WASHINGTON 57, BROOKVILLE 34

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March 13, 2010 - PIAA Class AA Boys' First Round

PIAA Playoff Home Page

By Rich Rhoades

CLARION – There’s quite a bit of a chasm that separates District 9 Class AA with the WPIAL, especially in boys’ basketball lately.

After an 11-year run from 1994 to 2004 that saw District 9 teams — Keystone, Karns City, Kane and Brockway — win PIAA playoff games in all but two seasons, the competitive balanced has dropped off significantly.

Since 2004, District 9 has now lost 10 straight state playoff games — all but one to a WPIAL team — by an average of 25.9 points. That includes Karns City’s overtime loss in 2005 and Brockway’s admirable effort in last year’s eight-point loss to Aliquippa.

Saturday, the District 9 champion Brookville Raiders were outmatched in their 57-34 loss to the WPIAL fifth seed Washington at Clarion University’s Waldo S. Tippin Gymnasium.

The Prexies (19-5) beat the Raiders by 23, but it could’ve been worse. Credit goes to head coach Mark Gaither’s sportsmanship move for slowing down the game and working his roster into the game. The largest lead for Washington was 26, despite leading 19-4 after one quarter and 32-13 at halftime.

“It could have been worse,” Brookville head coach Bud Baughman said. “They could have shoved it down our throat and made it worse than it was. If they wanted to make it 40, it could’ve been 40. Take nothing away from our kids. They played hard. I told them after the game that I was proud of them and whether you win or lose, you have to play hard and leave it on the court. It was one of those nights the ball didn’t drop and give a lot of that to the defense on Washington’s part.”

Three Prexies finished with double figures in scoring as eight different players scored and five others played but didn’t scored. Troy Wilson scored 17 points, Ethan Gordon finished with 11 points and Marquis Brown added 10 points.

Next up for Washington is WPIAL rival South Fayette, which routed the Prexies 80-45 back on Dec. 21 at South Fayette.

After watching them against the Raiders, it’s hard to believe someone can beat them by 35 points.

“That was as good of a team we played all year,” assured Baughman. “Bradford and Elk County Catholic are excellent teams, but that team is big and strong and we were outmuscled, especially after Chad (Brocious) went out. We lost another dimension to our game and forced too many shots. The kids played hard, but the better team won, plain and simple.”

Brocious, the team’s top scorer, rebounder and passer with the team lead in assists, went out with a serious ankle injury at the 4:08 mark of the second quarter. He was diagnosed with a serious ankle sprain following a trip to the hospital after leaving the game.

Without him, the Raiders got 11 points from Dan Ion  and 10 points from Zane Hackett.

Brookville’s season ended at 17-8.

WASHINGTON 57, BROOKVILLE 34

Score By Quarters

Washington                19        13        9          16        -           57

Brookville                   4          9          5          16        -           34

Washington – 57

Zach Barnes 1 0-0 2, Marquis Brown 3 2-3 10, Troy Wilson 6 4-6 17, Bryan Thomas 3 3-6 9, Julien Anderson 1 0-2 2, Ethan Gordon 4 1-2 11, Joel West 0 0-0 0, Jamey Thomas 0 0-0 0, J.J. Paskert 1 2-4 4, Josh Wise 1 0-0 2, Alex Lisenby 0 0-0 0, Jaylin Kelly 0 0-0 0, Joe Phillips 0 0-0 0. Totals: 20 12-23 57.

Brookville – 34

Dan Ion  4 1-2 11, Kyle Baughman 0 2-4 2, Chad Brocious 0 0-0 0, Zane Hackett 4 2-2 10, Jared Heschke 1 1-1 3, Tashan Mark 1 0-0 3, Taylor Heinrich 1 0-0 3, Adam Dennison 1 0-0 2, Seth Connor 0 0-0 0. Totals: 12 6-10 34.

Three-pointers: Washington 5 (Brown 2, Gordon 2, Wilson), Brookville 4 (Ion 2, Mark, Heinrich).