Andrew Grimm UP, UP AND AWAY — Brooke’s Alex Isinghood goes up for a layup in front of Catholic Central’s Andrew Dorsey and Benji Rook during Tuesday’s game at the Brooke Wellness Center.
WELLSBURG — So far this season, the Brooke boys basketball team has looked like the senior-laden team that it is.
Adam Shinsky’s Bruins continued their strong start to the season Tuesday night, out-pacing a young, improving Catholic Central squad in all four quarters to take a 65-38 win on the home floor.
“They tried to slow it down us, every team we’ve played has,” Shinsky said. “We ran our offense well, especially in the second half. When we execute our offense, we can do a really good job. Everyone knows we like to run, run, run, but we have to be able to use half-court sets and I think we’re getting there.
“Catholic Central is a much-improved team from when I saw them earlier in the season, they shot the ball well, especially in the first quarter.”
As has been the case in all four the Bruins’ games thus far, the duo of Alex Isinghood and Cole Sperlazza led the way.
Isinghood recorded a game-high 23 points, six rebounds and three blocks. He made 10 buckets, all from in close in showing his strength in the paint on both sides of the floor.
“He had an and-one right before he came out of the game and I told him that was the strongest take I’ve seen him take in the two years I’ve had him,” Shinsky said. “He’s a tough kid. When practice is over, he goes straight to the weight room. (Using his strength) is something he’s really excelled at. He’s a natural scorer.”
Sperlazza drained a pair of long-range shots and went 6 of 8 from the foul line to finish with 20 points.
“You always know what you’re going to get with Cole,” Shinsky said. “He’s a great shooter and he got to the foul line and knocked his shots down.”
On the flip side, the still learning group of Crusaders turned the ball over 22 times, many of which resulted in points the other way.
“We’re young, but that’s not an excuse,” Central coach Don Ogden said. “We’re trying to get better and trying to find consistency. We’ve used a lot of different line ups and rotations and we’re still trying to find it.”
Benji Rook drained three shots from range to lead Central (0-6) with nine points, while Andrew Dorsey finished with eight points.
“Brooke has a good group of seniors, and you can see that,” Ogden said. “They know where each other is on the court, it’s more natural to them.
“We’re still trying to find that chemistry. We’re not there yet.”
Brooke started strong, scoring the game’s first seven points and opening a 13-5 lead, but Central closed to within 15-10 after the first eight minutes.
After pushing the lead to 24-15 in the second quarter, Sperlazza and Eddie Marks drained back-to-back triples to push the Brooke advantage to 30-15, before the Bruins held a 13-point lead at the break.
The Bruins pushed the lead to 20 after three quarters and continued to pull away before the subs came in for both teams.
“We’d like to be 4-0, but we’ll take 3-1,” Shinsky said. “We have one more really tough game (before the holiday break).”
UP NEXT
Catholic Central: Will have some time to regroup as it does not play again until Monday when it hosts Buckeye Local.
Brooke: Has one more game before the Christmas break, traveling to John Marshall on Thursday.
Brooke 65, Catholic Central 38
Central 10-7-10-11 – 38
Brooke 15-15-17-18 – 65
CENTRAL (0-6): Rook 3 0-0 9; Bolster 0 0-0 0; Mihalyo 2 0-0 5; Dorsey 3 2-2 8; Harris 1 0-0 2; Bradley 3 0-0 6; Grimm 2 2-2 6; Pergi 0 0-0 0; Rohde 0 2-4 2; Provost 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 14, 6-8; 38.
BROOKE (3-1): Taylor 1 0-0 3; Varner 2 0-0 5; Knox 1 0-0 3; Sperlazza 6 6-9 20; Isinghood 10 3-4 23; Marks 1 1-2 4; Orban 0 0-0 0; Sperringer 0 0-0 0; Petrella 0 1-2 1; Cipoletti 0 0-0 0; Fuscardo 0 3-3 3; Alexander 0 0-0 0; Morris 1 0-0 3. TOTALS: 22, 14-17; 65.
3-POINT GOALS: Catholic Central 4 (Rook 3, Mihalyo); Brooke 7 (Sperlazza 2, Taylor, Varner, Knox, Marks, Morris). ASSISTS: Catholic Central 9 (Pergi 5); Brooke 20 (Varner 5). REBOUNDS: Catholic Central 17 (Dorsey 4, Bradley 4); Brooke 19 (Isinghood 6). TURNOVERS: Catholic Central 22; Brooke 8.