NCN LAX/BASKETBALL BLOG

Freelancer Mike Sabini was at the Peekskill-Xaverian consolation game of the Slam Dunk Tournament at the Westchester County Center in White Plains Dec. 29. This is his report.

By Mike Sabini

Anybody who knows Peekskill senior guard Daquan Brickhouse knows that he doesn’t take losing well — whether it’s a state championship game in March or the beginning of the season in December.

Thus, after the Red Devils’ 57-48 loss in the consolation game of the Slam Dunk Tournament against Xaverian Dec. 29, Brickhouse told his teammates that each and every one of them has to figure out a way to stop the bleeding.

Now at most schools, a two-game losing streak wouldn’t even register on the radar. But for a Peekskill (2-3) squad that had lost only eight games the last four seasons prior to the loss against Xaverian, it’s completely foreign.

Brickhouse, however, is confident that his team can turn it around, like Long Island Lutheran did last season after losing two games at the Slam Dunk but then went on to win the Class A Federation title.

“It (the desire to win) comes from the heart,” Brickhouse said. “It’s about having determination and not giving up. I’m getting more confident in my teammates and my teammates are what push me on.

“I don’t want to see any of them put their head down in a game or give up on anybody. We are a family and we need everybody. People on the bench or whoever’s on the floor, we need everyone to contribute. We got to learn to motivate and pat each other on the back if we make mistakes. We just have to keep playing the game.”

Brickhouse said that if the Red Devils are to get back on the winning track, which most think they will, then the work must start long before the games begin.

“What you do in practice is what you do in the games,” Brickhouse said.

Against Xaverian, Brickhouse pulled his weight, scoring a team-high 18 points. He knocked down two free throws to pull the Red Devils to within two, 50-48, with just 52.6 seconds remaining.

At that juncture, it appeared Peekskill was in a position to take the game, just like they were the previous night in a 58-52 loss to Iona Prep.
“We’re in these games, we just have to learn how to close them,” Peekskill Head Coach Lou Panzanaro said.

But the Red Devils failed to make one last big defensive stand. Xaverian’s Anthony Mathews drove the lane, scored, got fouled and made the free throw to put the Clippers up by five.

“You have to continue to play defense and be at the right spot, you can’t let up,” said Peekskill’s Kenny Bradshaw, who scored 13 points and grabbed a team-high 15 rebounds. “We had to stop them there so we could get the ball back and tie the game.”

Then a steal by Xaverian’s Abraham Akanmu led to a foul shot to put his squad up by six.

Peekskill had one last chance to get back in the game, but Sean Smythe’s 3-point attempt, which looked dead on when he released it, went in and out, thus sealing the game for the Clippers.

Despite the end result, the Red Devils played well early on. Kenny Bradshaw finished a slam-dunk on a breakaway to put the Red Devils up 7-0 early in the first quarter. Bradshaw said it was important for the Red Devils to get off to a good start after losing to the Gaels the previous night.

“We needed to come out with some intensity,” Bradshaw said. “I could’ve just laid it in there, but we needed to come out and make a statement.”

Peekskill wound up going up 9-0, but Xaverian made a run toward the end of the quarter and trailed just 11-7.

The Clippers eventually took a 25-22 halftime lead, thanks to four 3-pointers in the second quarter by Justin Exum, who had a game-high 22 points.

“We were focused and came out running but we didn’t sustain our running and No. 11 (Exum) hit those 3-pointers,” Panzanaro said. “Those four three’s (in the second quarter) really put us in a hole and we never really got our transition game going.”