By BRAD BAUGHMAN, for The Democrat
The Brown County High School boys basketball team hosted two quality opponents over the weekend, losing to the Edgewood Mustangs on Friday 53-44 and then dropping the Saturday contest with Indian Creek 59-36.
After falling behind the Mustangs 15-8 at the first-quarter break, the Eagles scored 16 second-quarter points and found themselves only down 28-24 at the half.
Senior forward Aaron McCann caught fire for the Eagles in the first half, posting 17 points that included five three-pointers.
The Mustang defense clamped down tightly on McCann in the second half, limiting his touches, and he finished with a team-high 20 points. Junior guard Travis Ely was the only other Eagle in double figures with 11.
[sc:text-divider text-divider-title=”Story continues below gallery” ]The Mustangs outscored the Eagles 25-20 in the second half to walk away with the victory. Trevor Taylor had 20 points and Colten Sater had 18 to carry the Mustangs.
The Eagles had a horrific start Saturday against a very formidable Indian Creek Braves squad, recording seven turnovers in their first seven possessions.
Meanwhile, the rangy, athletic Braves continued forcing turnovers and racking up points and led the Eagles 20-0 before Austin Ely connected on a three-pointer with 28 seconds left in the quarter to put the Eagles on the board.
The Eagles finished the quarter with 13 turnovers, a figure Brown County coach John Berning called “wild, hard to comprehend.” Berning used two time-outs to attempt to get things turned around, but to no avail.
“I didn’t have the same team in the first quarter tonight that I had last night against a very good Edgewood team,” said a puzzled Berning about his team’s first-quarter performance.
One component that actually was missing for the Eagles was sophomore guard Carter Kelly. Kelly, one of the Eagles’ better ball handlers, was sitting out due to an injury sustained in the Edgewood game.
“We knew their athleticism and length and skill defensively was going to mess with us. I was just very disappointed with the mental state of my guys in the first quarter,” Berning said.
Berning must have given a powerful message to his team at the quarter break, because the Eagles broke the huddle and played like a completely different team the rest of the way.
Berning was extremely proud of the way his team responded after the dismal first quarter. “Heck, our guys could have folded very, very easily down 20 points after a quarter,” he said.
“To get down 20-0 and then play them pretty much dead even for the rest of the game, after the first quarter, I think 39-33 speaks for itself,” Berning said referencing the score of the contest in quarters two through four.
Calling the Edgewood/Indian Creek games “the toughest weekend” the Eagles would face on their schedule, Berning will have favorable memories of all but that one quarter. “I am darn proud of seven out of eight quarters that we played this weekend,” he said.
He firmly believes that despite the two losses, the weekend could prove to be a turning point for his team. “There are games over the next two months that we will win, if we move forward the right way from this weekend and keep building.”
Senior forward Nicholas Huls scored 13 hard-earned points to lead the Eagles. Indian Creek was led by Mason Britt with 20 and Xavier Ferris with 11.
Brown County hosts Southwestern Shelby Friday, Jan. 17. JV tips at 6 p.m. and the varsity follows at 7:30 p.m.
