Brady's big second half surge spurs Knights to win over Rams
The second half would show the kind of special player he is becoming for the Knights, as he would go on to score 21 points in the Knights 66-58 victory.
West Holmes head coach Jim Lindeman pointed out after the game how his young guard is maturing.
"That's a great example of how Brady has grown since last year, because here, they held Brady to two or three points in the first half and ended up with seven for the game. He wasn't quite mentally tough enough. He is now," commented Lindeman.
That mental toughness was needed from the opening tip of the game as Madison came out showing relentless, swarming full court pressure that forced many Knights turnovers. Madison would jump out to a 7-2 lead stemming from the great play of senior guard Shaquille Brooks, but West Holmes would answer to take a 13-11 lead after one quarter.
Brooks would take over the start of the second quarter with a spinning bucket in the lane, followed by an old-fashioned three-point play, and capped his effort with an outside jumper that gave the Rams a 20-17 lead. The Knights, as they did all night, would fight back. A three point play by junior guard Keaton Leppla and a few free throws to finish the half had West Holmes leading 26-23 at the break.
"We have faced teams that will pressure us, but they just kept coming for four quarters and you give them credit because they never quit," coach Lindeman said regarding the pressure his team faced throughout the game. The pressure from the Rams continued, but a slight halftime adjustment enabled the Knights to cut down their turnovers drastically in the second half.
"There was an adjustment, we weren't running our press breaker properly to start where we got all congested, which is exactly what they want. The second half we did a better job spreading the floor, just beating our man, and getting layups out of it," remarked Lindeman. "We talked about playing with poise and doing the things that we've been doing all year."
West Holmes' Brady Arnold would open the scoring for himself and his team in the second half with a foul line jumper and his confidence would grow from there. Arnold would score eight in the quarter, but there always seemed to be an answer by a big shot from Shaquille Brooks. Brooks knocked down a three from the corner, added another three-point play, and a sweet off-handed leaner in the lane over a double-team, helping the Rams build a 42-36 lead. Just like the first two quarters, the Knights rallied back. Junior forward Gabe Snyder hit a layup and Arnold closed the quarter with two buckets to tie the game at 42 heading into the fourth.
After allowing the first four points of the quarter to the Rams off of a put-back layup and a steal from the press, the Knights regrouped and went on a decisive 13-0 run to take control of the game. Arnold started off the rally with two foul shots and a huge three pointer, then Leppla beat the press on his own and drove down the lane for the lay-in. Leppla followed that with a great steal and assist to junior forward Ryan Neer. Neer would add two more free throws before Arnold closed out the run with another steal and layup on the other end.
"I thought a great play, a big play was when Keaton (Leppla) went off his man, got a quick steal, and came down and got two points off of it. That was a huge play and that's Keaton just making a good read and a good decision," praised coach Lindeman after the game.
Now with the Knights up 55-46, the Rams were forced to start fouling with over a minute still to play. West Holmes went 13-16 from the line in the fourth to close out the game and 18-31 overall.
Shaquille Brooks led all scorers with 30 points, while senior guard Jaquan Thompson chipped in 13 for Madison.
Neer netted 15 points in the game for West Holmes and Gabe Snyder added a double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds.
This may not have been a Super Bowl win for the Knights but it was a strong conference victory to add to their championship hopes.
Published: January 31, 2012
