Andre Brown didn’t pretend this was just another game, for him or his team.
This was the chance he had hoped for all season. Brown’s Leo team was playing Brother Rice at home Friday with the Catholic League South title on the line.
Brown transferred from Brother Rice before the season, and this was his only chance of the season to play against his old teammates.
“Everybody knew,” Leo coach Mike Manderino said. “We didn’t have to talk about it.”
Brown dominated the game, scoring 21 points in his team’s 65-57 victory.
Leo (19-6, 9-4) thus climbed into a tie with Brother Rice (18-6, 9-4) atop the division standings. Each team has one game remaining on its schedule.
“It means a lot to me, going against my old team,” said Brown, a sophomore.
Brown wasted no time showing just how seriously he was taking this game. He scored the game’s first three points as Leo jumped to a 12-2 lead.
“We knew we had it,” he said. “We just wanted to keep that momentum.”
Leo lost the momentum, but not its lead. Brother Rice hung in all game, using back-door cuts and three-pointers to keep the game close. Ultimately, however, Brother Rice was not tall enough to catch Leo.
“Our guys–I can’t be mad at them, because we played hard,” Brother Rice coach Pat Richardson said. “We had some open shots that we didn’t hit, but rebounding was the difference.”
Rebounding was critical, and since Brown’s transfer, nobody on the Brother Rice roster has grown enough to match Brown’s 6-foot-9-inch frame.
Although Brown was not the most polished player on the floor, he was nearly impossible to defend inside. When he failed to score in the post, it was usually because he simply missed an open shot. Even then, Brown often grabbed his own rebound and put the ball back up.
“He’s so big and so athletic,” Richardson said. “We did the best we could against him.”
Collapsing on Brown was no help, because he is an adept passer and Leo’s Terrence West is a solid outside shooter.
Brother Rice’s best strategy against Brown came in the fourth quarter, when Richardson instituted an aggressive full-court press. If Brown didn’t get the ball, how could he score?
It worked, if only for a while. Brother Rice stole the ball several times and cut a 51-41 lead to 56-51. But Leo maintained its poise, scoring the game’s next five points, and the lead was never in serious jeopardy again.
Brown played a critical part in holding Brother Rice at bay. He blocked a layup and grabbed a rebound when Leo was up 59-51, stifling Brother Rice’s chance at another mini-comeback.
Brown also grabbed the game’s last rebound, with 6 seconds left, and was fouled. He stepped to the line and hit one of two free throws. The game was in hand. Brown had beaten his old team.
