By: BHS Sports Staff
December 15, 2022
The varsity boys’ basketball team (3-2) hosted the Trinity Trojans (2-2) last night, and they were looking to push their winning streak to two games after beating Grand Valley last Saturday. However, the Trojans had a different idea in mind, which led to a back-and-forth, 32-minute battle.
Going into the game, Brooklyn needed the backcourt duo of seniors Jaiden Basinger and Randall Fields to bring their A-game to counter Trinity’s leaders, Eric Snow and Keenan Hughes.
In a packed gym with adrenaline flowing, how did this marquee matchup shape out?
The Hurricanes won the tipoff, but they struggled to find their footing, as Trinity came out fast and furious, leading 15-5 early on. The Trojans kept knocking down their shots, and the Hurricanes kept trying to fight back. In a high energy first quarter, the visitors led the hosts 24-13 as the second quarter began.
In the second quarter, Basinger set the tone for the Hurricanes with a huge dunk. Shortly after rattling the rim, junior Anthony Pytel nailed a deep ball to cut Trinity’s lead to six points with 5:30 left. With great defense and confident offense, the Hurricanes kept clawing their way back and eventually tied the game at 25 with 2:30 left. Back and forth in the final two minutes, Trinity went into halftime with a slight lead, 32-30.
Now back in the game, the Hurricanes knew that they needed to start the second half with the same intensity and focus as they ended the first half.
In the third quarter, the game continued to go back and forth with Brooklyn maintaining a small lead throughout, as neither team was able to make a big run. This quarter also flashed some incredible offensive and defensive plays from both teams. After three quarters of play, the Hurricanes led 44-43.
With eight minutes remaining, this game needed one team to assert their will in crunch time, and the visiting Trojans did just that. Trinity came out and took a 51-50 lead and later increased their lead to five points with a little more than a minute remaining.
The Hurricanes did cut the Trinity lead to three points with one minute left, but this is when Brooklyn’s energy dwindled, they struggled to rebound, and they could not stay calm down the stretch. They could not come back and lost, 61-55.
Basinger led with 15 points and Fields chipped in 13.
“We started very slow. I think if we start off faster, it would’ve been a different game. But, we can take this as a learning experience that matters in how we practice. We practiced slowly (on Tuesday) and played slowly tonight. Besides that, the energy and effort were there the majority of the game, but we couldn’t close it out in the final minutes,” stated a distraught Basinger.
Over Winter break, the Hurricanes will be on the road when they play Kirtland (12/17), Strongsville (12/20), and Independence (12/21).
In other basketball news, the Lady Canes earned a huge road victory over Trinity last Tuesday by a score of 59-27. Now 3-3 (2-1 in the CVC), the girls take a road trip west to Indiana to play the Wellington Lady Dukes on the iconic Hoosiers court on December 28.
Good luck to the boys and girls with their games over break.
Go Canes!
(For up-to-date events and schedules, visit Brooklyn Athletics.)
THE RETURN OF THE EYE 