Brown’s milestone night lifts Falcons over Cougars
Charleroi's John Arnold shoots a jumper against Brownsville during Friday's Section 4-AA game at Charleroi High School. Arnold had 21 points and 18 rebounds but the Falcons won, 74-57.
Holly Tonini
Brownsville’s Tryvon Brown (24) blocks a shot attempt by Charleroi’s Eric Tedrow as the Falcons’ Noah Brown (34) looks on during Friday’s Section 4-AA game at Charleroi High School. The Falcons rode a strong defensive effort sparked by Tryvon Brown and a school-record 43 points by Noah Brown, giving him 1,001 in his Brownsville career, to a 74-57 victory over the Cougars. The win clinched a third straight section title for Brownsville.
Brownsville's James Holcomb (20) looks for an open teammate around the defense of Charleroi's Sam Miceli (5) and Sam Pager (32) during Friday's Section 4-AA game at Charleroi High School.
Charleroi's Eric Tedrow scores against Brownsville during Friday's Section 4-AA game at Charleroi High School.
The Cougars' Caleb Carson goes for the rebound against Brownsville's Shandon Marshall (4) and Marcellous Grooms during Friday's Section 4-AA game at Charleroi High School.
Brownsville's James Holcomb (20) drives around Charleroi's Brock Shannon after getting a rebound during Friday's Section 4-AA game at Charleroi High School.
CHARLEROI – They say good things come in threes.
That was especially true for Brownsville senior Noah Brown on Friday night.
Brown set the Brownsville school record for points in a game with 43, went over the 1,000-point mark for his two-year Falcons career and helped his team clinch at least a share of the Section 4-AA championship with a 74-57 victory at Charleroi.
“It’s overwhelming,” Brown said. “All three of them are great accomplishments.
“But winning the section is the best one.”
That gave the Falcons (16-4, 10-0) another milestone “three,” as in a third consecutive section title for the first time in the program’s history.
Tryvon Brown, the catalyst for an outstanding defensive performance by the Falcons, reveled in his team clinching first place.
“It feels great,” he said. “It’s really an accomplishment, something we’ve been looking forward to all year. This really made our season.”
As for his team coming through with one of its best games of the year on Charleroi’s floor, he said, “Big-time players make big-time plays in big-time games.”
That was the case for the Falcons. While Brown carried the load on offense in eclipsing George Lemon’s record of 41 points in a game set in 2001, Brownsville’s entire team sparkled in its harassing, trapping defense.
While Charleroi’s 6-foot-8 center John Arnold gave Brownsville much trouble inside with 21 points and 18 rebounds, the Falcons bottled up the Cougars’ two stellar guards, Sam Miceli and Brock Shannon.
“I was pleased with the way my guys defended tonight,” Brownsville coach Brian Brashear said. “We did a good job on their two main scorers. We stress defense here. We had a really good day at practice yesterday. We went over some new offensive sets but defense has always been what we do.”
The Falcons have said since the first day of practice that they were dedicating this season to senior Andre Smith, their teammate who died in an automobile accident in November. Noah Brown even switched his jersey number from 50 to 34 this year in honor of Smith, who wore the number last season.
Their goal was to honor Smith with another section title and they delivered on Friday night.
“It was a very emotional night for us,” said Brashear.
Charleroi (14-4, 8-2) can still tie Brownsville for first place, but would need to win its final two section games and have the Falcons lose their last two.
The first period featured three ties and two lead changes with Brownsville taking an 18-12 lead.
It was the Brown-and-Arnold show in the second period as Arnold’s 11 points were offset by Noah Brown’s 12, and the Falcons went into halftime up 32-27.
“He’s really a good low-post player,” Brashear said of Arnold. “He gets a lot of those rebounds and put-backs.”
Brownsville’s defense held Arnold to just six points in the second half.
“I think that was key to us pulling away,” Brashear said. “We were able to limit him.”
The Falcons surged to a 44-33 lead in the third period with a seven-point run on baskets by Tryvon Brown and Shandon Marshall and a 3-pointer by Noah Brown.
The Cougars weren’t done yet, though, as they came flying back thanks to Shannon, who rang up the final nine points of a 12-point run that gave the hosts a 45-44 lead and brought the Charleroi faithful to life.
Cougars coach Bill Wiltz was appreciative of the rowdy crowd on hand.
“This was better than a playoff game,” Wiltz said. “The atmosphere here was unbelievable. We’ve played in playoff games the last six or seven years and the crowd has never been like this, the excitement has never been like this.
“This is a heck of an experience for the young kids.”
It was the experience of Noah Brown that boosted the Falcons back in front. Many times in his career, Brown has delivered a clutch basket after his opponent has taken a lead, and he did it again on Friday night.
With the crowd roaring, Brown calming swished a 3-pointer to put Brownsville back on top. Tryvon Brown also hit a trey moments later as the Falcons scored the final eight points of the period to take a 52-45 lead into the final frame.
Brownsville reeled off the first nine points of the fourth period, including seven by Noah Brown, to cap a 17-point run that all but put the game away.
Noah Brown finished his night, which included five 3-pointers and a 12-of-14 performance from the foul line, by making a pair of free throws with 2:36 remaining to give him 1,001 career points at Brownsville.
“Our entire team and school and our community are very proud of Noah,” Brashear said. “He’s a team player and he’s done a lot for us over the past two years.”
Marshall and Marcellous Grooms scored eight points apiece for Brownsville and Tryvon Brown added seven points.
Every player who stepped on the floor gave a strong defensive effort for the Falcons, including forward Travis Bevard, who gave up eight inches in battling Arnold inside, and guard James Holcomb, who also hit a 3-pointer in scoring five points.
“I really can’t find anything wrong with the way we played today,” Brashear said. “I’m proud of my guys.
“It was total team effort tonight.”
Miceli and Shannon followed Arnold in the Cougars’ scoring column with 15 and 11 points, respectively.
The game was a very physical battle, perhaps a bit too physical, according to Wiltz, who watched the Falcons clamp down on Miceli and Shannon.
“Those two are both pretty good athletes but I’ve never seen them spend so much time on the floor,” Wiltz said. “They were just getting manhandled and I wasn’t hearing the whistles that I thought I should be hearing.”
“It just wasn’t our night,” Arnold said. “When they started hitting shots out at the perimeter we just couldn’t stop that momentum.”
Arnold preferred focusing on the upcoming WPIAL playoffs afterwards.
“We always look forward, to the future,” Arnold said. “This game’s in the past now.”
Boys Basketball Sum
Section 4-AA
Brownsville 18 14 20 22 — 74
Charleroi 12 15 18 12 — 57
Brownsville: Noah Brown 43, Shandon Marshall 8, Marcellous Grooms 8. Charleroi: John Arnold 21, Sam Miceli 15, Brock Shannon 11. Records: Brownsville (16-4, 10-0), Charleroi (14-4, 8-2). JV score: Brownsville 65 (DeJour Thomas 25, Reggie Grooms 13, Amonti Marsh 10), Charleroi 36 (Caleb Carson 17).