Host Bruins both victorious at Rotary Invitational

In day-one games at the 2009 Brookings Rotary Invitational Basketball Tournament the host Brookings-Harbor High School Bruins boys and girls teams both came away winners Friday night. The boys erased a three-point third quarter deficit for a dramatic 62-57 win, while the girls logged a consistent performance and emerged victorious, 48-35.

In the matinee games the the Myrtle Point girls varsity team dominated Illinois Valley 72-16 and the Del Norte Warrior boys squeaked past Bandon, 60-58.

The first quarter was close as the teams got up to speed, but in the second Myrtle Point outpaced the Bruins 18-9 to take a 32-29 lead to the locker room.

According to Bruin Head Coach Bryan Wood, the early struggles were not a disappointment, but represented part of the learning process for a newly-minted team.

“There’s no surprises here,” Wood said. “It’s a process. We know we’re on a learning curve and we embrace it.

“We struggled (in the first three quarters). We didn’t shoot the ball as well as he have. It definitely wasn’t our best game.”

But to Wood, it wasn’t a lack or effort.

“It just wasn’t our best effort,” he said.

Then came the pivotal fourth quarter. Down three as the period commenced, the Bruins – and one player in particular – toughed it out and turned a shortage of points into a five point surplus by the final buzzer.

A lot of credit has to go to Bruin Jacob Eszlinger, who played through cramps and an ankle injury to lead the Bruin comeback. Eszlinger made key stops, key free throws and put up points in clutch situations.

“(Eszlinger) is the most experienced player we have,” Wood said. “In adverse situations we count on him to step up.”

And Eszlinger wasn’t alone. According to Wood, much of the team contributed to the win, including solid games from Joey Lathorpe and Geoff Gowman.

“Gowman was great,” Wood said. “And (LaThorpe) did a nice job inside and made shots at key times.”

BHHS girls trounce Bandon

A 17-3 second quarter for the Bruins was the difference in the game Friday night, and the difference was simple, according to Head Coach Chris Schofield.

“We got out of the press,” he said. “We started trapping them in the half court and that gave (Bandon) fits.”

Another improved performance in the second quarter came from Ashley Juarez, who defended well and was making good rotations according to Schofield.

“(Juarez) did a good job reading and getting into passing lanes,” Schofield said. “That let us get out and run.”

The Bruins also out-rebounded Bandon 50-35, a big focus for the team coming into Friday night, Schofield said.

“I told the girls, ‘It’s about time we got physical with somebody,’” Schofield said. “It changed what they did inside.”

One thing the Bruins didn’t do well Friday was shoot the ball, according to Schofield.

“We were forcing the ball where it didn’t need to go,” he said. “But we got good shots.”

The leading scorer for the Bruins was Samantha Young with 14. Schofield said Young was clearly a difference maker.

“(Young) was just much more competent (Friday),” he said.

Saturday matchups

In the boys bracket, the Bruins’ win means they will take on Del Norte at 7 p.m. The day-game loss by the Bandon Tigers drops them into the consolation bracket and pits them against Myrtle Point at 3 p.m.

For the girls, the victorious Bruins will face off with Myrtle Point, who crushed Illinois Valley (IV) Friday afternoon. With the loss, IV also fell into the consolation bracket and will play Bandon for third place at 1 p.m.