Brighton High used a tenacious second-half defense to capture a 55-48 Region 2 victory over Skyline Friday night, and nowhere was that defense more evident than on Skyline star Jaron Boone.
With Brighton's Jeff Colledge wearing Boone's number like a glove in the second 16 minutes, the Bengals outscored the Eagles 29-22 to move to 2-1 in league, 10-2 overall. Skyline is now also 2-1 in region play, 8-3 for the year.The first half ended in a 26-all deadlock, and neither team had larger than a three-point lead in the opening half. Brighton took a 13-12 first quarter advantage, but the Eagles fought back to tie the score before the break.
As the third quarter began, Boone scored two quick hoops and teammate Lane Longhurst hit a free throw to give the host Eagles a 31-28 advantage with 6:10 to go in the period. But the Bengals then held Skyline scoreless for exactly four minutes. During that stretch, junior Sean Hagen got hot. His basket with 5:58 to go made it 31-30, and when Brighton's Joey Haws slammed one home at the 5:25 mark, it was 32-31 for the Bengals, who never trailed again.
Hagen scored four more points before Skyline's Scott Breinholt tipped in a shot with 2:10 left to cut Brighton's advantage to 36-33. Hagen then hit four straight free throws to increase the lead to 40-33, but Boone shot a nifty pass to Lindsay Russell who layed one in with 1:20 to go to pull Skyline to within five at 40-35. That's how the quarter ended.
Two free throws by Brighton's Alex Fisher and a basket by Brienholt kept the Bengal lead at five at 42-37 with 7:05 left in the game, but Brighton then scored six straight. Joey Haws scored in the lane, Fisher hit a jumper from the top of the key, and then Fisher sank two free throws to make it 48-37 with just under six minutes left.
Perhaps just as importantly during the final half, Colledge was closely guarding Boone, keeping the all-state candidate from even touching the ball with any regularity. Brienholt's free throws with 5:19 left made it 48-39, and Brighton went into a delay game. The Eagles eventually lost both Longhurst and Lindsey Russell to foul trouble, and Fisher's free throws with 2:57 left gave the Bengals a 50-39 lead that Skyline could never overcome.
Fisher and Hagen led the Bengals in scoring with 17 and 14 points respectively, while Haws added 10 points. And though Colledge didn't score, his ability to keep the ball out of Boone's hands until late in the fourth quarter proved the difference.
Boone did finish with 15 points, while teammates Breinholt and Edwards added 16 and 12 respectively. Brighton won the battle on the line, hitting 27 of 34 shots compared to 16 of 25 free throw shooting for the Eagles.