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Brooks Boys Basketball '16-'17

Sat, Mar 04, 2017 02:30 PM @ Brooks
Team 1 2 Final
Rivers 19 30 49
Brooks 37 36 73

Brooks pounds Rivers to advance to finals

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NORTH ANDOVER — The game was pretty much over by the time Brooks’ Tamenang Choh deflected a pass and found himself on a breakaway midway through the second half.
But he wanted the exclamation point.
Choh soared through the air and threw down a massive double-clutch, two-handed slam that sent the Brooks bench, as well as the packed fan section, into chaos.
The dunk highlighted a game-high 25-point night for Choh, from Lowell, as undefeated Brooks (24-0) cruised to its fourth straight New England Prep School Class B championship game with a 73-49 rout of Rivers in Saturday’s semifinals.
Brooks, the defending Class B champs, relied on its defense to build a 37-19 halftime lead, holding Villanova-bound Jermaine Samuels to just one point in the half.
“We did a really good job of making them work for shots,” said Brooks coach John McVeigh. “I think we held Jermaine Samuels to just one point in the first half. When you do that it feeds your offense. We were able to get some good shots and open up the lead, and once that happened we were able to play the game we wanted to play.”
That “game” Brooks wanted to play included hounding defense, points in transition, rebounding and balanced scoring. The Green and White had four players in double figures, and they dominated the glass for a 36-25 advantage.
Fru Che, who was Brooks’ leading scorer at 11.2 points per game entering Saturday, finished with 12 points and nine rebounds. Adonis Williams added 10 points and 12 boards and Preston Santos chipped in 11 points off the bench.
Brooks had 10 different players score.
“I think our balance is our key,” said McVeigh. “We don’t have one guy that we rely on, on either end of the floor. We have a bunch of guys that can defend and a bunch of guys that can really play. So when one guy has a tough game, someone else steps up.”
Samuels finished with 20 points thanks to some garbage-time buckets against the Brooks bench. Azar Swain, a Yale commit with more than 2,000 career points, also had 20 points for Rivers.
Brooks led by as much as 30 Saturday afternoon, and now finds itself one game away a perfect season and a second straight Class B championship. The Green and White are playing Connecticut’s Marianapolis Prep today at 6 p.m. from the Kneller Gym at Clark University for the title.
Last year’s crown was the first Brooks had won since the 1981 season.
Including Saturday, Brooks has now rattled off 38 straight wins. The last blemish was a 68-56 loss to Beaver County Day Jan. 27 of last year.
With six seniors on the roster who have only known playing in championship games during their prep careers, you can bet Brooks is going to be ready Sunday.
“Having seniors who have been in big games before is great as a coach because I have trust in them,” said McVeigh. “I know that they know how to fix things if it starts to go wrong. Today they definitely were locked in.”
Brooks 73, Rivers 49
NEPSAC B Semifinals
Rivers (49): Jermaine Samuels 5 10-12 20, Doanld Sivolella 1 0-0 2, Derek Lamparelli 0 0-0 0, Azar Swain 5 9-9 20, Jay Dieterle 3 0-0 7, Michael Webber 0 0-0 0, Zach Lisman 0 0-0 0. Totals 14 19-21 49
Brooks (73): Adonis Williams 4 2-3 10, Isaiah Godwin 1 0-0 2, Ethan Gabert-Doyon 0 2-2 2, Tamenang Choh 9 7-7 25, Fru Che 6 0-1 12, Justin Connolly 0 0-0 0, Brian Wright-Kinsey 1 0-0 2, Pat Freiermuth 1 0-0 2, Preston Santos 5 0-0 11, Cemeron Ray 0 0-0 0, Alex Chaban 0 1-2 1, Terrell Brown 1 4-4 6, Jacob Iwowo 0 0-0 0. Totals 28 16-18 73
3-pointers: B — Santos; R — Swain, Dieterle
Rivers (20-6):     19 30 — 49
Brooks (24-0):     37 36 — 73


Game Statistics:

NEPSAC B Semifinals

Rivers (49): Jermaine Samuels 5 10-12 20, Doanld Sivolella 1 0-0 2, Derek Lamparelli 0 0-0 0, Azar Swain 5 9-9 20, Jay Dieterle 3 0-0 7, Michael Webber 0 0-0 0, Zach Lisman 0 0-0 0. Totals 14 19-21 49

Brooks (73): Adonis Williams 4 2-3 10, Isaiah Godwin 1 0-0 2, Ethan Gabert-Doyon 0 2-2 2, Tamenang Choh 9 7-7 25, Fru Che 6 0-1 12, Justin Connolly 0 0-0 0, Brian Wright-Kinsey 1 0-0 2, Pat Freiermuth 1 0-0 2, Preston Santos 5 0-0 11, Cemeron Ray 0 0-0 0, Alex Chaban 0 1-2 1, Terrell Brown 1 4-4 6, Jacob Iwowo 0 0-0 0. Totals 28 16-18 73

3-pointers: B — Santos; R — Swain, Dieterle

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