Bobcats Clinch State Playoff Berth

With a state playoff berth on the line, Brookfield (8-7, 5-5) came into Immaculate’s gym fired up.  The Bobcats jumped on the Mustangs from the start and took a 15-5 lead early in the first quarter.  Immaculate (8-9, 3-8) would respond by making its runs but in the end it was Brookfield celebrating a 64-58 win and their first trip to the state tournament since the 2007-08 season.

“We talked about it in the pregame, number one we had the opportunity to achieve a goal we had set out at the beginning of the year, which is to qualify for states,” Brookfield head coach Wayne Thrall said.  “Then we addressed the issue of the fact that none of the seniors or the juniors had ever won a game in this gymnasium.  So we added some fuel to the fire in the pre-game pep talk and these kids came out and gave me everything that they had.  I was really proud of this group tonight.”

In front of a raucous crowd that was equal parts Immaculate and Brookfield fans, Bobcats senior captain Nick Paez scored seven points including a three-point shot to give Brookfield the early 10-point lead. 

“We have some great fans,” Paez said of the strong support of students who made the road trip to root on the team.  “I’m very close to all those seniors, they come to all the games, it’s good to have them travel with us and stay behind our backs.”

Junior Danny Burkhart also had the hot hand as he scored 10 points in the first quarter helping Brookfield up their lead to 19-9.

“They played very well, all credit to them,” Immaculate head coach Nelson Mingachos said.  “I thought we came out very flat tonight, the reason why I have no idea.  But all credit to them, they worked hard, they did the little things that we didn’t do and that got them the win.”

The Bobcats would get into major foul trouble however, allowing the Mustangs to get back into the game. Immaculate went on a 9-0 run covering the end of the first quarter and beginning of the second quarter as Brookfield went into the penalty.

“If you had asked me if they would be in the bonus in the first quarter and we would have a six or eight point lead I would have said you are crazy,” Thrall said of his team overcoming foul trouble.  “It was a total team effort tonight, especially with the foul trouble we were in.”

The mustangs were led by Felipe Texiera early in the game, as he scored 10 of the Mustangs first 18 points, five of which came from the free throw line.  Texiera’s last three free throws cut the Bobcat lead to 19-18 in the opening minute of the second quarter.

With the Bobcats having three players with two fouls, senor captain Austin Yusko stepped up to end the Mustang run.  Yusko buried a three-pointer to push the Bobcat lead back to four points.  After Texiera scored on a fast break and Paez hit a three-pointer of his own, Yusko buried another from downtown and then scored on a layup to give the Bobcats a 30-22 lead.

“He hit some big shots,” Thrall said of Yusko.

“This is a big win, I remember coming here when my brother played,” Yusko said of the last time the Bobcats had won at Immaculate.  “Qualifying for states and putting us in a good position for SWCs, we’re looking for that bid.”

Yusko led off the scoring for the Bobcats in the second half with another layup to keep the lead at eight points before the Mustangs began to chip away at the lead.

“I’ve been shooting well, I just needed to take my shots,” Yusko said.  “I finally hit a couple of threes in this game, that was big.”

Sheldon Irving scored on a three-point play as he was fouled on a shot to cut the lead to five.  Immaculate then got a big boost off the bench as Conner Holbrook came in and scored three buckets in the paint to cut the lead to 41-37.

Brookfield sophomore Boeing Brown came off the bench to answer Holbrook however, hitting a layup before the buzzer at the end of the third quarter for a 43-37 lead.  Brown then scored two more baskets in the lane in the fourth quarter to push the lead back up to eight points.

Brookfield eventually built its lead to nine points on a Paez layup before the Mustangs made their final run.  Texiera hit on three free throws and Greg Minchik scored on a rebound put back to cut the lead to 54-50 with 2:14 remaining.

The Bobcats stayed aggressive instead of holding the ball and Paez and Burkhart came up with back-to-back drives in the lane to push the lead back to eight points and all but end the game.

“That was a huge point,” Thrall said of the team responding to the Mustang run.  “Our mentality coming out of one of the time outs was time in our favor we’ll use a little bit of clock and I think that we stumbled backing off the gas pedal a little bit, we got back on it and said we are going to score and that revved us back up.”

Burkhart led all scorers with 22 points, while Paez added 21, Yusko finished with 12 and Brown put in six for Brookfield.  Paez also had five assists, as did senior Joey Acquanita.

“We had a couple kids step up,” Paez said of the team getting help overcoming foul trouble.  “Boeing stepped up really big, Joey Acquanita also stepped up, we needed another point guard and he helped out with the ball and Yusko hit some big time shots.”

Texiera led Immaculate with 21 points, scoring 14 in the first half.  Daniel McCorkle scored 10 points, hitting on two three-pointers while Irving finished with seven points.

The loss deals a tough blow to the Mustangs chances of making the conference playoffs, while Brookfield was able to keep pace as they fight to move into the SWC post-season play.  They entered the game in a three-way tie for the eighth and final playoff spot with four games remaining.

“We had clinched the states but we were fighting to get into the SWCs,” Mingachos said.  “With this loss a lot would have to happen for us to get in.  It’s a good win for them for league playoffs and we got to go back to work and battle the rest of the way.”

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