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Lyndhurst, Ohio – The Brush Arcs defeated the visiting Mayfield Wildcats, 78-61, in a Division I, Northeast 3 Euclid District sectional final Saturday night.
It was a rematch of old WRC conference foes who have not met since 2021.
Mayfield jumped ahead thanks to a Kyle Irwin putback. They would lead by as much as 7-4 thanks to a Johnny Martinich triple. Brush wouldn’t trail for long. After a Tyler Williams layup, Alijah Murray added one of his own to put the Arcs ahead, 8-7, with 5:34 left in the first.
The ensuing 12-0 run, capped by an Alijah Murray layup, stretched the Arc lead to 16-7 midway through the first.
The Arcs got contributions from five different players in the period. Senior forward and Pitt commit Marlon Barnes Jr. capped the quarter with a thunderous jam to fire up the home crowd. At the end of the first, Brush led 28-14.
They dominated on both ends of the court and eventually took a 47-23 lead into the half.
Mayfield started to claw back in the second half, as six different Wildcats scored in the third quarter. They would cut their deficit to 68-56 thanks to a Mason Lathan triple. But the deficit proved to be too much to overcome as Marlon Barnes knocked down a pair of buckets, and Tyler Williams threw down a jam of his own, and the lead swelled back to 18.
Brush, now 12-11, advances to take on the winner of Akron SVSM on Wednesday, March 1st in a Euclid District semifinal. Marlon Barnes Jr. had 24 points to lead all scorers. Junior guard Kaleb Burge had 18, and fellow classmate Alijah Murray had 15.
Mayfield finishes their season at 14-10. The Wildcats were led by senior forward Kyle Irwin, who had 23 points. Junior guard Mason Lathan added 14.
Extended highlights here:
