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UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS, Ohio– Brush junior guard Alijah Murray doesn’t remember much once the final buzzer sounded.
A large part of that might be because he was too busy being attacked by his teammates after hitting the game-winning shot to defeat undefeated Brecksville, 54-52.
FINAL: Brush defeats Brecksville 54-52 behind a buzzer beater from Alijah Murray @BrushAthletics @ChetMason32 @SportsKee1 pic.twitter.com/FVbhEhgapq
— Michael Trivisonno (@MichaelTriv_) January 8, 2023
“I zoned out, I really didn’t hear anything,” Murray said after hitting the game-winner Sunday afternoon. “I remember just the shot, that’s really it.”
There seemed to be a little bit of confusion on the final play. Head coach Chet Mason asked Marlon Barnes to be a decoy on the final play, which he was ok with he later explained after the game. With him being out of the picture, that meant someone else needed to step up in the closing seconds. That opportunity turned to Murray, as he swiftly found an opening down the lane to get a shot off, which sealed the win for the Arcs.
“We just had to stay together, be a team. We couldn’t play for ourselves, we have to play together,” Murray said after helping his team come from behind throughout the fourth quarter. “At the end of the day, it’s about us and we just stayed together.”
A big reason why the Arcs were able to come back in the fourth quarter was the 3-point shooting from senior Michael Hatcher. He connected on four 3-pointers in the final seven minutes of the game, even giving his team their first lead of the game midway through the quarter.
Brush takes their first lead of the game behind another Hatcher 3-pointer, Brush leads 43-41 midway through the 4th Q. pic.twitter.com/Q3faabZkZf
— Michael Trivisonno (@MichaelTriv_) January 8, 2023
“If they hit me, I’m just going to keep shooting,” Hatcher said after he made his first three-pointer late in the third quarter to start his perfect shooting behind the arc. “I think this will be the start of our streak.”
Hatcher was the team MVP during the win, pouring in 15 points, all from 3-pointers which turned out to be a team-high. Tyler Williams had 10 points along with nine from Alijah Murray.
“We lack experience,” Chet Mason said. ” Playing in games like this and all the games that we played in, I think it’s helping them more. I think the lack of experience has been getting us here and there but it was all by design. That’s why we scheduled the way we do.”
The Bees took advantage of a slower-paced Brush offensive attack throughout the first half. They never trailed behind the stellar play of Luke Skaljac. He often found himself beating the Arcs down the floor with his quickness and vision. That led to him having 17 of the team’s 28 points at the break.
The Arcs—on the other hand—were faced with multiple defensive looks from the Bees, which led them to make some adjustments throughout the night. Marlon Barnes was forced to test his outside shot regularly along with Tyler Williams making his presence known inside the paint.
They just had no true answers to the fast-paced Bee attack and that was a big reason why they were faced with a 28-21 deficit at halftime.
Skaljac did all he can to help dig his team out late in the fourth quarter, but it fell up short. He ended the night with a game-high 31 points. Chase Garito had 12 points as the Bees had just five players score during the loss, suffering their first loss of the year.
