Berkmar Boys Look Well-Oiled in Win over Brookwood (With Video)

Berkmar showed no lingering effects of the week-long snow delay, leading from start to finish in a 60-40 win over visiting Brookwood Tuesday night in a Region 8-AAAAA boys basketball game in Lilburn.

The Patriots (11-5 overall, 4-3 in the region) sped out to an 8-1 lead in the first four minutes and were never really threatened again to win its fourth game in a row and its eighth of the last nine.

Yonel Brown scored 16 points to lead the way, followed by Brandon Thompson with 15 and Ivan Harden with 10. Thomas Higginbotham scored 12 for Brookwood.

In the girls game, third-ranked Brookwood beat Berkmar 62-38 in a game between the first- and second-place teams in Region 8-AAAAA.

Berkmar’s boys led by as many as 22 points and by double digits from the second quarter on. Brookwood fell to 5-11, 5-3.

 “It’s good to get a win after a long break,” Berkmar coach Greg Phillips said, referring to the cancellations of games last week due to the snow-and-ice storm. “I think that’s what everybody was hoping for, was to come out and not be too rusty after not playing for a week.”

Outside of a couple of stretches in the second half, during which Brookwood threatened to cut the lead to single digits, the Patriots looked well-oiled. Thompson’s alley-oop dunk to start the second quarter gave Berkmar an 18-7 lead and started a 6-0 run that put the Patriots up by 15 with 5:36 left in the half.

The Broncos cut it 10 points early in the third, but that was as close as they’d get.

Berkmar defense held Brookwood to its lowest offensive output of the season. The Broncos, who also shot below 50 percent from the foul line (8 of 17), scored nine points or less in three quarters.

“Our players did a great job of listening to the scouting report, understanding who they were guarding and listening in practice and before the game, then going out and executing,” Phillips said. “We did a good job of defending them out of bounds, defending against their shooters. We wanted to make it as tough on them as possible because they’re a very good scoring team.”

In the girls game, Brookwood proved there’s a lot of space between first and second place in the region.

The undefeated Lady Broncos beat up on Berkmar for the second time this season; they beat the Lady Patriots 83-56 last month in Snellville.

Brookwood is now 15-0 overall and 8-0 in the region standings, two games ahead of Berkmar, which fell to 12-5 and 6-2 in the standings.

Brookwood’s girls, ranked No. 3 in the state in Class AAAAA, led Berkmar the entire way, building as much as a 26-point lead in the second half.

A 14-3 Brookwood scoring run in the third quarter turned an 11-point halftime lead to 43-21 with 3:19 left in the third period. Berkmar got no closer than 20 points the rest of the way.

Jazmine Jackson and Courtney Gardner each scored 16 points for Brookwood. Katie Mallow added 13, 10 of which came in the second half.

Kenisha Watkins scored 18 points for Berkmar.