Sports

Spartans nip Tosa East, 48-45, in thriller

Simon leads all scorers with 23 points

By Tom "Sky" Skibosh

Jan. 24, 2014

e-mail
print

Brookfield East’s boys basketball team fought off a second-half rally at Wauwatosa East on Friday and hung on for a 48-45 victory.

The win was the Spartans’ first win in the Greater Metro Conference , tying The Red Raiders and West Allis Hale, all with 1-5 records. After losing their last 8 games, the Spartans have now won two in a row.

After taking a slim 9-7 lead in the first quarter, Brookfield East went on a 15-4 run in the second period to coast into halftime with 24-11 lead. Christian Simon, who led all scorers with 23 points, scored six in the quarter to spark the Spartans.

But the Red Raiders came to life in the second half behind Nick Pridgeon, who scored 12 points of his 14 points and Drue Holley, who had nine of his 11, outscoring Brookfield East, 34-22.

Tosa East actually took the lead for the first time with a 10-0 run in the fourth quarter, as Ethan Telderer came off the bench and hit two 3’s, sandwiched around a steal and a dunk by Pridgeon, a fastbreak basket by Pridgeon off a pass from Bryce Beekman and a drive by Sean Wheeler for a 45-42 lead with 1:54 left to play.

But the Red Raiders wouldn’t score again while the Spartans finished with a 6-0 run.

Simon hit two free throws with a minute left, Dominic Cartier hit a layup and Corey Smith hit two free throws with 21.8 left to play.

In the final seconds Wheeler missed a 3-pointer, but Pridgeon, who was a monster on the boards all night, grabbed the rebound and kicked it back out but Brookfield East’s Smith knocked the ball out of bounds with a few seconds left to play.

Holley tried a long 3-pointer, but it hit the front of the rim and the game was over.