Kempton continued to carry Brophy’s offense in the second quarter. The pair combined for 10 points during the eight-minute period.
Burke finished with 16 points, 10 rebounds and three assists.
Jaxson Baker ’18 emerged late in the half, finishing through contact for an and-one and hitting a mid-range buzzer beater to make Brophy’s lead 29-28 after the first half.
Burke, Carlos Saucedo ’17, Kempton, and Andrew Shear ’17 all hit a three-pointer in the quarter, which led to a 46-46 tie at the end of the third quarter.
Mountain Pointe opened up the game during the final quarter. They went on a 7-1 run, leading Brophy 53-47 with 6:30 left in the game.
Sean Dunn ’17 gave the Broncos life offensively when he grabbed an offensive rebound off of a missed free throw and kicked it out to Burke for a three pointer.
The Broncos finished the game with 15 offensive rebounds.
Kempton hit a pair of layups, including a eurostep, to trim the Pride’s lead to one with 1:30 left in the game.
However, Mountain Pointe hit their free throws to seal a 63-59 win.
“Just because it says Brophy on our shirts doesn’t mean anything,” Burke said. “We’re behind schedule considering this is our first game and everyone else has been playing for awhile,” he added. “We came out not ready and it showed. To be completely honest, I’m happy that we lost this first game. It’s a reminder to us that no one’s going to roll over, no one is going to take it easy. We’re going to get back at it at practice tomorrow.”
Brophy didn’t match Mountain Pointe’s offensive aggression, evidenced by the Pride’s 22 free throws to Brophy’s 15.
Mr. Hooten said a lack of consistency was a possible reason for the loss.
“I thought there were some positive things throughout the game,” Mr. Hooten said. “I think for us it was just a lack of consistency. We need to make sure that we’re taking a hard look at film, figuring out the little things that we need to do a better job with going into Thursday’s game, making corrections and then come out and play our best game on Thursday.”
The loss to the Pride started the Broncos at 0-1 on the season.
“Nobody is just going to lie down for us,” Saucedo said after the loss.
Ryan Meza ’17 said that the team didn’t execute properly.
“We played well, we just have to execute,” he said.
