Joliet West dampens return of Pontiac boys basketball's Henry Brummel
Truly, Pontiac was hoping to score a first-round victory for the second year in a row, and it really wasn't out of the question despite having lost its previous three contests. The key was having Henry Brummel back in the lineup.
PTHS was unable to score that victory Joliet West prevailed 55-47 and will face fourth-seed New Trier in Friday's quarterfinals.
Falling to the Tigers wasn't because of lack of effort. Pontiac put up its fight with that extra weapon that is Brummel. The 6-foot-4 senior drained his first shot after missing a month of action due to an injured wrist. He hit from the baseline after the Indians spotted Joliet West a 3-0 lead.
“I had a mismatch, the kid was taller than me, but I was able to beat him off the dribble,” Brummel said. “Getting that first one to go was big.”
Brummel scored Pontiac's first four points, but he was a target of the Tigers' defense, as were seniors Riley Weber and Kerr Bauman. When it was all over, the trio combined for 31 points.
Picking up the slack were juniors Camden Fenton and Riley Johnson. Brummel noted their contributions as Pontiac's senior trio looked to work free for shots.
PTHS held a 15-14 lead late in the first quarter after Fenton buried a 3-pointer. The Tigers responded with an 11-0 run and led by as much as 11 in the second period. West took a 28-20 edge into the break.
Weber scored his first points of the game 14 seconds into the second half and Johnson hit a trey to cut the margin to 28-25.
That was as close as PTHS got as the Tigers were able to draw away with good shooting. Joliet West finished the game shooting 56 percent (22-39), including hitting 6 of 12 from 3-point range.
The story for Pontiac, however, was the return of Brummel.
“It's a huge lift to our team,” PTHS head coach Matt Kelley said. “The offense will flow better with him out there. We're glad he's back out there.
“Tonight was getting thrown into the fire for him but we took a step in the right direction.”
As for Brummel, he was more than ready to hit the floor running.
“I couldn't sit any longer, it's great to be back with the team and helping them out,” Brummel said.
Brummel finished with 13 points to pace Pontiac (6-7). Weber added 10 points and Fenton and Bauman each scored 8 points. PTHS will meet Bloomington in the consolation quarterfinals.
Justus McNair led Joliet West (9-4) with 18 points and Zion Gross added 11.
What this means for the Indians is getting reloaded for the season's second-half charge.
“The best thing about our tournament is it gets us ready for the second half of the season,” Kelley said. “This is the point of the season where you've hopefully figured out what works and what doesn't and now you have to start trending upward.”
This article originally appeared on Pontiac Daily Leader: Brummel's return to PTHS boys lineup dampened by Joliet West
