By BRAD BAUGHMAN, for The Democrat
It was a tough week and even tougher weekend for the Brown County High School boys basketball team.
With only a Monday practice to work with due to weather-related school cancellations, the Eagles were simply outmatched in their two home contests, losing to Northview on Friday night, 86-47, and Sullivan on Saturday afternoon, 95-35.
Northview came into the game with a solid 11-6 record that included wins over 4A schools Terre Haute North and Terre Haute South. The Knights and the Eagles both came out in aggressive man-to-man defenses, resulting in a very physical but somewhat sluggish first quarter that ended with the Knights on top 14-7.
The Eagles dialed up the intensity in the second quarter, scoring 15 points and making several impressive hustle plays. Senior guard Travis Ely had consecutive baskets in the last two minutes of the quarter, and junior guard Carter Kelly converted on a three-point play in the last 25 seconds. At the half, Brown County was down 29-22, still very much in the game.
“Yeah, that first half, especially the second-quarter performance, was the highlight of the weekend. We played well as a collective unit and with a lot of energy. I told the guys that’s what we are capable of and want to see more of over the next few weeks,” said Eagles coach Matt Roberts.
When the Knights scrapped their man-to-man defense in favor of a full-court trapping zone to start the second half, the Eagles went into a tailspin. Taking advantage of Brown County miscues, Northview scored 10 points in the first minute-and-a-half of the third quarter.
A Brown County timeout was unproductive as the Knights posted another 10 points in under two minutes, extending their run to 20-0. A second Eagle timeout was called with 4:51 left in the quarter, with Northview comfortably ahead 49-22. “It was one of those situations no matter what adjustments we tried to make, we just couldn’t stop the bleeding,” Roberts said.
Ely finally broke the scoring drought for the Eagles with 3:07 left in the quarter, and while the Eagles would go on to score nine more points in the quarter, the Knights had forged a lead that was simply insurmountable.
Kelly led the Eagles scoring with 13, while senior forward Dalton Hedrick chipped in with 12.
The Sullivan Golden Arrows also brought an impressive resume and even better record of 14 wins and only two losses to Larry C. Banks Memorial Gymnasium.
Sullivan, utilizing effective scouting, did not wait to pressure the turnover prone Eagles and started the game in a trapping, full-court 2-2-1 zone. When the first-quarter horn finally sounded, the Eagles had committed several turnovers and found themselves on the short end of a 25-2 score.
Brown County saw more of the same defensive pressure in the second quarter and trailed 47-10 at the half. An extremely effective outside/inside game propelled the Golden Arrow onslaught.
Randy Kelley, a 5-foot-11 junior guard, scored 19 of his game-high 27 in the first half, while fellow junior, 6-foot-6 forward Jackson Hills, owned the paint and tallied 15 of his 19 points in the half.
Roberts had high praise for the Golden Arrows. “Sullivan is definitely the best team we’ve faced and probably will face this season. They’re a top-10, 3A team with five starters that play very well together,” he said.
He was especially impressed with their unselfish play. “They have three guys that could easily average 20 a game if they featured any one of them more. But they share the ball well and make it difficult to really shut their offense down,” he added.
Roberts confirmed the lack of practice time was a factor in his team’s performance on the court. “You could tell the guys were tired quicker and the shots started coming up short as the games wore on. The mental side was affected as well due to the fatigue,” he said.
Despite the back-to-back lopsided losses, Roberts saw some good things from his team. “Each one of the guys stepped in and did some positive things over the course of the weekend,” Roberts said, noting that both wins and losses offer learning opportunities.
“It’s a process, and you have to embrace that and not get caught up in wins/losses or the scoreboard in general. It has to be about personal and team growth and that’s what we’re looking for over these last couple of weeks of the regular season,” Roberts said.
The Eagles are scheduled to visit Shakamak Tuesday, Feb. 16, before hosting South Putnam Wednesday, Feb. 17 and West Vigo Saturday, Feb. 20 — if weather doesn’t interrupt those plans.
