Falcons’ uptempo offense too much for Frazier
Brownsville's Christian Floyd guards Frazier's Paul Pellick during Tuesday's game at Frazier High School.
Brownsville's Nick Despot has his shot blocked during the second quarter of Tuesday's game at Frazier High School. Frazier's Mark Dillon (23) waits for the ball after the block.
Frazier's Roger Cline takes the ball to the basket during the first quarter of Tuesday's game against Brownsville at Frazier High School.
PERRYOPOLIS — Brownsville’s up-tempo offense was too much for Frazier on Tuesday, but the host Commodores fought valiantly before falling 81-54 in a Section 5-AA game.
Most of the Falcons’ winning margin came from advantages in the first and last quarters, in which they outscored Frazier by a combined 47-16. Frazier had a slim advantage of 38-34 in the middle quarters.
Frazier (1-5, 2-9) took its only lead on a 3-point field goal by Jared Rebovich to start the game.
Brownsville (5-2, 9-4) responded with the next seven points on a drive to score by Tre Durkin, a layup by Christian Floyd, and 3-point field goal by Cole Novotny.
Rebovich scored for Frazier to cut the lead to 7-5, Josh Mapstone drove to score for a 9-5 lead, and Paul Pellick scored for Frazier to cut the lead back to two again.
The Falcons ran off the next 11 points on a basket and trey by Novotny, two baskets by Mapstone, and a basket by Durkin to lead 20-7.
Vincent Bucci scored for Frazier to interrupt the run before the Falcons closed with another run of 9-3 to lead 29-12 after one quarter.
Early in the second quarter, the Falcons had built the lead to 20 at 38-18 before Pellick scored five points and Rebovich three points in a 15-10 Frazier run that closed the half with Brownsville leading 48-33.
The Falcons surged to a 58-37 lead in the third quarter on four points by Durbin, and baskets by Floyd, Novotny, and Mapstone to offset four points by Pellick.
Frazier ran off 13 of the next 15 points with four points by Charles Manack and Zach Falki, a trey by Bucci, and a basket by Pellick to cut the lead to 60-50.
But Michael Murdock scored the last three points of the quarter for the Falcons, and the visitors used an 18-4 lead in the final quarter to put the game away.
Durkin scored 17 for Brownsville, Murdock 15, Floyd 13, and Novotny and Mapstone 10 each. Pellick scored 13 for Frazier while Rebovich added 11 and Bucci had 10.
Frazier coach Ed Keebler said Brownsville’s quick start was too much for the Commodores to overcome.
“We put ourselves in a hole and every time we had a spurt they countered. You can’t put yourself in a hole against a good team. I’m proud we didn’t give up. We’ll be ready for our next game,” Keebler said.
When asked about Murdock’s performance off the bench, Brownsville coach Brian Brashear said, “Mike is a sixth man the likes of which most teams don’t see a lot. He’s such a weapon that other teams don’t have an answer for.
“Frazier played a good game, and we wanted to get out to a good start. Our strength lies in our up-tempo speed to create turnovers, and that’s what we do.”