Brentwood finally tops Maplewood
David Carson/Post-Dispatch | Brentwood's Tywan Brooks (center) protects the ball from Maplewood's Jacob Hensel-Norman (left) and Antoino King during the second half Thursday at Brentwood.
BRENTWOOD — The Brentwood basketball team had lost its previous 14 games against rival Maplewood-Richmond Heights before Thursday night’s Class 3 District 4 semifinal matchup.
But the Eagles, who last beat the Blue Devils on Feb. 28, 2005, finally broke that streak, thanks to the strong play of their seniors and an impressive streak of their own from the free-throw line.
Senior guard Tywan Brooks scored 16 of his game-high 25 points in the fourth quarter, and Brentwood hit its first 15 free throws of the final quarter to hold off and upset two-time defending Class 3 champion Maplewood 83-76 at Brentwood High School.
It’s a dream come true to finally beat those guys,” Brooks said. “They work so hard. Coach (Corey) Frazier is a good coach. He puts them through hell. I’m just thankful that we beat them finally.”
Third-seeded Brentwood (19-7) advances to play No. 1 Cardinal Ritter (22-4) in the district championship game at 8 tonight. Maplewood, which defeated Brentwood twice earlier this season, finished 19-9.
“When it’s desperation time, teams that want to finish it up, they finish it up,” Frazier said. “Tonight the better team won. Hands down. That’s it. Free throws, turnovers, I don’t think any of that made a difference. They outplayed us tonight. Hands down.”
Brentwood, which led 19-15 after one quarter, 41-35 at halftime and 52-49 after three quarters, was led by strong performances from five seniors: Brooks, forward Taylor Dee with 19 points, guard Tom Lynch with 17, including five 3-pointers, and forward Ramond Hunter with 13.
“We believed we could play with them,” Brentwood coach Brad Kern said. “We think we can play with anybody in the area in our class. We have a good team. We have eight seniors. We have experience.”
Tony King led Maplewood with 23 points, and freshman guard Kevin Baker scored 14.
Maplewood cut the deficit to 78-76 with 30 seconds remaining, but Brentwood made five straight free throws.
Cardinal Ritter 78, Burroughs 46: After a slow start, the No. 1 seed Lions (22-4) got rolling and pulled away from the Bombers (15-11) in the final three quarters for their 14th consecutive victory.
“I think the second half we played a lot better than the first half,” coach Marvin Neals said. “We could have done a better job in the first half. Our defense had some things that happened to us with some long passes and leak-outs.”
Ritter sophomore forward Cameron Biedscheid led all scorers with 25 points on eight-of-14 shooting. Senior guards Mylin Jordan and Eric Clark scored 19 and 14 points, respectively.
Junior guard Grant Wallace led Burroughs with 18 points.
