D-IV Sectional Boys Basketball: Brookside does its homework, downs Perry to earn district ticket

SHEFFIELD — If there was any doubt how Brookside would handle a tough Perry team in the Division IV sectional finals Friday, it only took the Cardinals a few minutes to put those worries to rest. No. 8 seed Brookside (18-5) scored nine of the games first 11 points and never looked back, dominating the Pirates 72-61 to advance to the district semifinals. Sophomore Zeke Lind played like a grizzled veteran for the Cardinals on Friday, scoring 11 points in the first half and 18 by halftime on his way to a 23-point night. "We started off a little slow on the offensive side," Lind said. "We needed someone to step up and I kinda just took that role. Lind's second 3-pointer of the opening quarter gave Brookside a 17-6 lead with 2:24 left in the period. By the end of the first quarter, the Cardinals extended their lead to 22-6. Brookside's defense held No. 13 seed Perry (13-10) to 3-of-14 shooting (21 percent) in the first quarter and kept that intensity going into the second quarter as it built a 34-14 lead with 4:22 to go in the half. "I've got to give a ton of credit to (assistant) coach (Brian) Kelly," Brookside coach Larry Babics said. "He had a lot of film on Perry. He watched 10 films, stated them and gave us data that allowed us to defend them a certain way that I don't think they've been defending this year."The Pirates finally found their rhythm in the second half and outscored Brookside by four over the final 16 minutes, but by then the damage had already been done. Junior Mason Waechter took over the main scoring role from Lind in the second half, scoring 14 of his game-high 25 points after intermission. Both players finished with a double-double as Waechter grabbed 14 rebounds and Lind pulled down 11. "It's big when I can get under the rim," Waechter said. "I knew my shots weren't falling ... Coach Kelly set up a lot of plays to get me under the rim and my teammates did a good job of getting me the ball." Both teams came into the game with young teams. Brookside doesn't have a senior on its roster and Perry's only senior, Michael Nowolsielski, did not play in the game. Despite that it was a well-played game. The Pirates only turned the ball over eight times while Brookside finished with 14 turnovers. Junior Kaden Brewster led Perry with 22 points. The Cardinals finished 10-1 at home this season. They will travel to No. 6 Orrville, who defeated West Geauga, 75-64, in its sectional final Friday. "It was awesome to get the this win at home and get some of the new guys on varsity tournament experience," Waechter said. "Now we get to go out on the road and take on Orrville." Perry went on a 9-4 fourth-quarter run to briefly pull within nine points, 65-56, with just over two minutes remaining in the game. Lind came down on Brookside's next possession and scored to push the lead back to 11. "In the beginning of the season nobody thought we'd do this," Lind said. "We showed we can beat out-of-conference teams, and we've played better than anyone thought we would." Waechter, one of the area's top 3-pointer shooters, wasn't able to connect from long distance on Friday but made up for it by going 9-of-11 from the free throw line. "That was a good basketball team; they won 10-of-11 coming in," Babics said of Perry. "Give them credit, they're hard to guard. We rebounded really well in the first half and we were able to make just enough plays to keep them from making a big run." Contact Todd Shapiro at (440) 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com. Brookside 72, Perry 61 PERRY (61): Chase Sivon 1-0-2, Kaden Brewster 9-3-22, Nate Trefzger 4-0-11, Nick Gustin 1-0-3, Carter Hopkins 3-0-7, Traxton Richards 2-0-5, Nolan Andrejack 2-4-9, Andrew Morris 1-0-2. Totals 23-7-51 BROOKSIDE (72): Alex Arra 3-1-8, Ethan Blythe 2-1-5, Mason Waechter 8-9-25, Danny Fries 2-0-6, Colton Casey 1-0-2, Zeke Lind 8-3-23, Noah Muniz 1-0-3. Totals 25-14-72 Perry 6 18 13 24 — 61Brookside 22 17 11 22 — 72 Three-point goals: Perry (Trefzger 3, Brewster, Gustin, Hopkins, Richards, Andrejack), Brookside (Lind 4, Fries 2, Arra, Muniz). Field goals: Perry 23-66 (35 percent), Brookside 25-59 (42 percent). Free throws: Perry 7-8 (88 percent), Brookside 14-19 (74 percent). Rebounds: Perry 38, Brookside 44. Turnovers: Perry 8, Brookside 14. Team Fouls: Perry 16, Brookside 13. Fouled out: Hopkin