Strong second half sends Brewer boys past Nokomis in season opener

BREWER — The final game of the evening at Brewer High School featured the young Brewer varsity boys taking on the visiting Nokomis of Newport and completing the sweep of three games on the night. In a game that started as a battle for both teams, it ended with Brewer getting into more of a flow defensively leading to a solid 67-41 season-opening win.

The student section and Athletic Director Dave Utterback watch the action from the Home of the Witches. (Photo by Ron Hawkes)

Brewer led after each quarter of play. 14-8 after the first, 33-27 at the halftime break and 49-32 after three quarters. With the Witches doubling up the score over the Warriors in the final stanza 18-9, they were able to play their game the second half.

The first half saw some play that did not make the coach smile much but he realizes his team is young and knows better what they can do than they do.

"I think part of the first thing we see here is we had a decent crowd here and everyone got a little amped up," said coach Ben Goodwin. "That had us throwing the ball around a little bit and missing some shots we will normally make. But I think this is a great group and they will settle in and do really well."

Defensively the Witches struggled early in the game. Opening night, a young team and a good size energetic crowd had the boys working hard but making mistakes they can't afford. The second half was a different story with Brewer coming out pressing hard, double-teaming all over the perimeter with some great help-side defense on the open man when Nokomis was able to find them.

Getting what you want out of opening night is tough for any team. The brewer coach is confident things will look more like the end of the game than the beginning.

"I think we have to get a little more consistent," said coach Goodwin. "We were still a little up and down and we had some streaks where we didn't score or get some defensive stops."

Coach Goodwin continued, "Towards the end of the game we showed what we can be when we stay consistent. We can play defense and we can make some shots."

Brewer's lone senior on the team, Trevor Pearson (12) put a spin on the ball under the basket for two of his game-high 28 points. (Photo by Ron Hawkes)

Trevor Pearson led the Brewer team with an outstanding performance. He had 28 points and went 6-of-10 from the foul line while dominating the boards on both ends of the floor.

While Pearson led the scoring for the Witches in each of the first three quarters, it was Lenox Cummings who came off the bench in the fourth quarter that lit a fire for Brewer, as he played solid defense and nailed a 3-pointer from each side of the floor.

To the excitement of the student section, Brewer's Lenox Cummings takes a 3-point shot. When he made it, the crowd went wild. (Photo by Ron Hawkes)

Other scorers for Brewer besides Pearson's 28 points were Brady Saunders with 12; Aaron Newcomb, eight; Lenox Cummings, six; Colby Smith and Kyle Goodrich, five each; and Dylan Huff, three.

Brewer was 15-of-23 (65 percent) from the charity stripe. The team nailed eight 3-point baskets, two each from Cummings, Newcomb, and Saunders along with one each from Smith and Goodrich.

Keith Lilly led Nokomis with 14 points; Madden White, seven; Donovan Kurt, six; Hunter Flagg, four; Cody Chretian and Connor Marquis, three each; and Jakob Noyes and Nick Rzycki, two each.

The Warriors were 6-of-10 (60 percent) from the foul line. They had three 3-point baskets, one each from Chretian, Lilly, and Marquis.

Nokomis---8--19---5---9---41
Brewer-----14-19--16--18--67

Click here to view the full photo gallery from this game.

Brewer's Colby Smith (front) goes up over Nokomis' Connor Marquis. (Photo by Ron Hawkes)

Brewer's Gavin Carr (22) plays some in your face defense under the basket against Nokomis' Hunter Flagg. (Photo by Ron Hawkes)

Brewer's Dylan Huff takes a free throw during the first half. (Photo by Ron Hawkes)