Barat Boys Fall to Brentwood Despite Spirited Effort

The Barat Academy boys’ basketball brought a spirited fight to the hardwood in playing the role of spoiler Friday night at Brentwood’s senior night.

The visiting Eagles entered the nonconference clash with just one win in 17 games this season. As for the host Eagles, they were looking to snap a five-game losing streak on the same night they honored their trio of seniors.

While Barat Academy gave a valiant effort, Brentwood fed off the play of seniors Andrew Erby and Amadou Cisse, who combined for 28 points and 20 rebounds, en route to a 58-47 win.

Brentwood improved to 8-11 overall while Barat Academy dropped to 1-17 this season.

“I was very impressed that our kids battled for 32 minutes,” Barat Academy head coach David German said. “We’ve had games where we’ve played hard for two quarters or three quarters. So I thought we played hard tonight. I don’t know if we played as smart as we can, but we played very hard.

“Tonight they played really hard. If they would have played like that all season long, we might have 15 wins or so. And that’s what the guys said in the locker room.”

However, the visitors never quit until the final buzzer sounded, rallying several times after falling behind by double digits.

Erby put his jumper on display in the opening half, hitting the game’s first two shots as Brentwood jumped out to a 10-3 lead while Erby scored eight of those points.

But Barat drew within 16-13 after one quarter thanks to a pair of 3-pointers from Chad Younger and another trey from Cody Heying.

“They play hard,” Eagles coach Kern said about his opposition. “Obviously, they hustle and do the little things that keep them in ball games. That’s a credit to them. They played harder than we did at times.”

It remained a one-possession game at 24-21 with 2:25 left in the first half, but that’s when Brentwood closed on a 12-3 run. Will Erby had five points during that stretch before his older brother Andrew capped things with a 3-pointer for a 36-24 lead at the break.

“We a couple of bad stretches,” German said. “We had the ball down seven with 30 seconds left in the half with a chance to cut it to five going into halftime. Instead we turned it over a couple of times leading to a layup and a three. So we’re down 12 at halftime, but that stuff happens.”

After Erby tallied 15 of his game-high 17 points during the opening half, the host Eagles went inside to the 6-foot-11 Cisse early in the third quarter.

Cisse scored Brentwood’s first five points and Karvon Owens added a basket to help build a 43-29 advantage.

But the visiting Eagles ended the third on a 10-3 spurt, sparked by Brandyn Chambers as well as Chris Shannon and Sam Fortmann. Barat Academy trailed 46-39 heading into the fourth quarter.

Brentwood came out on fire in the fourth quarter as Cisse had consecutive putbacks, Owens added a stickback and Edwards had a layup that pushed the lead out to 54-39 – the largest of the game.

While that lead was too much to overcome, Barat Academy continued scratching and clawing its way back within striking distance.

Chambers had four points during an 8-0 run that drew the visiting Eagles as close as 54-47 with 1:22 remaining, but Brentwood finished the contest scoring the final four points to preserve the win.

Cisse recorded a double-double with 11 points, 12 rebounds and two blocked shots while Erby ended up with 17 points, eight boards and eight steals.

“Andrew knocked down a lot of shots early,” Kern said. “We rode him in that first half. That’s probably the best he’s looked this year with that mid-range jumper.

“Then our game plan was to go inside to Amadou in the second half. We knew we could get the ball to him against that zone. We executed in the third quarter and he was able to finish.”

Chambers led the way for Barat Academy, scoring 14 points and grabbing five rebounds. Younger finished with eight points, Stiles Jackson had six points and seven boards, and Shannon provided seven points and six rebounds.

Barat Academy returns to action when it hosts Christian-O’Fallon Monday night.

“Our guys are getting better and they know they’re getting better. It is fun for them to start seeing that,” German said. “Earlier in the year we were getting beat by 30 points. Now we were playing a good schedule.

"But we’ve gotten so much better and it’s coming out in the results. Maybe it’s not a win, but we’re losing by two or three or six. They are seeing the product of their hard work, so that’s helping to inspire them.”

BOX SCORE

BARAT (47) – Jackson 3 0-0 6, Younger 3 0-0 8, Heying 2 0-0 5, Chambers 6 2-3 14, Shannon 3 1-2 7, Fortmann 3 0-0 6, Lloyd 0 1-3 1, Jung 0 0-0 0, Burns 0 0-0 0. Totals 20 4-8 47.

BRENTWOOD (58) – A. Erby 6 4-6 17, R. Owens 0 0-0 0, K. Owens 6 2-4 14, Cisse 5 1-2 11, Winkleman 0 0-0 0, Lynch 0 3-4 3, Sneed 0 0-0 0, W. Erby 2 0-0 5, Edwards 3 1-2 8. Totals 22 11-18 58.

BA       13        11        15        8 – 47

BW      16        20        10        12 – 58

3-Pointers – Barat 3 (Younger 2, Heying), Brentwood 3 (A.Erby, W.Erby, Edwards). Rebounds – Barat 35 (Jackson 7, Shannon 6), Brentwood 30 (Cisse 12, A.Erby 8). Turnovers – Barat 25, Brentwood 11. Fouls – Barat 16, Brentwood 16. Fouled Out – None. Records – Barat is 1-17 and Brentwood is 8-11.