By Noah Poser
Photos Courtesy – Jim Vincent
After eight minutes of play Saturday, it looked like Morgan Park was primed to extend their fast start, putting the Brooks Eagles on their heels to open the first quarter at Credit Union 1 Arena last Saturday, February 15, in the CPL Boys Basketball White Conference Championship game.
But then Brooks coach George Montgomery delivered a simple message to his team that changed everything.
“Just chill.”
So that’s what they did.
After turning the ball over six times and falling behind 16-4, the Eagles responded with an immediate 180, outscoring the Mustangs 15-2 in the second quarter to take a one-point lead into halftime.
“The second quarter, they came back slowly, and you see, I’m not one of those coaches to be all rah, rah, rah, at the kids because it makes them nervous,” Montgomery said. “Once I’m calm, they’re going to be calm, and sure enough they came back slowly and picked away at the score. It’s not the first time we’ve been through it and we’ve responded.”
In the second half, it was more of the same from Brooks (19-8). The Eagles maintained their composure, avoided turning the ball over and were able to withstand a few Morgan Park (17-13) comeback attempts, with the end result being a 55-48 victory and a White Conference CPS Championship.
It was the shot-making ability of senior Bradley Pike that ultimately made the difference in the second half to allow the Eagles to stay ahead of the Mustangs. Pike, after going scoreless in the first half, finished the game with 15 points on 5-10 shooting, including 4-8 shooting from three-point range.
“Shooting is one of the best aspects of my game,” Pike said. “Everyone around me has always told me to just keep shooting the ball. So I’ve always been inspired by those around me to just keep shooting. And I know I can go off also, so I never let just one shot or two shots affect my whole game.”
Pike also got some timely help from his teammates, as senior captain Bryce Hayes chipped in with 12 points of his own and sophomore Elijah Curl had 10 points and seven rebounds in the winning effort.
On the other side, junior Nasir Rankin led all scorers with 22 points for Morgan Park. He grabbed eight rebounds and dished out five assists as well. But at the end of the day it wasn’t enough to lift the Mustangs.
“We have been emphasizing sharing the ball more and making the extra pass,” Morgan Park coach Chris Gardner said. “But now we have this tendency to over-pass. So now, we’ll get a great shot, but then we’ll pass it. Now we’ve downgraded to a good shot. Some days we get it, sometimes we don’t, but we need to find that level of consistency where we’re confident in when to take the shot versus when to make the extra pass.”
Luckily for the Mustangs, they have a bit of an extended turnaround to iron things out before having to get ready for the state playoffs.
As for the Eagles, they’ll take a moment to celebrate this city championship before shifting their focus elsewhere.
“It feels amazing,” Hayes said. “I transferred here two years ago from a Catholic school and it was probably the best decision I’ve ever made. Leading this team really means a lot. Last year was a minor setback for us, but this year we had a great season and came back and won it all.
So I’m just really proud of my team and I know they’re gonna do this again next year.”
