Boys basketball: Oberlin out of its depth against Brookside

SHEFFIELD — Brookside's bench and relentless defense were the difference Tuesday night as the Cardinals wore down Oberlin for a 79-49 victory in a Lorain County League matchup. Brothers Nolan Waechter, a senior, and Mason Waechter, a sophomore, each scored 17 points to lead Brookside. Jack Holman added 13 and Marquis Capers finished with 10. Josiah Bowen-Pride scored 14 points to lead Oberlin. Oberlin (2-4, 2-2 LCL) kept the game close for most of the first quarter. It was a four-point game until Mason Waechter hit a 3-pointer with one second left in the quarter to give Brookside (3-3, 3-1) a 19-12 lead. Back-to-back 3-pointers by Mason Waechter after Capers opened the second quarter with a basket gave Brookside a 27-12 lead with 6:20 left in the half. A 3-pointer by Bowen-Pride and a basket by Carmello Williams brought the Phoenix back to within 27-17, but Brookside responded with eight straight points and outscored Oberlin 16-6 to close the first half. Nine turnovers in the second quarter hampered Oberlin's efforts as the Phoenix trailed 43-23 at the half. "We ran up and down the floor pretty well," Mason Waechter said. "We can still work on a lot of conditioning. It still needs to be a lot better. We found the open guys we needed to. We didn't shoot the greatest, but we just outworked and worked hard." Oberlin's starters outscored Brookside's 36-34. The difference was the Cardinals' depth. Brookside's bench outscored the Phoenix 45-13. "Our team stepped up pretty well," Mason Waechter said. "Our rebounding wasn't great, but when our offense isn't great, our defense steps up. That's what happened tonight." Brookside was 11-of-32 from behind the arc while Oberlin was only 4-of-9 on 3-pointers. Brookside hit eight 3-pointers in the first half. "It was all effort," Nolan Waechter said. "We knew if we could come out and get hot early it would definitely work to our advantage. To come out with all that energy always helps." Oberlin coach Kurt Russell tried to slow Brookside down but his team ended up getting worn down instead. "We had a lot of turnovers and couldn't overcome that," Russell said. "We missed so many shots, so many uncontested shots. We knew once we broke their press we could get some wide-open layups. We did, but we just didn't finish well." Brookside outscored Oberlin in all four quarters, but the 24-11 advantage in the second quarter was the back-breaker. "At times there was some good flow to it and at times things got a little ragged," Brookside coach Larry Babics said. "Overall, for 32 minutes we try to play a trap and shoot the ball pretty quick. Hopefully, we can wear our opponents down. Oberlin wasn't going away. They did a good job. They hurt us particularly on the boards. They got some easy second looks, which will happen when you're trapping." Contact Paul Heyse at (440) 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com. Brookside 79, Oberlin 49 OBERLIN (49): Korrie Freeman 1-3-5; Carmello Williams 4-1-9; Julian Anderson 1-3-5; Josiah Bowen-Pride 6-0-14; Joe Holt 1-0-3; Jakshawn Windham 3-0-6; Ehab Abuhamda 2-0-5; Aveon Earl 0-1-1; Jozayah Smith 0-1-1. Totals 18-9-49.BROOKSIDE (79): Noah Adkins 1-1-4; Nolan Waechter 7-0-17; Zach Terrill 1-0-2; Jack Holman 5-2-13; Tyler Kitzberger 2-0-5; Marquis Capers 4-2-10; Mason Waechter 6-1-17; Jayden Nazario 1-0-3; Colton Casey 1-0-2; Alex Arra 2-0-4; Trevor Kitzberger 0-2-2. Totals 30-8-79. Oberlin &emsp;12&emsp;11&emsp;18&emsp; 8&emsp;—&emsp;49Brookside&emsp;19&emsp;23&emsp;22&emsp;14&emsp;—&emsp;79 Three-point goals: Oberlin (Bowen-Pride 2, Abuhamda, Holt); Brookside (Mason Waechter 4, Nolan Waechter 3, Tyler Kitzberger, Adkins, Holman, Nazario); Field goals: Oberlin 18-47 (38 percent); Brookside 30-66 (45 percent). Free throws: Oberlin 9-20 (45 percent); Brookside 8-13 (62 percent). Rebounds: Oberlin 25, Brookside 27. Turnovers: Oberlin 21, Brookside 11. Team fouls: Oberlin 12, Brookside 18.