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COPLEY, Ohio– It took an extra four minutes, but the Brunswick Blue Devils were able to run away with a 77-69 win over St. Ed’s Saturday afternoon to claim the district championship and set a school record for wins in a season.
After losing in the district semifinals a year ago, head coach Joe Mackey explained that this championship feels that much sweeter.
STUNNER: @BrunswickBball defeats @SEHS_BASKETBALL 77-69 to claim the district championship! @SportsKee1 @jmackey22 pic.twitter.com/QEvgdvRcKS
— Michael Trivisonno (@MichaelTriv_) March 9, 2024
“These kids deserve hardware,” Mackey said. “It was against a great team that we’ve never beaten makes it that much more special…I’m happy for our team, our community and our school. This is special.”
St. Ed’s took a 62-57 lead with one minute left in regulation. Senior forward Tommy Morgan was able to go down and finish a bucket near the rim to trim the deficit to three. Then an Eagle turnover led to a Quinn Barnett 3-pointer to tie the game at 62 and help force overtime.
Tommy Morgan cuts the deficit down to 62-59, 43 seconds left.
On the other end, sophomore @bryanvlosich put his team ahead by five before the Morgan bucket. @SportsKee1 pic.twitter.com/Nh0mG1bJ3y
— Michael Trivisonno (@MichaelTriv_) March 9, 2024
TIE GAME. Quinn Barnett sinks a 3-pointer to tie it up with 1.9 seconds left.
Brunswick ball following the timeout. @SportsKee1 @QuinnBarnett0 pic.twitter.com/Zn8jOi3JaJ— Michael Trivisonno (@MichaelTriv_) March 9, 2024
“That was a really big shot by (Quinn),” Sophomore guard Trey Drexler said. “I’m so happy for him with all the work he puts in and I’m super excited he was able to make that shot and help us move on.”
In overtime, the Blue Devils outscored the Eagles 15-7, starting at the free-throw line. Drexler sunk seven free throws in overtime alone to help put the game out of reach for the Eagles. With senior guard Brian Sullivan coming alive for his team throughout the second half, he and the Eagles couldn’t get a shot to fall in overtime.
Credit that with the Blue Devils not allowing their big guys to settle for easy buckets near the rim.
“I think once the game got to overtime, the better team was going to win,” Mackey explained. “I know a lot of people won’t believe this but I told our kids that this entire week.”
St. Ed’s opened up the first minute and a half of the game scoring the first two baskets. Then the Blue Devils went on an 8-0 to carry the momentum for the rest of the first half.
That was the only time they trailed throughout the half, as Quinn Barnett, Tommy Morgan and Trey Drexler helped pace a high-octane offense. The Achilles heel during the half for the Blue Devils were rebounding the basketball as the Eagles doubled the second-chance points and that’s where they were able to capitalize on a slew of points to close out the half.
Sophomore Bryan Vlosich knocked down three 3-pointers throughout the half and had a team-high 11 points for the Eagles, providing a spark off the bench that squashed any momentum the Blue Devils tried to carry over into the second half.
The Blue Devils led by as much as eight points in the second quarter, but Vloshich would knock down his second of three 3-pointers to tie the game at 24 with just under four minutes left in the half.
From there, Drexler would find his touch from behind the arc to help end the first half strong.In fact, his team closed out the half on an 11-6 run in the final three minutes to take a 35-30 lead at halftime.
Barnett started the second half on another level. Connecting on three-pointer after three-pointer, he helped carry a 10-point lead for his team heading into the fourth quarter.
That’s when the Eagles made their run. Eric Flannery’s team was able to hold the Blue Devils to just eight points in the entire fourth quarter and even started the first six minutes of the quarter on an 15-3 run to take their first lead with just under two minutes left in regulation.
Free throws and 3-pointers helped save the Blue Devils’ season down the stretch and that started with the team’s “big 3” of Barnett, Drexler and Tommy Morgan.
Barnett ended with a game-high 31 points. Drexler finished with 23 and Morgan had 14 points during the win. As for the Eagles, Brian Sullivan ended with a team-high 25 points during the loss with 18 points from Bryan Vlosich as well.
“It was a special performance by our kids,” Mackey explained. “To be down like that, come back and have the energy and effort to get it done in overtime was something to see.”
