BRUNSWICK — The “#15as1” warm-up T-shirts are more than a catchphrase. They’re a way of life for the Brunswick boys basketball team.
Getting contributions from everyone Friday, the Blue Devils overcame a slow start against shorthanded Solon in Greater Cleveland Conference play. A new hero arose every few minutes as Brunswick kept the aggressive, hard-nosed Comets at bay.
Brunswick’s Kevin Simmons scores against Solon’s Ryan Bergen, left, and Dylan Perry during the second quarter. (RON SCHWANE / GAZETTE)
When the dust settled, coach Joe Mackey’s squad emerged with a 63-58 victory to maintain a three-way tie with Medina and Elyria atop the GCC.
“We just gathered around each other and believed in each other,” senior wing Kevin Simmons said. “We knew we’d hit shots, and we tried to lock up (defensively), get rebounds and attack the press.
“Coach has been preaching a lot in practice that we need to get a contribution from everyone, and our guys just stepped up. Everyone stepped up and did their thing when they needed to.”
Simmons took over the point when Michael Quiring (12 points, 11 in second half) got into early foul trouble and scored 11 of his game-high 19 points in the second quarter. Pseudo center Aaron Badowski added nine points, 10 rebounds, two assists and three blocks, while freshman Kyle Goessler (11 points) and sixth man Austin Mick (6, 4 rebounds, 2 assists) made 3-pointers that kept Brunswick afloat early.
Solon (6-9, 3-7) was without touted sophomore guard Sincere Carry (14.5 ppg, concussion) and was 0-for-3 at the foul line, but got 18 points, seven boards and three assists from small forward Reid Thompson and frustrated the Blue Devils (14-4, 8-2) with a man press while taking a 15-10 lead after one quarter.
Ultimately, the Comets couldn’t keep pace with the unselfish Blue Devils, who over the final three periods shot 17-for-30 from the floor, 8-for-17 from 3-point range and 11-for-14 from the line.
“We didn’t even know (Carry wasn’t playing) until we came out and they were announcing names,” Badowski said. “I think mentally it might have got to us, and I think we might have let up, which is not a good sign for our team. But we came back in the second quarter and went on a little run and rebounded from it.”
Brunswick played long stretches without Quiring in the first half and had a hard time stopping Solon’s guards from bulldozing to the rim, but a 3-pointer at the first-quarter buzzer by Mick ignited the offense.
Simmons then went nuts in the second, hitting 4-of-4 free throws and finishing beautifully in traffic with two euro-steps and a spin move, while Goessler nailed two 3-pointers and Badowski had five rebounds and three blocks.
Leading 31-23 at halftime, the Blue Devils were threatened at times but never withered, allowing Quiring to get going on both ends and Badowski to find his scoring stroke.
The final score was misleading, as Solon scored five unanswered points in the final 10 seconds.
“What I like most about it is that was our fourth game in seven days, and we don’t use the bench a whole lot,” Mackey said. “Now we can really get rested up for the stretch run. This is a big one for us because we don’t play Tuesday, so we can take (today) off, Sunday off and go light from time to time this week to really make sure that our guys who are playing all those minutes are fresh for the stretch run.”
Note
Jason Becka had 21 points as Brunswick’s junior varsity won 66-41. The Blue Devils led 41-11 at halftime.
Brunswick 63, Solon 58
SOLON 15 8 12 23 — 58
BRUNSWICK 10 21 13 19 — 63
Solon — Reid Thompson 8-0-18, Dylan Perry 4-0-10, Daryl Johnson Jr. 3-0-6, Mikey Bekelja 3-0-7, David Gulley 3-0-9, Nate Leskovec 1-0-2, Ryan Bergan 0-0-0, Jason Steele 3-0-6, Trent Williams 0-0-0, Justin Lumpkin 0-0-0. TOTALS: 25-0-58.
Brunswick — Kevin Simmons 7-4-19, Zach Cebula 2-0-5, Aaron Badowski 3-1-9, Kyle Goessler 4-0-11, Michael Quiring 3-5-12, Austin Mick 2-0-6, Zak Zografos 0-0-0, Tyler Williams 0-1-1. TOTALS: 21-11-63.
3-point goals — Gulley 3, Thompson 2, Perry 2, Bekelja, Goessler 3, Badowski 2, Mick 2, Quiring, Cebula, Simmons. Rebounds — Solon 28 (Thompson, Perry 7), Brunswick 27 (Badowski 10). Assists — Solon 12 (Steele 5), Brunswick 13 (Simmons 4). Records — Solon (6-9, 3-7), Brunswick (14-4, 8-2). Junior varsity — Brunswick 66, Solon 41.