December 18th: Mustangs vs. Holmes
Mustangs Head into the christmas break with a 62-55 Win over holmes, That saw Nick Cozzi (Career High 27) and Brady Boruske (19) combine for 46 points
Mustangs 62, Holmes 55
Thursday, December 18th
Freshmen 32-30 Winners, JVs Win 51-21
* Replay Available *
Following a first period where we employed a mix of experience and youth, producing a 1-point advantage (15-14), either by design or circumstances, our five starters played all 8 minutes of the second quarter, laying over the Bulldogs, 25-14, providing our home team with a 12 point lead at intermission, giving the Brossart faithful a warm, fuzzy feeling as they headed toward the concession stand.
Then came the third quarter, a period that in our last three contests, have seen us outscored 73-19. On this night we were able to overcome being outscored 16-3 out of the locker room, and despite falling behind 48-44, righted the ship, put up a more Mustang-like 19-11 fourth period to salvage the win, 62-55 and improve to 3-5.
To say that Nick Cozzi is rounding into basketball form would be an understatement. Cozzi got us out of thee gate early, scoring 10 points in the first stanza, and 13 more in the final frame, putting up a career high 27 points. Brady Boruske added 19. Michael Chames led the Dawgs with 17 and Mark McCutchen added 14. The Bulldogs will be back in Alexandria to participate in the “Dave Schabell Christmas Classic” on December 28th and 29th. They will play Roger Bacon and Walton-Verona. Our Mustangs will face Walton Verona and Roger Bacon. The good news is that we expect to have Carson Hesse and Cohen Trauth back in service for the tournament.
Our Freshmen and JVs will take on Campbell County in sort of an impromptu “Crosstown Classic” this coming Monday, December 22nd at Campbell County High School in Claryville. Game times are scheduled for 5:30pm for the Freshman game and 6:45pm for the JV rendition. We will broadcast the event as a single production beginning at 5:10pm.
December 16th: Mustangs vs. Holy Cross
Mustangs Mis-Matched in 79-51 Loss to Holy Cross Tuesday Night in Latonia
Holy Cross 79, Mustangs 51
Tuesday, December 16th
Frosh Fall 44-28, JVs Downed 37-23
Good teams will point out your shortcomings. On Tuesday night in Latonia, despite our hanging tough with the well regarded 5-0 Tribe in the first half, our size, depth, and experience level all surfaced as we were pummeled 29-6 in the third period. Combine the fast, physical pace of the game, the Indians’ superior size and length, and their ability to go down their bench, calling upon 8 accomplished players, all contributed to our demise in the second half. After putting up 26 points in the first half, the veteran members of our starting five were limited to merely five points in the second half. The length and height of the Indians’ frontcourt limited our inside scoring, where again tonight, the 3-Ball was our friend as we delivered 7 of them in the first half, and a total of 9 of them for the game. The Tribe connected on 7 of them, with 5 of them coming in the first quarter, when they were red hot from beyond the arc.
The Mustangs were led on this night by Beckett Kuntz with 13, and Drew Steffen added 10. Four Indians put up double-figures with Nate Rominger leading the way with 20. Sophomore Derek Bezold gave us good minutes while bursting onto the Varsity scene with a pair of 3-point goals.
We get a day on the practice floor on Wednesday, and will be back to hoops wars then the Holmes Bulldogs come to call for a tripleheader Thursday. Game times are Freshmen at 5pm, JVs at 6pm and Varsity at 7:30pm.
Injuries continue to plague the program. Tuesday night in the opening moments of the Freshman game, Paxton Litmer went down on a lob play, damaging his knee. He will have an MRI at 7:45am Wednesday morning to assess the damage. Keep Paxton in your prayers. Cohen Trauth and Carson Hesse are both still out recovering from surgery that they underwent last Tuesday.
PAXTON LITMER UPDATE – Unfortunately, Paxton has been diagnosed with a torn ACL. He will see the doctor on Friday to arrange the next steps. He will be out for the remainder of the season.
December 11th: Mustangs vs. Beechwood
Halftime is the Culprit as Mustangs fail to preserve a 9-Point halftime lead, succumb to the Beechwood Tigers 65-59, despite a 27 point career best effort from Drew Steffen.
JV Game: Beechwood 48, Mustangs 41 - Brady Rowe 15, Bauer Glass 11
The Beechwood Tigers came to Alexandria Thursday night, coming off of victories over Gallatin County, and a 76-32 decision over Scott twenty-four hours ago. The two teams battled to a 16-13 Beechwood edge after one, but the home team caught fire, putting up 22 points in the second stanza, a period in which we out-scrapped, out-rebounded, and outscored the visitors 22-10, giving the Mustangs a 35-26 advantage at halftime. In that quarter we nailed six 3-pointers, with three of them coming from Junior Drew Steffen who put up 16 of his game/career high 27 points in that 8 minute span.
On the broadcast I warned of Beechwood playing inspired basketball out of the locker room at halftime and I wasn’t wrong. As it took the former Red and White Tigers about two and a half minutes to eradicate that deficit and then a minute or two later, build a 48-41 lead of their own. At that point it would have been easy for us to concede the match to the highly touted Tigers and take a sizeable loss. The encouraging part of the Mustangs being overcome in the third period is that we battled back, overcame the 54-45 third quarter hole and went on a run of our own and re-took the lead at 57-56 with 3:14 remaining in the game, putting us back in a position to win. However, Beechwood was up to the task, hit their free-throws down the stretch and prevailed 65-59 to escape Alexandria with the win. In addition to Drew Steffen’s career high 27, Brady Boruske added 13.
The Mustangs will welcome some down time over the weekend, with the seniors on retreat, before getting back to NKAC DIV II competition, taking on another highly regarded opponent in the Holy Cross Indians in a tripleheader on Tuesday in Latonia. Holmes will come to call on Thursday.
December 9th: Mustangs vs. New Richmond
MUSTANGS USE SPEED, ATHLETICISM, QUICK HANDS, TO OUT-PLAY NEW RICHMOND 74-48
Mustangs 74, New Richmond (OH) 48
Tuesday, December 9th
Freshmen Buzzer-Bombed 26-25,
JVs Roll 48-36
On a day when two of our players went under the knife – Sophomore Cohen Trauth for his hand injury sustained this past Saturday at Lexington Christian, and Senior Carson Hesse, who had his appendix removed, and a third recovering from his stay at Cincinnati Children’s Overnight – Jake Bricking recovering from severe abdominal pain, the Mustangs managed to employ “Next Man Up” and took care of business at New Richmond. In the JV game, down three starters, Brady Rowe took scoring honors with 14 points, while Derek Bezold and Bauer Glass added 10 each as the JVs blew open a close game in the third quarter by limiting the home team to 5 points as we improve to 4-1 on the early season.
In the varsity contest, sophomore Wyatt Feldman was thrown into the fire, gaining valuable experience, starting in the stead of Carson Hesse. This was another game that featured aggressive play and physicality, which worked to our advantage in this one. Following the script, the Mustangs ran out to a 19-7 lead after 8 minutes of play, but were outscored 18-12 as New Richmond narrowed the margin to 31-25 at intermission. In the third period, Nick Cozzi came alive, putting up 8 points enroute to a “coming out” night career high 20 points. Beckett Kuntz dropped a trio of 3-Bombs, and fie of them on the night, while tallying 19 for the game and Brady Boruske scored 11 of his 13 point sum total in the third period as the Mustangs outscored the Lions 27-11 and extended the lead to 58-36. Late in the game Sophomore Ethan Tiemeier scored his first-ever varsity points.
We did receive good news today when surgery on Cohen’ Trauth’s hand revealed that a nerve, that was possibly torn, was only bruised, and expected to have healed by the time that Cohen recovers from the surgery. Thanks to all who offered thoughts and prayers for the favorable result and a speedy recovery.
Our Freshmen battled New Richmond to a 25-23 lead with time expiring in the contest when Logan Olsen banked one in at the buzzer, which was the 26-25 game -winner for the Lions.
The Mustangs get a much-needed day on the practice floor on Wednesday prior to engaging Beechwood for three games on Thursday.
December 8th: Mustangs vs. Grant Co
Mustangs Find Tough Sledding in Dry Ridge, Fall 61-50 to now 3-0 grant county braves, mustang jvs improve to 3-1 with 41-31 decision
In a game reminiscent of those played over the weekend in Lexington, defensive pressure resulted in turnovers which converted to our opponent’s baskets, and when we did score, it was normally the result of a 3-point goal (7/25).
Neither team could get untracked in the first quarter, as the Mustangs scored on our opening play, and then the two teams played 4 minutes without overworking the scoreboard. The quarter ended 11-9 favoring the home team. The pace accelerated somewhat in the second stanza as we were edged 14-12, giving the Braves a 25-21 advantage at intermission.
A 13-2 run by Grant County midway through the third period, pushed their margin to 47-35. We did make a run, precipitated by a trio of 3-Point goals by Carson Hesse cut the gap to 57-50, but would go for naught, as the Braves answered each challenge, improving to 3-0 with the 61-50 win.
The Braves had two standout players – Juniors Cade Wagner and Nate Hamm, who combined for 37 points on the night. Our Mustangs countered with 16 from Carson Hesse and 15 from Drew Steffen. The Mustangs will be right back in the fray in 24 hours when we cross the Ohio River to take on the New Richmond Lions in a tripleheader with the Freshmen bout at 4:30pm, the JVs go at 6pm and the Varsity featured at 7:30pm. NOTE: The New Richmond schedule shows the varsity game scheduled for 7:15pm, which means that they will start early if the JV game ends early.
We regret to report that Sophomore Cohen Trauth, who was making contributions at the varsity level, sustained a hand injury in the Saturday game at Lexington Christian, which will require surgery Tuesday morning and lost playing time. Keep Cohen in your thoughts and prayers.
December 6th: Mustangs vs. Lexington Christian
MUSTANGS FALL TO LEXINGTON CHRISTIAN 72-66 ON SATURDAY
Mustangs 66, Lexington Christian 72
Saturday, December 6th
** Replay Available **
Our Mustangs concluded their whirlwind trip to Lexington on Saturday, dipping our toes into the deep end of the pool for the second time within 17 hours taking on LCA (Lexington Christian Academy), who was coming off of a Class 2A State Football championship the night before. Early on we were badly out-played, but made a strong statement in the second half, outscoring the home team 45-32, albeit, too little too late, despite cutting the margin to 62-58 in the waning minutes of the contest against the Eagle ones. Brady Boruske exploded for 19 second half points to lead the charge, and scored 24 points on the day to lead all scorers in the contest. Drew Steffen added 12 and Beckett Kuntz 10, in the 72-66 loss as we seek to establish an identity, with this contributing combination of veterans and promising youngsters. The Mustangs take a day off on Sunday, and will be back to hoops wars on Monday night, making up the opening night snow postponement with JV and Varsity games versus Grant County in Dry Ridge at 5:30pm and 7pm.
Hats off to our JV team, who after falling in 2OT at Sayre, rebounded by defeating a really good Lexington Christian JV team 34-30. In that contest, Wyatt Feldman paced the Mustangs with 9, Cohen Trauth chipped in 8, while Brady Rowe and Bauer Glass put up 6 each in the quality win.
December 5th: Mustangs vs. Sayre
mustangs dominate early, falter late, succumb to sayre 66-59 in first of two in lexington despite 23 from drew steffen, 12 from kuntz
jvs valiant in 55-50 double OT loss to their sayre counterparts: Feldman 16, glass 14
December 3rd: Mustangs vs. Villa Madonna
Mustangs 75, Villa Madonna 40
Wednesday, December 3rd
**Replay Available**
JV & Freshmen Victorious (44-16 & 45-26), Ten Score In The Frosh Game, Led By Parker Litmer With 8 Points
Mustangs Start The Season With Wins All Around vs Villa Madonna, Senior Beckett Kuntz Leads The Mustangs With 20 Points
Our Brossart Mustangs got a “trip over the track” Wednesday night, defeating Villa Madonna for the 10th consecutive time 75-40 in running clock manner. Drew Steffen got us out of the gate scoring 8 of our first 12 point, as we opened a 12-0 early game lead, and were never threatened by the Division III Vikings.
Senior Beckett Kuntz was stymied early, able to muster only 6 first half tallies. Kuntz caught fire in the second half, nailing four 3-point goals and a two to finish out the night with 20 points to lead all scorers. Brady Boruske, fresh off of the gridiron, showed no rust whatsoever, picking up where he left off a year ago, adding to his 349 career points with 17 more tonight. In total, Ten Mustangs put ink in the book on this night. Brady Rowe, Cohen Trauth, and Wyatt Feldman all scored their first varsity points.
Some takeaways from this night was the play of the sophomores who made major contributions, and will allow us to develop bench-depth confidence. I thought our ball-movement was the best that we have seen in the past three seasons. We hit eleven 3-pointers, as we begin to develop an offensive identity. Our Free Throw shooting (4-15) left much to be desired, which I will take as an indication that we are playing several guys fresh off of the football field and/or soccer pitch. Keeping in mind that tougher competition lies ahead, we will take what we got out of this contest tonight and move on to Lexington Sayre and Lexington Christian Friday and Saturday night. Interestingly, we have only played Sayre on one previous occasion – December 29, 2014 in the Henry County Tournament where we were defeated 79-72 in overtime, and have only encountered Lexington Christian on one previous occasion, this one in the 2014 All “A” State Tournament, where we upset them 55-51.
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