2007, Was A Good Year – Editorial

We will always remember 2007 as the year of great achievements, record setting performances, eight incredible seniors, and a championship season.

The 2006-07 Mustangs entered the new year with an impressive 11-1 record, having lost only by three points to Lexington Catholic 53-50 in the Fifth-Third Classic.

Bob Rowe’s JVs were 7-1 after beating Lexington Catholic, Highlands, and McNick. The freshmen were 9-3 with wins over Campbell County, Lexington Catholic, and Boone County.

God was in his heaven and all was right with the world.

The varsity waltzed through the first two games of the MCIT with wins over Montgomery County and Campbell County for the second time that season, before being rocked back to reality by the Mason County Royals in the MCIT finals 56-33 and then on Janaury 18th were shocked at Pendleton County by the 3-8 Wildcats – 61-58.

As the Mustangs regrouped and rolled through the 10th Region All “A” Classic for the fifth consecutive time they anticipated the return of Nathan Mutsch, who had sustained a sprained hand, to their ranks for our annual assault on Richmond in quest of the “A” State Holy Grail.

When they got the word that our primary power forward wouldn’t be available and they were faced with the impossible job of playing a gruelling four-game battery of the state’s top Class “A” competition with a makeshift seven man lineup, it only seemed to further their resolve and they won it anyway.

It was the things of which legends are made of as they banded together to overcome adversity and with the coming-out of previously unheralded Bryan Niemeyer, and under the direction of Head Coach Mike Code, got the job done.

After beating NCC for second time in ten days, but again failing to match up with the region’s top ranked Mason County Royals, the Mustangs enjoyed a magical night in Park Hills as Jimmy Uebel scored a career high 28 points, and Troy Cooper joined the 1,000 Point Club in upending the 9th Region kingpin, Covington Catholic Colonels 63-56 to claim the Number One Ranking in Northern Kentucky for themselves, for the second time in three years.

A win over the valiant, Corey Pelle led Silver Grove Big Trains, and a come-from-the-clouds 55-54 win over Scott and the ’07 Mustangs improved to 27-4 and were back-to-back 37th District Champions.

A win over Deming in the opening round of the 10th Region Tournament set the stage for our third try at the seemingly invincible Mason County Royals on a Saturday afternoon in the Fieldhouse where the guttiest team to ever wear Brossart unifroms ended their careers with a 63-57 loss,despite Josh Kidney’s 17 point fourth quarter effort as he single-handedly tried to extend the ’07 Mustangs’ season.

They finished with a school record 28 wins and 5 loss record, with three of those losses coming to Mason County.

Nathan Mutsch and Troy Cooper signed Division I College Baseball and Track scholarships and each of the ’07 basketball Mustangs received or were offered college scholarships to continue their academic or athletic careers in college.

Spring arrived and Bob Rowe’s baseball Mustangs put up 25 wins, another “A” Regional title, and repeated as 37th District Champs before losing a heartbreaking 3-2 regional semi-finals game to Harrison County.

Troy Cooper, Ben Ridder, and Mitch Patterson went to Track Season where they would earn their second State Champioship rings of the year.

In late May Troy Cooper, Jimmy Uebel, Nathan Mutsch, Josh Kidney, Kyle Kramer, Bryan Niemeyer, Matt Lloyd, and Luke Rebholz graduated from Bishop Brossart High School after leaving their marks on this school in such a manner as to leave us wondering when, if ever, we will see another group of similar athletes with the talent, the heart, the will-to-win, the ability to refuse-to-lose, and the sheer determination to overcome adversity as these guys possessed.

Since the onset of the 2007-08 season their successors have found how big those shoes are to fill and are busy gaining the experience needed to follow in their footsteps on their own stage. The soccer team went to the regional semi-finals and the golf team came up a single stroke short of repeating as regional champs or runners-up for the fourth consecutive time. Although suffering growing pains, our first year of varsity football was a lot of fun.

2007 – It was a very good year!!!!

DJS/12-31-07