CLARION, Pa. – Using a 15-3 run to close out the third quarter, top-seeded Brookville rallied past second-seeded Kane to win its second consecutive District 9 Class 3A boys’ basketball title, 59-52, Tuesday night at Clarion University’s Tippin Gym.
(Photo by Jared Bakaysa of JB Graphics. See more of Bakaysa’s work here)
Chad Greville hit a big 3-pointer to give Kane a 34-30 lead with 5:15 left in the third quarter, but three turnovers in a row by the Wolves turned into a 36-34 Brookville lead in a span of 10 seconds.
The Wolves called a timeout to try and slow the momentum but the Raiders got back-to-back 3-pointers from Bryce Baughman and Jace Minor to extend the lead to 42-34 with 1:37 left in the third.
“I didn’t think we had confidence,” Brookville head coach Dalton Park said. “We went into that press and got a couple of turnovers. It got us that little bit of momentum where our guys had confidence and once they got that confidence going it turned into defensive pressure.”
After Brookville’s Robert Keth and Kane’s Carson Whiteman exchanged 3-pointers to close out the third and the Raiders led 45-38 after trailing 30-27 at halftime.
Defense then played a big role in the fourth quarter.
Brookville (16-7) limited Kane (15-9) to seven field goals in the second half, including three in the third quarter, after giving up 11 in the first half.
Baughman played a key role on defense getting a pair of steals in the fourth including a steal that led to a breakaway layup late in the fourth.
“We knew we had to shut down(Greville),(Whiteman) and(Zuke Smith),” Baughman said. “We applied pressure to those guys, and it worked out.”
Another Greville 3-pointer got the Wolves within seven (55-48) with 1:43 left but Keth went 4-of-5 at the charity stripe to help close out the game.
Keth finished the game with 15 tallies while Minor had a game-high 20 points for the Raiders.
“I thought we played a little selfish at the beginning,” Park said. “We forced shots and had a slow start. But credit to Kane. They came out and put the pressure on us right away. But the second half the defense turned up. We did a better job at moving the ball on offense to get good shots.”
Brookville jumped out to a 13-11 lead at the end of the first thanks to six points from Minor.
But the Wolves outscored the Raiders 19-14 in the second quarter behind a pair of 3-pointers from Greville and a 3-pointer by Jared Hadsell before Brookville rallied after halftime.
“It feels great,” Baughman said of being a District 9 Champion. “We’re going on to the next round but we gotta win that to go to states and I hope we do.”
Watch more of Baughman’s postgame interview.
Greville paced the Wolves offense with 20 points, including four 3-pointers, while grabbing five rebounds and handing out three assists and Smith had 11 of his 18 points in the first half. Smith finished off a double-double with 18 rebounds.
“I’m so proud of how hard these young men battled throughout the game,” Kane head coach Caleb Landmesser said. “Congratulations to Brookville. They are a fantastic team that played incredibly hard.”
Brookville advances to play the winner of the Wednesday’s District 5 title game between Everett and Chestnut Ridge in the District 5-9 subregional final at 3 p.m. Saturday at Clearfield High School.
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Kane postseason information is brought to you by: Team Minard
BROOKVILLE 59, KANE 52
Score by Quarters
Kane 11 19 8 14 – 52
Brookville 13 14 18 14 – 59
KANE – 52
Mason Zuzek 0 0-0 0, Zuke Smith 8 2-4 18, Carson Whiteman 1 2-4 4, Caleb Holt 0 0-0 0, Chad Greville 6 4-7 20, Brennan Smith 0 0-0 0, Matt DeLuca 2 2-3 8, Bryce Bizzak 0 0-0 0, Andy Jekielek 0 0-0 0, Josh Greville 1 0-0 2. Totals 18 9-16 52
BROOKVILLE – 59
Robert Keth 4 5-6 15, Aaron Park 2 4-7 8, Jack Krug 3 0-4 6, Bryce Baughman 2 0-4 5, David Cable 0 0-0 0, Griffin Ruhlman 0 0-0 0, Jace Miner 7 5-10 20, Logan Byerly 1 3-4 5. Totals 19 17-35 59.
Three-pointers: Kane 7 (Chad Greville 4, DeLuca 2, Whiteman). Brookville 4 (Keth 2, Baughman, Miner)
Full coverage of District 9 teams in the basketball postseason can be found here.
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