On a night where they celebrated their seniors and pulled off a late rally in regulation, the Brookwood boys' basketball team had their hearts ripped out with a gutting overtime loss.
New Lisbon junior forward Brayen Morey buried the game-winning basket with roughly 2.5 seconds left in OT to propel the Rockets (4-20 overall, 3-11 Scenic Bluffs) to a dramatic 67-66 win over the Falcons (4-20, 3-11) in their conference clash on Monday, February 19 in Ontario.
After an early 8-4 deficit, New Lisbon used a 12-0 run to surge ahead 16-8 and continued to lead throughout the remainder of the first half, even as Brookwood tightened things up and tied the game on a few occasions. The Rockets ultimately held a 31-27 advantage at the halftime break.
Though New Lisbon built its lead up to as much as 10, the Falcons used a 12-2 run to rally back and level the score at 42-42 at the midway point in the second half. The Rockets responded with a 15-3 run of their own to lead 57-45 with under 2.5 minutes left in regulation.
Just when it looked like Brookwood was pretty much toast, the Falcons came alive with an incredible comeback bid. A driving floater by Brookwood senior guard Brady Hansen with 45 seconds left capped off a 12-0 run that knotted things up at 57-57.
New Lisbon senior forward/guard Jake Cox and Brayen Morey each split a pair of free throws to put the Rockets back ahead. Hansen came up big for the Falcons again by shaking a defender with a spin move at the top of the key and driving for a game-tying layup with 11 seconds remaining.
New Lisbon failed to score on its final possession of regulation and four more minutes were put on the board for overtime.
Brookwood freshman guard Brennen Mack gave his team a 66-65 lead on a 3-pointer 1:14 left in OT — a score that held up nearly to the end. It was the same score when the Rockets were inbounding the ball with 4.4 seconds to go.
Coming out of a timeout, New Lisbon senior guard/forward Colin Schroeder passed the ball to Morey inside the 3-point line in the right corner. With some separation as Brookwood defenders closed in when he got the ball, Morey rose up for a long midrange jumper without any hesitation. His shot caught nothing but net to give his team the lead in the dying seconds of overtime, and the Falcons had barely even inbounded the ball by the time the clock hit zero.
Brookwood was led in the heartbreaking defeat by Brady Hansen with 29 points and six assists, sophomore forward/guard Jackson Cunitz with 13 points, junior guard Braeden Pasch with 10 points, Brennen Mack with five points, senior forward/guard Wyatt Maurhoff with seven rebounds and five assists and junior forward/guard Marshall Doll with five rebounds.
New Lisbon statistical leaders included Jake Cox with 23 points and five rebounds, junior center Ethan Forschler with 17 points and five rebounds, junior center Evan Macrafic with seven points and eight rebounds, junior guard Austin Berndsen with six points and eight rebounds and Morey with six points and five rebounds.
The win provided the Rockets with a measure of revenge, as the Falcons had won the first meeting between the two teams 61-45 back on January 18 in New Lisbon.
UP NEXT
Brookwood is a No. 15 seed in this year's Division 5 playoff field and draws a familiar conference foe in the opening round. The Falcons are on the road to take on the second-seeded Cashton Eagles (21-3) in the regional quarterfinals Tuesday, February 27 at 7 p.m. in Cashton.
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