Brown makes his point
Endicott soph lifts game, becomes elite D3 scorer
After graduating six seniors from last season’s team that made the Sweet 16, Endicott coach Kevin Bettencourt had one big concern coming into 2017-18: His team’s ability to score.
The Gulls lost five of their top six scorers from a class Bettencourt called the best the school has ever had, and there was some figuring out to do with many players in new roles this season.
Keith Brown, though, has answered those concerns.
Endicott (8-3) is off to another successful start, and Brown has been a huge reason why. A year after playing a limited role, the sophomore guard has risen to the challenge as his team’s goto option. He entered Saturday’s game as the nation’s sixth-leading scorer at 26.2 points per game, a product of an offensive game he improved over the summer.
“I didn’t anticipate 26 a game, but I really did think he could be a really special player for us,” Bettencourt said.
Brown had some tough luck to begin his college career when he broke his foot in a scrimmage, forcing him to miss the first seven games of 2016-17. When he returned, he became a key contributor off the bench, but there was still some untapped potential there.
Knowing he’d have a bigger role this year, Brown went to work this summer. He was mostly just a shooter as a freshman, so he focused on other parts of his game, like dribble-attacking and pulling up off the dribble. With all that hard work, he’s become a more complete player.
“I put in a lot of work this summer and it’s showing,” Brown said.
Added Bettencourt: “I just think his confidence is grown. He’s obviously more comfortable being a college basketball player now and he has a lot more freedom to show off his full display of basketball abilities.”
It was certainly on display to start this season. A night after scoring 38 points on 10 3-pointers in the Gulls’ season-opening win over Regis, Brown said he wanted to prove something against Babson, the defending national champions.
It showed. Brown scored 45 points on another 10 triples in the upset over the Beavers. And any concerns Bettencourt had of his team’s ability to score were gone.
“It’s cliche because everybody says it, but he literally is the first kid in, last kid out and spends an incredible amount of time on the court,” Bettencourt said. “His work ethic is infectious to our team. I think our guys realize you have to work as hard as Keith for us to be as good as we can be.”
No place like home
Merrimack women’s coach Monique LeBlanc knew she wanted Alyssa Casey in her program, but she wasn’t sure if the former Andover High star wanted to play college basketball a few miles from her house.
Luckily for her, Casey was more than OK with staying home.
LeBlanc first noticed Casey as she starred as a sophomore at Andover. Casey was playing in a Christmas tournament at Merrimack, and LeBlanc stayed after practice to watch her potential recruit.
“I was like, ‘Wow, I want this kid right now,’ but I hope we can have her in a few years,” LeBlanc said.
LeBlanc received assurance from Andover coach E.J. Perry that Casey was willing to stay home for college, and sure enough, she did. Now a freshman for the Warriors, Casey has been everything LeBlanc was hoping for and more.
Through 14 games, Casey, a two-time Herald All-Scholastic, has started every game and is the team’s second-leading scorer at 16.2 points per game. The 5-foot-11 forward has even showed off her versatility, filling in for starting center Denia Davis-Stewart, who missed the first nine games of the season due to injury.
For her efforts, Casey has been named the Northeast-10 Conference Rookie of the Week five times this season. LeBlanc hasn’t been surprised by her freshman’s immediate impact.
“She’s just a really high IQ player, very, very competitive and has a great work ethic, so she really just has the foundational pieces that we look for in a great player,” LeBlanc said. “Knowing that she has those qualities, it’s not surprising that she would continue to get better.”
Holding court
The Babson men haven’t had the season they were hoping for after winning last year’s Division 3 national title, but one thing hasn’t changed — the Beavers’ domination in the NEWMAC.
With its win over WPI on Saturday, Babson (7-6) extended its conference road winning streak to 26 games as well as its regular-season conference winning streak to 25 games. The Beavers’ last regular-season loss in NEWMAC play came on Jan. 20, 2016, against MIT.