Sometimes when two good boys basketball teams meet, it’s best to just sit back and enjoy.
Don’t overanalyze, don’t critique. Just enjoy.
Such was the case Dec. 22 when Brookside hosted Bay in a nonconference tilt. The Rockets battled back from a fourth-quarter, double-digit deficit to force overtime, but then the hosts had more big plays down the stretch as the Cardinals took control in the extra period on the way to an 85-78 decision. The victory was the fifth in a row for Brookside, which is now 5-1, while Bay falls to 3-3.
When asked what he thought the difference was in the game, Brookside coach Larry Babics was brutally honest.
“I don’t know,” he said. “I can’t put my finger on it, but however we did it, I’ll take it. I mean, it was just a play here or a play there. We hit a shot, they missed a shot, we got a big rebound down the stretch. But beyond that, I don’t know.”
PHOTOS: Brookside vs. Bay boys basketball, Dec. 22, 2023
Brookside junior Nolan Waechter electrified the crowd with a career-high 35 points, hitting 10 of 18 shots, including 6 of 11 from beyond the 3-point line — some well beyond the 3-point line.
“I was just on,” he said. “I like to get here early, so I got a lot of extra shots up before the game. Going into the game, we knew that everybody was going to have to score. It was huge because everybody came in off the bench and everybody contributed.”
But while Waechter was the headline for this story, his younger brother, Mason, may have been the lead. After mostly sitting on the bench for about three quarters, the freshman was fouled while attempting a possible game-tying 3-pointer from the left corner with 29.9 seconds left in regulation. Ignoring his youth and inexperience but staying true to his bloodlines, he calmly swished all three free throws to tie the game at 70-70, forcing overtime.
“I knew he was making them,” Nolan Wechter said of his younger sibling. “I was positive.”
So was Babics.
“I was sure because he just has that in him,” he said. “He’s his own guy. I hate comparing him to Nolan, but they’re the same. They want the ball in their hands. It’s a hard thing to sit there for almost three quarters, but we know he’s a shooter. We know he’s a scorer. When he went to the line, we had the right guy. Mason stepped up, and he’s only going to get better.”
The fact that the Rockets held a three-point lead late in the proceedings was impressive in and of itself. Bay never was in front after the first quarter, and at one point the visitors found themselves down by 11, 33-22. The teams then pretty much battled to a draw until the middle of the fourth quarter, when a layup on a backdoor cut by Brandon Sharpe gave the Cardinals a 65-55 lead with 4:25 to play.
But rather than throw in the towel, Bay went on a 15-2 run to take a 70-67 lead with just over a minute to play.
“Give them a ton of credit,” Babics said. “They got us to turn the ball over, and they capitalized. When you turn the ball over it’s hard to defend, and they’ve got some guys that were able to leak out. Again, a credit to them and their pressure all game. We needed this. Most teams won’t press us. We need to get that look. We do it all the time in practice, but it’s a little different in games.”
A key contributor for the Rockets was senior Lucas Underwood, who came off the bench and scored all six of his points during Bay’s fourth-quarter run. The Rockets were led by Malachi Coursen with 20 points, while Evan Alexy and Colin Melvin each added 16 points and Max Cockburn had 10.
“I was very proud of their effort to get back in the game,” Bay coach Jeff Sittinger said. “A lot of teams would have folded, being down 10 with under 4 to go, but we kept plugging away. We had guys make some big plays and they had guys make some big plays down the stretch, too.”
Nolan Waechter opened the extra period by hitting two free throws and he was then matched from the line by Alexy. The basket that put the Cardinals in front to stay came from an unexpected source, as Anthony Robinson followed with a 3-pointer from the right wing for his only points of the night. Then, Nolan Waechter added a driving layup and his brother connected on two more free throws, making it 79-72 with 2:18 to play. Bay would get no closer than five points the rest of the way.
“We play that team 10 times, I think we go 5-5,” Babics said. “That’s a hell of a team. It’s the best team we’ve played. During the game, I was thinking that, win or lose, this is going to help us. I’m very impressed with them. But we made some free throws, and we made some big shots and we were able to pull it out in the end.”
Sharpe, a lightning-quick point guard who gave the Rockets fits all night, backed up Nolan Waechter with 19 points, hitting 13 of 16 free throws. Brookside also had Jayden Nazario reach double figures with 11.
Things get no easier for the Cardinals, as their next game is Dec. 27 when they host Avon. The next game for Bay is Dec. 28, when it hosts Norton.
THE SCORE (DEC. 22)
Brookside 85, Bay 78 (OT)
