BRODHEAD - It's hard to tell which was more difficult Tuesday night for Brian Kammerer, watching his Brodhead boys basketball team's five-game winning streak end or having to discuss it afterward.
His jaw still clenched several minutes after Beloit Turner ended its six-game skid with a 60-56 victory in Rock Valley South Conference play, Kammerer uttered words he despises.
"I thought we got outworked a little bit," he said. "It's disappointing, because I never thought that would happen with this group. This group has busted its butt all year.
"I hope they didn't overlook Turner, and if they did it's a very disappointing thing. I just didn't think we were ready to play, and I'll take the blame for that."
Senior forward Sam Burns scored a season-high 20 points and senior guard Jeffrey Bass-DuBose added 13 for Beloit Turner (6-11, 3-9 Rock Valley South), which hadn't won since Dec. 29 against Johnson Creek.
"It's an exhale, but also an exclamation of happiness, for sure," said Burns, who averages eight points per game and whose previous season high was 14.
"These (Brodhead) guys are strong and crazy-athletic, but it was clicking tonight. I knew I needed to score for us to win."
Burns hurt Brodhead (11-6, 8-4) repeatedly by knifing to the basket for layups. He did it three times in a 12-0 run that turned the Trojans' one-point advantage into a 42-29 lead with 1 minute, 56 seconds left in the third quarter.
The Cardinals put together their best stretch of the game to open the fourth quarter, resulting in a 14-4 spurt that pulled them within 48-46.
But Burns hit a short turnaround jumper in the lane to start the 7-0 run that gave Turner a 55-46 cushion with 1:51 left in the fourth quarter.
"He's been the glue for us all season long, so it's not surprising that in the best game we've played all year that he played his best game," Turner coach Ken Watkins said.
Brodhead made a late charge, senior forward David Earleywine hitting back-to-back baskets and senior forward Jesse DeLorme scoring on an offensive rebound with 57 seconds left, then completing a three-point play with 41 seconds remaining to pull the Cardinals within 59-56.
Brodhead got a defensive stop and took possession with a chance to tie, but Jacob Johnson misfired and Tate Harnack missed two free throws after rebounding Johnson's miss.
"We got outworked in the first half and we couldn't get past that deficit in the second half," said DeLorme, who scored seven of his 12 points in the fourth quarter.
"Being able to come back from that 13-point deficit and cut it to two, that tells a lot about our team. Yeah, there's a lot of negatives out of his game, but you kind of have to take the positive attitude from it that we did come back and give ourselves at least a chance to win. That second half was the definition of how our team plays."
The Cardinals didn't do themselves any favors. Turner scored five of its six second-quarter field goals off offensive rebounds and there were several times when the Trojans collected two or three offensive rebounds on the same possession. Then in the third quarter, Turner shot 67 percent (8 of 12) from the floor after getting several excellent looks.
The poor rebounding upset Kammerer.
"We emphasize that," he said. "We've got to get it done on the glass. We didn't get it done the whole first half and that killed us."
Harnack scored 17 points, Johnson had 12 and Earleywine finished with 10 for Brodhead, which plays at Capitol South cellar-dweller Big Foot on Friday night.
DeLorme said he's not worried about the difficult loss.
"This is just going to boost us and put a little fire under our butt from here on out," he said.
His jaw still clenched several minutes after Beloit Turner ended its six-game skid with a 60-56 victory in Rock Valley South Conference play, Kammerer uttered words he despises.
"I thought we got outworked a little bit," he said. "It's disappointing, because I never thought that would happen with this group. This group has busted its butt all year.
"I hope they didn't overlook Turner, and if they did it's a very disappointing thing. I just didn't think we were ready to play, and I'll take the blame for that."
Senior forward Sam Burns scored a season-high 20 points and senior guard Jeffrey Bass-DuBose added 13 for Beloit Turner (6-11, 3-9 Rock Valley South), which hadn't won since Dec. 29 against Johnson Creek.
"It's an exhale, but also an exclamation of happiness, for sure," said Burns, who averages eight points per game and whose previous season high was 14.
"These (Brodhead) guys are strong and crazy-athletic, but it was clicking tonight. I knew I needed to score for us to win."
Burns hurt Brodhead (11-6, 8-4) repeatedly by knifing to the basket for layups. He did it three times in a 12-0 run that turned the Trojans' one-point advantage into a 42-29 lead with 1 minute, 56 seconds left in the third quarter.
The Cardinals put together their best stretch of the game to open the fourth quarter, resulting in a 14-4 spurt that pulled them within 48-46.
But Burns hit a short turnaround jumper in the lane to start the 7-0 run that gave Turner a 55-46 cushion with 1:51 left in the fourth quarter.
"He's been the glue for us all season long, so it's not surprising that in the best game we've played all year that he played his best game," Turner coach Ken Watkins said.
Brodhead made a late charge, senior forward David Earleywine hitting back-to-back baskets and senior forward Jesse DeLorme scoring on an offensive rebound with 57 seconds left, then completing a three-point play with 41 seconds remaining to pull the Cardinals within 59-56.
Brodhead got a defensive stop and took possession with a chance to tie, but Jacob Johnson misfired and Tate Harnack missed two free throws after rebounding Johnson's miss.
"We got outworked in the first half and we couldn't get past that deficit in the second half," said DeLorme, who scored seven of his 12 points in the fourth quarter.
"Being able to come back from that 13-point deficit and cut it to two, that tells a lot about our team. Yeah, there's a lot of negatives out of his game, but you kind of have to take the positive attitude from it that we did come back and give ourselves at least a chance to win. That second half was the definition of how our team plays."
The Cardinals didn't do themselves any favors. Turner scored five of its six second-quarter field goals off offensive rebounds and there were several times when the Trojans collected two or three offensive rebounds on the same possession. Then in the third quarter, Turner shot 67 percent (8 of 12) from the floor after getting several excellent looks.
The poor rebounding upset Kammerer.
"We emphasize that," he said. "We've got to get it done on the glass. We didn't get it done the whole first half and that killed us."
Harnack scored 17 points, Johnson had 12 and Earleywine finished with 10 for Brodhead, which plays at Capitol South cellar-dweller Big Foot on Friday night.
DeLorme said he's not worried about the difficult loss.
"This is just going to boost us and put a little fire under our butt from here on out," he said.
