At noon Friday, Brookings Harbor Varsity Boys Basketball team had the honor of opening the FarWest/Skyline Crossover preseason basketball tournament at Hidden Valley High School in Grants Pass.
The 5-8 Bruins opened play against the 3-9 Phoenix Pirates and found themselves in an evenly matched game early on. The Bruins started the game in their 2-3 zone defense and Coach Gonzales had his team ready to play. Brookings high energy defense saw some early fouls put starting guard Eli Mills on the bench with 2 in the first period. However, the Bruins defense frustrated the Pirates early with senior forward Michael Kreger making an early steal and junior guard Luke Beaman taking a charge in the lane as both teams looked to find their game in the first period.
The first half clearly featured two teams trying to find their rhythm as the half would end with a 13-11 Pirate lead.
The third period had the Bruins feature their high energy defense slowing the Pirates scoring. Brookings-Harbor found their shooting legs and the Pirates tried to slow the Bruins down with trapping zone defense of their own, causing the Bruins to make some mistakes and turnovers. However, the Bruins would outscore the Pirates by 10 points in the quarter and would take the lead after a 3 point shot from junior guard Eli Mills. Junior center 6 ft. 4″ Jon Kleespies seems to have found his place in the key as he was instrumental under the boards at both ends of the floor. Bruins outside shooting and Kleespies inside presence propelled the Bruins to outscore the Pirates 16-6 in the third quarter that would end with a 27-19 Bruins lead.
The Bruins would end the game with 6 players hitting 3 point shots. Jon Kleespies and Brig Schofield led all Bruins scorers with 9 points each in the Bruin 42-34 win. The Bruins are scheduled to play the 5-8 Hidden Valley Mustangs at 12:45 pm today.
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