The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
BRUSH RETURNS, DOWNS EUCLID
Multiple big nights propel Arcs, who resume their schedule after 10 days off
After a 10-day layoff, Brush returned to the court and took care of nonconference opponent Euclid, 73-57.
The win pushes Brush to 4-3 while Euclid loses its third straight to fall to 0-3 to start the season.
Elmore James from Brush started off the first quarter on fire, as he scored 14 of his 23 points in that quarter. James has been averaging about 32 points per game. So some might think it was an off night for him, and they would be correct.
James suffered an ankle injury early in the second quarter that affected how Brush wanted to run its offense, according to head coach Chet Mason.
“His injury wasn’t bad enough for him to not be able to run up and down the court, but he lost some of his explosion due to the ankle sprain,” said Mason. “But we were able to overcome this thanks to some of his teammates stepping up and making big plays.”
With James injured, his teammates stepped up in a big way.
Julius Jofferion had 14 points, while the 6-foot-8 pair of Tyler Williams and Antwone Woolfolk had 13 and 11 respectively.
With four players in doubledigits, it might seem like the game wasn’t close, but that wasn’t the case. Euclid hung around and made some plays on the defensive side that led to quick scores to stay in the game.
Both Mason and James spoke to this point after the game.
“We turned the ball over too much tonight,” said Mason. “The way we’ve been playing, we haven’t turned the ball over so tonight. Euclid had a good scheme pressuring the ball.”
Added James: “We have to play smarter. There were turnovers that we shouldn’t have made. So we have to adjust and be a lot smarter with our passes and make sure that we stop throwing ducks.”
While Brush was able to run the floor and get the ball inside when it needed to, Euclid’s game plan involved a lot of shots from beyond the arc. Head coach John Kane knows that his team is going to put up a lot of 3s, but they also needed to find a way to stop James, and they couldn’t for most of the night.
“Our offense is predicated on getting to the rim and shooting 3s. We just didn’t shoot it very well tonight,” said Kane. “While on defense we just had issues against James and couldn’t come back from it. You can’t face guard him, but in the half court Jordan Rees did a good job on him. He knows how to get his points and he gets to the free throw line just by being physical all the way to the basket.”
Leading the way for the Panthers was Clayton Cunningham with 16 and Jaden Wanton with 10. Euclid will look to get in the win column when it takes on nonconference opponent NDCL on Jan. 19, while Brush will look to continue its winning ways when they take on fellow Western Reserve Conference foe and fellow member of the Top of the Crop Riverside on Jan. 22.