Brooke’s most recent 57-40 victory against Oak Glen this week gave the Bruins their fourth win of the season and brought the team within one game of getting back to .500.
That could happen as soon as later tonight, should the Green & Yellow leave Marshall County with a win against a tough Cameron team.
If that happens, Brooke’s record will be 5-5. If not, it’ll be 4-6, but it’s that fourth win that’s significant, regardless of tonight’s outcome.
Why you ask? Consider that the Bruins’ win total under first-year head coach Adam Shinsky already equals that of the previous two seasons.
That is what you call progress. Not that Shinsky is surprised.
Coming from an ultra-successful program like Wheeling Central, Shinsky is used to winning. Brooke, on the other hand, last had a winning season in 2014. It has two in 13 seasons.
Its last trip to Charleston? 1994. There were a few people who cautioned Shinsky about what he was getting himself into. He wasn’t hearing it.
“I heard a few things prior to taking the job, just some chatter that the kids weren’t responsive, didn’t give effort,” Shinsky recalled. “When we met to play in the fall league at the Highlands, I knew it was just a matter of winning a few close games.”
Shinsky’s suspicions were proved true the first game this season. Brooke came out on fire against Oak Glen, building a huge lead. He then watched as Oak Glen made a huge third-quarter run, culminating in a 3-pointer at the end of the quarter that narrowed Brooke’s once sizable lead down to two.
“It was at their place, and their (fans) were going nuts, and I told them, we either fold and lose and go back to the old ways, or we’re going to set the tone here and win,” Shinsky said. “They came out on like a 17-2, run and that was a turning point for us.”
Brooke won that game, 73-55. The team certainly responded, giving the new coach his first career victory.
Battling Through Adversity
Like all teams, Brooke is having its own battles with the pandemic. Its most recent win came after a 10-day quarantine as a result of playing against Linsly after one of the Cadets’ players tested positive.
Ironically, the player in question was in the game for only one minute and 27 seconds as a temporary substitute. But during that stretch, nine of Brooke’s 10 varsity players were also on the floor, necessitating a team-wide quarantine once the athletic department was notified of the positive test.
This week’s earlier win against Oak Glen was Brooke’s first game post-quarantine. And yet, COVID-related issues are the least of the Bruins recent troubles.
The injury bug has plagued the Bruins this season.
Junior Cole Sperlazza was the Valley’s leading scorer at about 23 points per game when he went down to a wrist injury. A 5-7 junior guard, Sperlazza turned into a scoring machine before succumbing. There’s a minute chance he could return at the tail end of the season, but the Bruins may not want to risk further injury.
In his stead, 6-3 junior forward Alex Isinghood has picked up the scoring mantle and is currently around 22 points per game. At one point Brooke had the two of the top three scorers along with Wheeling Central’s Ryan Reasbeck.
Isinghood wasn’t immune either. He got bruised up in the game against Park and, while he tried to come back against Weir, he wasn’t ready and needed a break. He returned in the first game against Linsly.
“Of our nine games, I’d say those two were both 100 percent healthy twice,” Shinsky said of Sperlazza and Isinghood. “I’ll say this; if they are both healthy every game, we are 7-2 at the worst right now.”
“As it is, we’re a few possessions away from being 6-3 or 7-2. We’ve lost some close games against a tough schedule.”
One bright spot is that in Sperlazza’s absence, Isinghood isn’t the only one stepping up. When called upon for increase scoring, all 5-foot-7 of junior guard Ryan Knox erupted with 18 points, and his continued play will be key as the season progresses.
Future Looks Bright
Brooke’s roster consists of just two seniors: starting forward Andrew Coursin (6-3) and Dalton Anderson (5-11), one of the team’s key reserves.
The bulk of the varsity roster is comprised of juniors, with a talented freshman class currently playing together on the junior varsity level.
This season is going well, and plans are already in the works to capitalize on it during the summer in preparation for next season.
“We have a few guys that do baseball, and I think one does travel soccer, but we’ve talked about how summer is not that far away, and we’ll have full or nearly full participation all summer,” Shinsky said. “I appreciate the three weeks we get to work with the kids, but I’m also a big believer in getting in as many games as possible because that’s how you get better.
“We’re going to play every bit of 50-60 games this summer.”
The Bruins will be playing as a team in leagues and tournaments, both summer and fall. Shinsky wants to build on the rejuvenated spirit and interest in the program.
That rejuvenation isn’t limited to the players either. Crowds at Bruins’ home games are noticeably larger.
“I can’t speak personally as I wasn’t here previously, but what I hear from the administration and assistants, the crowds have almost doubled from the last three or four years,” Shinsky said. “Our last winning season was in (2014), and I think we can flirt with that. We have winnable games, and we can do it. There’s no reason we can’t finish 9-8, 10-7.”
Brooke may not be ready quite yet to compete and advance past the big boys like Wheeling Park and Morgantown in what’s became an even more difficult section with the edition of the Mohigans.
But that’s the goal. But not, Brooke isn’t the team that opponents pencil in as a ‘W’ on the schedule any more. That win must be earned, and those playing against the Green & Yellow must be ready for a dogfight.
