Dec 18, 2002 By Mike Ciarochi 3 min read

BROWNSVILLE – After opening Section 3-AAA play with two humbling losses last week, Brownsville had a lot of pent-up frustration to expend. Too bad for Belle Vernon, but the Leopards happened to be next on the Falcons’ schedule.

The Falcons changed their offensive approach and it paid large dividends in an 83-47 win over Belle Vernon Tuesday night. According to Falcons coach Pete Logan, his team’s problems were directly attributable to an offensive attack geared to beat a defense that wasn’t being applied.

“We were trying to do too much for Carson,” Logan said, referring to senior guard Carson Thomas. “We were double-screening and everything else to try to get him open. We were worried that we’d see a lot of box-and-one on him once section play started.”

What the Falcons found instead was a team without a true offensive identity. They struggled to score and managed only 26 points in last Friday’s loss at Mt. Pleasant.

“We just decided to go back to our up-tempo game,” Logan said. “We needed the rest of our players to get the ball and go to the hole. Mike Bogden did a great job of that tonight and it really helped open up Carson more than anything else we had tried.”

Thomas responded with a game-high 24 points, while Paul Hlatky added 19 with a strong inside game. Bogden chipped in 13, as did freshman forward Adam Kezmarsky. The win improved Brownsville’s record to 2-5 overall and 1-2 in section games. Belle Vernon, which fell to 2-6, 1-2, got 13 points from sub Matt Rowland and 10 from guard Mike Davis.

“I don’t know what the reason is, but we were not ready to play tonight,” Belle Vernon coach Phil Stewart said. “Maybe it’s my fault, maybe it’s their fault, but it’s probably a little of both.”

Stewart’s team, as its record would indicate, has struggled in the early stages of the season. Even though they played tough against a strong Yough team, the Leopards let an 8-point lead slip away in a 1-point loss.

“I don’t know if it’s effort as much as it is concentration,” Stewart said. “It didn’t look like mentally we were even in this game.”

Belle Vernon managed only one lead, 4-2, in the game and scored consecutive baskets only twice the whole night. Brownsville, meanwhile, kept stretching its lead. The Falcons made it 19-8 with a 9-0 run, then turned a 21-14 lead into a 35-16 edge on a Thomas three-pointer two minutes before halftime.

Brownsville’s 37-18 halftime lead quickly became 53-22 late in the third quarter and both benches were quickly cleared.

“Our practices have gone a lot better since we went back to the up-tempo,” Logan said. “We were trying to be too deceptive and it backfired on us. But we were able to get it fixed before it was too late.

“It’s still going to be a long road, but I still think you can get to the playoffs with five losses in this section. There are a lot of good teams and good coaches in this section. We go to Derry Friday and we’d like to come out of there 2-2 in our section heading into our holiday break.”

A .500 record in the section might not sound like much, but it would be quite a climb for Brownsville.