By PAUL GOTHAM
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Miles Brown had his usual and then a touch more. But when the Northstar Christian boys’ basketball team needed it most, their leading scorer played the role of facilitator.
Five different Knights contributed points during a pivotal 12-0 run late in the second quarter, and Northstar Christian, ranked No.3 NYSSWA Class C, held on to defeat Bishop Kearney, 80-73.
“That’s the thing with Miles,” Northstar head coach JJ Garwood said. “He can score whenever he wants to really. He can get a great quality shot up. At the same time he always makes the right pass. He always hits a teammate.”
Trailing 26-25, Matthew Medeiros drilled a corner 3-pointer in transition. Brown used a ball screen to get in the lane for a bucket.
Two possessions later, Daniel Pickett also hit from long range, and Tray Roberts followed with two free throws for a 35-26 advantage.
Mike Brown, the twin brother of Northstar’s leading scorer, drove across the lane for a bucket to cap the run.
Northstar had a lead it did not surrender.
“We’ve got great balance,” Garwood added. “We’ve got five guys averaging in double figures due in large part to the attention Miles attracts and his willingness to distribute.”
Bishop Kearney’s Jamal Fennell scored eight of his 14 points in the fourth quarter to help the Kings make it a one-possession game, but it was not enough.
Fennell finished a rebound and putback and hit two free throws next trip down the floor. The senior forward drilled a turnaround jumper from the free throw line, and Mike Gentile found Jordan Love inside to cut the deficit to four at 72-68.
The Kings Shykell Brown hit one of two free throws with 1:33 remaining, and BK trailed 72-69.
Kearney still trailed by three at 74-71 with 54.5 seconds remaining when Kevin Goode, Jr. connected twice from the charity stripe.
But the Kings did not get any closer.
“This is really big for us,” Garwood noted. “Kearney is a well-respected program, great history. They’ve got great players. Coach Goode, got a lot of respect for him. My guys coming out here and competing with them and just knocking them off tonight that’s a milestone victory for our program. It’s really big.”
Miles Brown netted a game-high 33 points. The 2017 First-Team All State selection came in averaging 26.7 points per game. Roberts scored 16 points for Northstar. Mike Brown added 13. Mederios had 11. Ryan Garwood added three and Daniel Pickett, four.
Shykell Brown paced Kearney (4-7) with 18 points. AJ Gray scored 17. Love added 10. Goode had nine. Jamal Williams had three, and Gentile two.
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