'Peake performance
Mount St. Mary guard won't soon forget big basket
Jacob Brooks sat on the bench, shouting out nicknames as his teammates went through shooting drills.
Magic Johnson. Stephen Curry. Steve Nash. Larry Bird.
Brooks uses names of NBA legends for his teammates on Mount St. Mary's boys basketball team. That's how grand they are to the junior, who has Down syndrome. But when Brooks scored a bucket at Chesapeake Energy Arena earlier this month, he was the one who became a superstar.
“I was so nervous,” Brooks said. “It felt good when it went in.”
As the high school basketball season nears the final stretch before the playoffs, Mount St. Mary is looking to go further than it did
last season and make it to the Class 4A state tournament. Yet no matter what happens, no one will forget that day at The `Peake.
Brooks has played basketball for about five years, and it wasn't difficult for him to pick which position he wanted to play: point guard.
Russell Westbrook, his favorite player, plays point guard. So does Chris Paul, his favorite player on the current Thunder roster.
It was fitting, then, that Brooks was playing point the day he scored the biggest bucket of his life.
The Rockets, who are 9- 3 and recently won the Noble Tournament, were facing Merritt in the Thunder's annual High School Hardwood Series. It's a three-day, 14-game showcase for high school teams across the state that happens right after New Year's.
Mount St. Mary and Merritt both had full varsity schedules, but the Thunder wanted each school to participate. So, the teams agreed to a scrimmage but played it, mostly, as if it were a real game. They did have to reset the score after each quarter per the Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association scrimmage rules.
Mount St. Mary coach Brandon Jackson and Merritt coach Eric Norton talked before the game, and Jackson mentioned he wanted to get Brooks in the game. The coach wanted to give Brooks an opportunity to play in The `Peake.
“The idea came to me the day before we played,” Jackson said. “I just knew it was a unique situation that I wanted to take advantage of.”
With about a minute to go in the fourth quarter, Norton called a timeout
so Jackson could set his plan for Brooks in motion. When he found out he was going in, Brooks became nervous. He had to focus.
When Brooks and his teammates broke the huddle and set up to inbound the ball, he went right to his spot as the point guard. He caught the inbounds pass, dribbled across the Thunder logo at midcourt and headed to the right side. He passed to a teammate, then ran to the corner.
The ball came back to Brooks, who stepped toward the basket and took his first shot. Miss.
Merritt secured the rebound, but the ball found its way back into Brooks' hands before he released his second attempt from near the right elbow. Another miss.
The ball was again passed to Brooks, who waited near the same spot. He jumped, flicked his wrist and watched as the ball soared toward the rim.
Splash.
The crowd erupted with applause as the public address announcer called Brooks' name, and it echoed throughout the arena, like his idols have many times before.
“It's one of the coolest things I have seen on the basketball court,” senior teammate Conner Hooper said.
Yet Brooks didn't take too long to celebrate his shot. As a leader and point guard, he knew he had to hustle back on defense even as his Rocket teammates gave him high fives.
Even opposing players offered congratulations.
A couple weeks later, Brooks was back in Mount St. Mary's gymnasium.
On practice days, he leads the team in warmups, then practices his free throws.
After making a few shots, he rewards himself with a little break on the bench.
He heckles his teammates and cracks jokes with Jackson. He's the team prankster, but he's always encouraging and pushing his teammates.
With every air ball comes pushups. He expects his teammates to do them, and he does them, too.
Brooks is Mount St. Mary's leader, even if he doesn't grab the most rebounds or score the most points. It's why his basket meant more to his teammates and coaches than it probably did Brooks.
“You could tell how nervous he was before going in the game,” Jackson said.
“But it was something he deserved and something that was really cool to see come together.”