BY RICHIE HALL
CARMEL – The University boys basketball team saw its five-game win streak come to an end on Wednesday, as the Class 2A Trailblazers fell to 3A Brebeuf Jesuit 54-44 at the U Center.
University scored the first basket of the game, a 3-pointer by Camden Brown. But the Braves took off on a 9-0 run after that, giving them a 9-3 lead midway through the first quarter and forcing the ‘Blazers to play catch-up for the remainder of the night.
“Brebeuf’s a great team,” said University coach Brandon Lafferman. “They’re well-coached. They defend well. They’re really smart. I thought our mental focus was a little off tonight. We made a lot of mistakes offensively that we haven’t really made since early on in the season, which I think led to us giving up an early lead.”
Brown ended Brebeuf’s run with another 3, but the Braves embarked on another 9-0 run that stretched into the opening seconds of the second period. A basket by Austin Ezell gave Brebeuf a 15-6 lead at the end of the first quarter, then Billy Smith opened the second with a triple for an 18-6 lead.
The Trailblazers were able to keep the Braves’ lead from getting too far beyond 10 points. Brown continued to have the hot hand, throwing in two more 3s in the second quarter, and Sabien Cain hit a 3 as well. Seth Hogg made two free throws in the final minute of the half, keeping UHS within 27-19 at the break.
University got within 29-23 early in the third before Brebeuf went on a 6-0 run to get its lead back up to 12. The Braves led by as much as 38-25 in that quarter, but a three-point play by Kasey Ash-Simpson finished the period, and the ‘Blazers were within 38-28.
In the fourth quarter, University made a quick 6-0 run to cut Brebeuf’s lead to 42-37. Mitchell Martin made a layin, Cain scored off a steal, then Mitchell got another basket off a takeaway from Brown.
But the Braves responded with an 8-0 run. Evan Altman and Smith both hit two free throws, then Smith threw in a 3-pointer. Brebeuf then finished things up from the line, making 9 of 10 foul shots in the quarter. Two more free throws by Smith gave the Braves their largest lead of the game at 54-40 with 39.9 seconds to go; the ‘Blazers scored the last four points, with Ash-Simpson making a putback and Cain scoring again off a steal.
“I was proud of the way we fought, trying to hang around as long as we could, but down the stretch we made a few errors that led to Brebeuf coming away with the win,” said Lafferman.
Brown led University with 19 points, including five 3-pointers, and eight rebounds, with Cain collected six rebounds.
The Trailblazers are 12-5 for the season. University will play Scecina on Saturday, but the time and place of that game has been changed due to the Trailblazers’ girls team playing in the semi-state. University will now play at Scecina, with a 1 p.m. varsity start.
BREBEUF JESUIT 54, UNIVERSITY 44
University FG FT TP PF
Kasey Ash-Simpson 2-6 1-1 5 3
Sabien Cain 3-8 0-0 7 3
Matt Jones 1-10 0-0 3 1
Camden Brown 7-16 0-0 19 2
Mitchell Martin 3-8 0-0 6 5
Nate Jeffrey 1-1 0-0 2 1
Seth Hogg 0-1 2-2 2 2
Totals 17-50 3-3 44 17
Score by Quarters
Brebeuf Jesuit 15 12 11 16 – 54
University 6 13 9 16 – 44
University 3-point shooting (7-24) Brown 5-8, Jones 1-8, Cain 1-3, Martin 0-3, Ash-Simpson 0-1, Hogg 0-1.
University rebounds (26) Brown 8, Cain 6, Ash-Simpson 4, Jones 3, Martin 2, Jeffrey 1, Hogg 1, team 1.