Life tastes a little sweeter today on 29 Bruin Drive in Wellsburg. That’s because for the first time since 2014, and only the second time in school history, the Bruins boys’ basketball team qualified for the OVAC Tournament.
Head coach Adam Shinsky’s team currently sports a 9-4 record, good enough to earn Brooke the No. 3 seed in the OVAC Class 5A tournament.
Action gets underway Tuesday as the Bruins head south to Morgantown to face the Mohigans, coached by Magnolia grad David Tallman. Top-seeded Dover (16-1) hosts University (9-6). The Hawks’ recent win, coupled with Steubenville’s loss to Linsly, kept Brooke in the Top 4.
Parkersburg South (13-2) and New Philadelphia (12-4) were both higher than Brooke in points average, but neither is eligible because of a lack of sufficient OVAC opponents played. It matters not to the Bruins. They earned the right to play in this tournament and are excited for the challenge that awaits.
“It feels really good,” Shinsky admitted. “We found out (Tuesday) night when Steubenville lost to Linsly. Then the question is whether we’d be third or fourth. It’s incredible knowing we got in because we are one of the smaller 5A schools.
“This is the 14th year for the tournament and just the second time we’ve made it. The other 12 times, we finished in last place. Jumping out of the basement and getting a crack at the OVAC championship in two years says a lot.”
That it does.
Shinsky came from Wheeling Central when he accepted the Brooke head job prior to the 2020-21 season. He went from one of the Valley’s most successful programs to one of its least. What Shinsky, his staff, and the players at Brooke have been able to accomplish in two seasons is remarkable.
But the coach isn’t about to go patting himself on the back wherever he goes. He had a hand in reshaping a mindset and putting a plan into action, but he also knows he’s got a couple of horses, along with some solid role players, which were just waiting for the light bulb to click on.
Changing the Culture
Two seasons ago, the Bruins won just two games and were not a highly respected program. Last season, they won seven games and started turning some heads, showing folks around the valley that they could compete.
That was during a COVID-shortened season and offseason. Following that campaign, the Bruins and staff went to work. Fifty-plus games in the summer, countless hours in the gym, and a rededication from each young man to his team and teammates saw a different team take the floor in late November.
“You see the attitude change,” Shinsky said. “Some games last year we’d get down, and there’d be a little bit of pouting, a bit of accepting that we were going to lose, but that it wasn’t a blowout.
“It’s completely different this year. I see anger. I see a ‘we got this; we’ll win this’ mentality.”
Shinsky recalled a win against Magnolia earlier this season. The Blue Eagles caught fire from the field and took a 13-point advantage, forcing Shinsky to burn a timeout.
He’d planned what he wanted to say to light a fire under his charges. Before he got the chance, he heard senior guard Cole Sperlazza leading the verbal charge.
“He was saying that ‘we’ve got this,’ and about a minute later, it’s a tie ball game,” Shinsky recalled.
Sperlazza is one of the aforementioned horses. He’s all of 5-foot-10, but his attitude and willingness to attack the basket and play above the rim are unrivaled. He’s averaging around 20.5 points per game and just passed 200 assists for his career.
His 1-2 scoring punch counterpart is the team’s only starter above 6-foot tall in senior post Alex Isinghood (6-3). Isinghood averages 21.9 points per game and is a leader on the boards for the Bruins. The two will finish in the 1,000-point club by the season’s end and have helped lead a resurgence of Bruins’ basketball.
They make Brooke tough to defend.
“They complement each other well,” Shinsky said. “They are hard to double, and when you play us, we have to commit to either of the two guys.”
That allows players like fellow seniors Eddie Marks and Jason Varner to flourish. Another senior and the fifth starter, Nathan Taylor, also has come up big in games. Targeting one of the big two has allowed other Bruins to shine.
Isinghood is averaging better than 20, despite scoring only two points in a 63-47 win against Madonna. That night, it was Varner, supplying 17 points and 14 rebounds to aid the cause.
It’s the rise of the complementary scorers that’s really helped the Bruins this season.
“We lacked that last year,” Shinsky said. “If (Isinghood and Sperlazza) weren’t scoring, we just kind of froze. Now, they have more confidence. They’ve accepted their roles and know they will get their shots.”
Big Challenge
Next up is a big test for Shinsky and company.
The Mohigans have yet to lose to an in-state team, falling to Winston-Salem Christian (NC) by two, York Prep (SC) by one, and Steward (Va.) by three.
They own wins against Martinsburg, Wheeling Park, South, and two against rival universities. The strength of schedule between the two is slanted heavily in Motown’s favor.
Brooke knows what is waiting down Interstate 79.
“We saw them because they played right before us in the Rotary Challenge when we played Magnolia,” Shinsky said. “There is no weakness. From guys one through 13, there is no weakness. They are big, strong, are well-coached, disciplined, and play hard for 32 minutes.
“They rarely make a mistake and that’s an incredible thing to say for a high school team.”
A challenge for sure, but the Bruins are ready to give it their all.
As Shinsky said, no one expected his team to be there. No one, at least, outside the Brooke locker room.
Before the season, the coaching staff and players set three goals which, to anyone outside of Bruins’ diehards, would seem “lofty.”
But here they are, having met one (qualifying for the OVAC tournament) and a few wins away from the second (finishing with a winning season). That last goal will be a tall order as well, qualifying for the regional championship.
Two of three shall be met when the postseason rolls around, and who knows from that point? But the smart money is to not bet against the Bruins. They’ve already surpassed outside expectations. But it’s those internal goals that have this team hungry for more and eager to prove that it does, in fact, belong.
