Brewer takes second in county tournament
Brewer’s Patriots were runners-up to West Morgan in the varsity boys division of the Morgan County Basketball Tournament. Team members, from left, are: (front) Kyle Speegle, Matthew Crowe, Taylor Bowling, Matthew Whittle, Spenser Harvel; (back) Joey Lawrence, Hunter Bramlett, Jeffrey David, T.J. Graham, Jordan Bowling, Garrett Crawford and Garrett Tucker. | Clif Knight
West Morgan’s Rebels used a stifling defense and the hot shooting hand of Trey Kent to manhandle Brewer’s Patriots 58-41 and claim their first Morgan County basketball championship in eight years.
The Rebels shot out to a 16-5 first quarter lead and never trailed in the contest. They carried a 23-13 lead into the dressing room at halftime and were up by seven points, 34-27, after three periods. A 3-pointer by Jordan Bowling and two free throws by Matthew Crowe at the start of the fourth period enabled the Patriots to come within six points, 30-36, but the Rebels made it a rout the rest of the way.
Brewer head coach Sam Brown acknowledged that West Morgan’s zone defense caused some problems for his team.
“We didn’t handle it well,” he said. “When you play against a zone, you’ve got to hit the perimeter shots, and we didn’t have many. They did a good job and deserved to win.”
Leading the Rebels in scoring with 31 points was Trey Kent. His tournament heroics paved the way for him being named recipient of the J.C. Pettey & Wayne Bowling M.V.P. award. His teammate, William Jackson had nine points.
Brewer was led by J. Bowling with 16 points. No other Patriot scored in double figures. West Morgan has now won seven county basketball titles under Bowling, the most recent of which occurred in 2002. Brown has also coached the Patriots to seven titles, including 2009 and 2010.
