Beginnings at Belmont

22 November 2017Olamide O, Privett ‘18; Photo by Linnea Munro, Allard '17

Last Tuesday, the Senior Boys Basketball teams headed down to Belmont SS for our first scrimmages of the year. The Junior team, being very young and having sustained injuries to key players, fell to the Bulldogs in their opening game. By the way the Senior Boys started their game, all in attendance thought they were headed for the same fate. The boys came out flat, getting out-worked on both sides of the ball. On offense, the team seemed rushed and could never find a groove, leading to ill-advised shots and turnovers. On the defensive end, Brentwood lacked communication to close out on shooters or grab rebounds to end possessions. After one quarter of play, we trailed 18-9. In the second quarter, the team corrected some of our mistakes, but having allowed some of Belmont’s players to get comfortable, an onslaught of three-pointers from the Bulldogs kept the deficit at nine points heading into halftime. During the break, Coaches Gage & Sullivan urged the team to get back to playing Brentwood basketball: hard defense leads to easy offense. The team did their best to chip into the deficit; their communication was much better than in the first half and they effectively shut down several Belmont possessions. On offense, the team was much more poised and ran their sets, leading to easy buckets. At the end of the quarter, the score was 45-42 for Belmont. Brentwood, now filled with momentum and excitement, came out firing on all cylinders to start the fourth quarter. Hands were active, leading to steals and fast break baskets. All the little things the team wasn’t doing to start the game, suddenly became present, completely turning the game around. The crowd, once boisterously jeering at Brentwood, grew silent as the home team was limited to six points in the period while Brentwood scored a whopping 31. The final score was 73-51 for Brentwood; while the players and coaches were happy with the win, both know there is much work (and conditioning) to be done before the team can reach their maximum potential. Brendan S, Ellis ‘18, led the team with 17 points, four assists, and five steals while Johnny M, Ellis ‘18, was right on his heels with 16 points and five assists. The big-man tandem of Olamide O, Privett ‘18 and Somto D, Rogers ‘18, combined for 25 points, 14 rebounds, and five blocks, proving to be a formidable force inside. Newcomer Fynn F, Rogers ‘19, was welcomed to the team with a huge and-one layup in the fourth quarter that got the bench hyped. With much of the team departing for Soccer Provincials on Sunday, the team will be a tad shorthanded in their scrimmage against Mark Isfeld on Tuesday. On the bright side, the team will regain debaters Ian G, Rogers ‘19 and Grant D, Rogers ‘19, who were in the United States this past week. Regardless of who suits up, the team will play the only way they know how: the Brentwood way! Olamide O, Privett ‘18

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