×

Brocton defends home court on Senior Night, tops Cougars, 62-49

OBSERVER Photo by Roger Coda Brocton’s Darien Booker (0) goes up for a contested layup over Cassadaga Valley’s Ty Pattyson (34) during a basketball game on Thursday at Brocton High School.

BROCTON — As the old saying goes, if you try and don’t succeed, try and try again.

Brocton’s win on Thursday night was a perfect example of that.

After seven straight losses and a season full of injuries and adversity, the Brocton Bulldogs sent their seniors out on a high note after a 62-49 win over CCAA Division 2 West foe Cassadaga Valley on Thursday night at Brocton High School.

“I couldn’t be more proud of this group of 12 guys we had here tonight,” said Brocton coach Collin Mulcahy after the game.

After just two wins a year ago, Brocton (6-11, 2-9) has tripled its total so far this year, even after the losing streak. Mulcahy said before the season that six wins on the season was a goal for him in his first season as coach.

“It’s been an up and down season for sure, but I think over the past few days, I’ve seen tremendous growth in this team,” said Mulcahy. “We were a team before, but now we’re starting to act like it. … It shows in a game like this.”

Brocton jumped ahead 17-13 after the first frame, and had a lead after each quarter of Thursday’s game. The Bulldogs led 34-27 at halftime and held the lead for the entire second half.

“Coming into (Thursday), we were kind of worried about this game. We thought this was a trap game. After playing Falconer the night before, it was back-to-back road games. On top of that, it was their Senior Night. We knew they were going to come out with some energy,” said Cassadaga Valley coach Josh Schauman. “They just played harder than we did.”

Brocton’s never-say-die attitude was exemplified Thursday night by leading scorer Bubba Brown. Throughout the game, Brown stepped in the way of a Cassadaga Valley Cougar in an attempt to draw a charge five times on Thursday, but didn’t get the call each of the first four times. Finally, on the fifth attempt with under three minutes remaining and a double-digit lead, Brown drew a charge. All night long, Brown was clearly energized — providing an energy his team missed with him out for a portion of the losing streak due to a sprained ankle.

“The win means a lot to me, especially in our last home game,” said Brown on his Senior Night. “We gave the crowd something to watch — finally — after struggling on our losing streak. Hopefully this will carry over as momentum in our last two games and into playoffs.”

Connor Crabtree led Cassadaga Valley (7-10, 4-7) with a game-high 23 points. He had 15 points in the first half, but Brocton held him to eight in the second half. Crabtree, a senior, now sits 51 points shy of the 1,000 point mark in his career, with three games left to play in the regular season.

“Cassadaga is extremely tough, with Crabtree — he’s an animal — so our whole plan going into (Thursday) was if we could limit Crabtree, we’ll give our team a chance to win,” said Mulcahy.

“It was a total team effort. It showed on the defensive end more than anything,” Mulcahy added. “Our defense helped fuel this win. Everyone did their job (Thursday).”

“The last couple games, we’ve been struggling scoring the basketball,” said Schauman. “We just didn’t finish tonight.”

Brocton was led by Brown’s 21 points, while Darien Booker added 16 points and Riley Rivera had 15 points. All three players were part of Brocton’s all-senior starting five on Thursday.

“It means the world to these guys (to win on Thursday). After the losing records they’ve had in all the previous years, to know the last time they played on this court here in Brocton, they walked away with the ‘W’ … I think that will mean the world to these seniors,” said Mulcahy.

“Congratulations to Brocton. I know they had started the season well and then went through some things, so it’s good for them on their Senior Night to get a good win,” added Schauman.

Despite the turnaround from last year, however, Brocton is still not satisfied — especially not Brown, their senior captain.

“I want to keep pushing for playoffs,” said Brown. “We’re the underdogs and I want to come out with a win, to show everybody something different.”

Twitter: @bradencarmen

Newsletter

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *
   

Starting at $4.62/week.

Subscribe Today