Spartans’ big shots seal huge victory
Dramatic win vs. Prexies breaks tie for first place
Waiting in a long line Friday for a COVID-19 shot threw a wrench into Brentwood coach Dan Thayer’s pregame routine.
But it was a shot that came later in the game that has Thayer and the Spartans thinking their long wait for a section title might soon be coming to an end.
Chase Rosing converted a 3-pointer with 3.2 seconds left to give host Brentwood a dramatic 55-54 win against Class 4A No. 5-ranked Washington in a showdown of teams tied for first place in Section 4.
For a team chasing its first section title since 1999, this was a gigantic win. The Spartans (7-1, 5-0) not only took over sole possession of the top spot with the win, but they did it against Washington (5-3, 4 -1), which has won 13 section titles since Brentwood’s most recent crown and has claimed 47 overall, second-most in WPIAL history behind only Uniontown (49).
“Nobody knows how good we are,” Thayer said. “We’ve won a lot of section games, but how good is our section? How good is anything? But everyone knows Washington is pretty good, right? So this is a great win for us.”
It didn’t come easy. Brentwood had to overcome a 10-point halftime deficit and a five-point deficit with a minute left. Rosing, a 5-foot-10 senior guard, reached his season average of 18 points, and scored Brentwood’s final seven points.
After Washington went on a 6-0 run to go ahead, 52-47, Rosing’s layup with a minute to go pulled Brentwood within 5249. Washington then turned it over, and Rosing was fouled on a layup, with the ensuing free throw forcing a 52-52 tie with 30 seconds left. Washington chose not to hold for the last shot, but Tayshawn Levy’s basket with 17 seconds left put the Little Prexies ahead, 54-52. That set the stage for Rosing, who came off of a screen and drilled what he called the biggest shot of his career.
Thayer’s thoughts when the ball was in the air? “Can it go in?”
And Rosing’s? “Win or go home.” Added Rosing: “When I came off the screen and saw an opening, I shot it and it felt good as soon as it left my hand.”
After calling a timeout, Washington actually got a decent look at a potential winner, but Davoun Fuse misfired on a jumper.
In addition to Rosing, Brentwood also got double-digit scoring contributions from Tavian Miller (14) and Riley Brendel (10).
Washington, which came into the game with losses to only Class 3A No. 1 South Allegheny and Class 2A No. 1 Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, shot the ball extremely well in the first half when it converted on 17 of 31 attempts on its way to a 37-27 lead. But after Levy made a 3-pointer midway through the third quarter, the Little Prexies went cold.
Miller’s three-point play and Nathan Zeigler’s 3-pointer headlined a 10-0 Brentwood run which pulled the Spartans even after three quarters. Washington’s drought extended nearly three minutes into the fourth quarter, meaning the Little Prexies went about seven minutes without scoring.
“We stopped playing,” longtime Washington coach Ron Faust said. “We were more talented in this game, but the other team had more basketball knowledge and they worked harder. And that’s been our story. We play a little bit and then we stop completely. In this game it’s hard to get any momentum back. I give them all the credit in the world. They did some wonderful things with the players they have that just totally outsmarted us.”
Levy and Brandon Patterson paced Washington with 17 points apiece. Fuse added 12.
The win put a big smile on the face of Thayer, who waited in a nearly two-hour line for his first COVID shot administered at nearby Baldwin High School. Because of that, he didn’t arrive at Brentwood until halftime of the JV game.
“I feel OK,” Thayer said. “And I feel even better now.”