Garfield, Ohio— The main event of the Neo Christmas classic was the anticipated matchup between Brush (2-3) and Warrensville Heights (4-1). Brush ended up on top winning 62-58.
The game opened with both teams trading buckets. Brush started to take charge with an 8-0 run. Damari Dammons got a dunk and a layup and Kaleb Burge scored a floater during the run. Brush led 13-4 with four minutes to go.
Warrensville started to make some noise going on a 6-0 run of their own. Que Miller scored a few baskets during the run. They trailed 13-10 with about three minutes to go. They went into the second quarter trailing Brush.
Chris Brownlee started to get going in the second quarter. He knocked down a three only two minutes in to bring the lead within five. A few minutes later he made a free throw and cut the lead to 19-18.
Both teams began to trade threes. Kaleb Burge knocked one down to extend Brush’s lead. London Mitchell got going for Warrensville, he made two threes to put Warrensville up 27-24. Warrensville got two more threes from Brownlee and Miller. They ended the half up 30-27.
The second half opened up slowly, both teams were tied at 34 with about five minutes to go. Things continued to stay slow, both teams wouldn’t allow any field goals so they traded free throws. Brush led 37-36 with two minutes to go.
Damari Dammons became a bright spot for Brush at the end of the third. He scored a driving layup and a buzzer beating three which gave Brush a 42-40 lead going into the fourth.
Kaleb Burge became a spark for Burge in the fourth quarter. He came out early and instantly got a charge. A few minutes into the quarter he got a steal and back to back layups. Brush led 50-43 with 3:30 to go, Warrensville called a timeout.
Miller came out with two put backs including an and one. Burge came right back with a floater and he took another charge. Warrensville fought until the end. Buckets from Tabien Anderson and Chris Brownlee brought it to 61-58.
Kaleb Burge put the game away with a trip to the free throw line and Brush won 62-58.
Burge led Brush with 20 points scoring 15 in the second half, Aliyy had 16 and Dammons added 13. Chris Brownlee for Warrensville led all scorers with 21 points, Tabien Anderson finished with 13.
I spoke with Head Coach Chet Mason about the big win.
“We play defense, that’s our non negotiable," said Mason. "We might be low scoring but we’re going to guard and make it hard on you too...when you guard like that it’s hard for teams to score”
Brush will be back in action December 27th at 7:30 PM to take on John Marshall.
Comments