BRODHEAD - After an extra-long holiday break, Brodhead's boys basketball team toppled Albany 80-51 on Monday. How it happened was more than just big school beating little school.
"We didn't show up to play," Albany coach Derik Doescher said. "Credit to Brodhead, they played hard for 32 minutes.
"Obviously (the break) would be an easy excuse to pin our poor play on, but Brodhead had the same break and still shot the ball well."
Brodhead's big man, 6-foot, 9-inch J.J. Panoske, stepped out from beyond the arc for the first basket of the game. The momentum never left the Cardinals, even with Panoske in early foul trouble.
"Panoske got into foul trouble early and (Nick) Jacobson and (Brandon) McKee came in and did a nice job, I thought," Cardinals head coach Brian Kammerer said. "They played the post well, had solid defense, and scored some big points for us."
Brodhead went on a 15-2 run before a basket by the Comets' Tyler Bauman with 38 seconds left trimmed the score to 20-7 at the end of the first quarter. Jacob Cole had nine points in the period for Brodhead and Ryan Miller had eight.
It was more of the same in the second quarter, with Brodhead scoring 26 points to lead 46-24 at halftime.
"I thought my guys came out better than I expected," Kammerer said of his team's response to the holiday break. "We didn't get it done last night in practice and they had me a little worried. But they responded and I was proud of their effort tonight."
In Albany's locker room at halftime, Doescher let his players do the talking.
"I wasn't going to talk or go into a screaming session. The kids said at halftime that they weren't prepared and didn't have a good warmup. Obviously that translated into poor play on the floor," Doescher said.
The Comets picked up the pace in the third quarter, but gained little ground, still trailing 62-41 entering the fourth quarter. By then, Cole, Miller and Nick Jacobson all were in double-figure scoring for the Cardinals.
"Cole's doing a great job of mixing it up. He's taking good looks. He knows when he's open and he runs the offense well," Kammerer said of his point guard's 18-point game.
Panoske capped his own 18-point night with 11 points in the final period, including numerous mid-range jumpers.
"(Brodhead) obviously causes some matchup problems for us with Panoske and Jacobson. They are much bigger than we are," Doescher said. "But the bottom line is that they showed up to play and we didn't."
Both teams found a way to benefit in the game, though. Brodhead got solid minutes and performance from its entire roster, and got to work out some kinks before Rock Valley Conference play continues next week.
Albany, on the other hand, got a wake-up call.
"Playing games against bigger schools teaches us a lot. It shows our guys that at bigger schools you don't just wear a uniform - you actually have to show up and earn it. Whereas at smaller schools, you get a uniform because you need all those guys to even field a team," Doescher said.
"They found out in a hurry tonight by trying to guard Cole and their guards. The quickness, the size and speed at big schools is much different than at small schools like ours.
"So when we come into a bigger school and lose big, people kind of expect that. If we come into a bigger school and compete or win a game, it reflects well. My gratitude to Brodhead for playing us each year. It's such a nice little rivalry being just down the road."
Miller finished with a game-high 19 points and Jacobson added 12 points for the Cardinals.
For the Comets, Tyler Bauman scored a team-high 15 points and T.J. Zweifel added 13.
Brodhead (2-4, 0-3 RVC) hosts Richland Center at 4 p.m Friday in a makeup game.
Albany (2-4, 1-1 Six Rivers East) travels to Madison on Friday to take on Madison Abundant Life in another rescheduled contest.
"We didn't show up to play," Albany coach Derik Doescher said. "Credit to Brodhead, they played hard for 32 minutes.
"Obviously (the break) would be an easy excuse to pin our poor play on, but Brodhead had the same break and still shot the ball well."
Brodhead's big man, 6-foot, 9-inch J.J. Panoske, stepped out from beyond the arc for the first basket of the game. The momentum never left the Cardinals, even with Panoske in early foul trouble.
"Panoske got into foul trouble early and (Nick) Jacobson and (Brandon) McKee came in and did a nice job, I thought," Cardinals head coach Brian Kammerer said. "They played the post well, had solid defense, and scored some big points for us."
Brodhead went on a 15-2 run before a basket by the Comets' Tyler Bauman with 38 seconds left trimmed the score to 20-7 at the end of the first quarter. Jacob Cole had nine points in the period for Brodhead and Ryan Miller had eight.
It was more of the same in the second quarter, with Brodhead scoring 26 points to lead 46-24 at halftime.
"I thought my guys came out better than I expected," Kammerer said of his team's response to the holiday break. "We didn't get it done last night in practice and they had me a little worried. But they responded and I was proud of their effort tonight."
In Albany's locker room at halftime, Doescher let his players do the talking.
"I wasn't going to talk or go into a screaming session. The kids said at halftime that they weren't prepared and didn't have a good warmup. Obviously that translated into poor play on the floor," Doescher said.
The Comets picked up the pace in the third quarter, but gained little ground, still trailing 62-41 entering the fourth quarter. By then, Cole, Miller and Nick Jacobson all were in double-figure scoring for the Cardinals.
"Cole's doing a great job of mixing it up. He's taking good looks. He knows when he's open and he runs the offense well," Kammerer said of his point guard's 18-point game.
Panoske capped his own 18-point night with 11 points in the final period, including numerous mid-range jumpers.
"(Brodhead) obviously causes some matchup problems for us with Panoske and Jacobson. They are much bigger than we are," Doescher said. "But the bottom line is that they showed up to play and we didn't."
Both teams found a way to benefit in the game, though. Brodhead got solid minutes and performance from its entire roster, and got to work out some kinks before Rock Valley Conference play continues next week.
Albany, on the other hand, got a wake-up call.
"Playing games against bigger schools teaches us a lot. It shows our guys that at bigger schools you don't just wear a uniform - you actually have to show up and earn it. Whereas at smaller schools, you get a uniform because you need all those guys to even field a team," Doescher said.
"They found out in a hurry tonight by trying to guard Cole and their guards. The quickness, the size and speed at big schools is much different than at small schools like ours.
"So when we come into a bigger school and lose big, people kind of expect that. If we come into a bigger school and compete or win a game, it reflects well. My gratitude to Brodhead for playing us each year. It's such a nice little rivalry being just down the road."
Miller finished with a game-high 19 points and Jacobson added 12 points for the Cardinals.
For the Comets, Tyler Bauman scored a team-high 15 points and T.J. Zweifel added 13.
Brodhead (2-4, 0-3 RVC) hosts Richland Center at 4 p.m Friday in a makeup game.
Albany (2-4, 1-1 Six Rivers East) travels to Madison on Friday to take on Madison Abundant Life in another rescheduled contest.
