Strake Jesuit’s Joey Brooks scored 18 of his 41 points in two overtime periods to lift the host Crusaders to a 79-74 victory against Langham Creek in a 17-5A district game Tuesday night.

After being down 24-21 at halftime, Strake Jesuit coach Wayne Jones was pleased at how his team fought back to pull out the win.

“When we came out at halftime we were the team that was down,” Jones said. “We told the guys that we wanted to win the next two quarters and we did. We got down in overtime and made some great stops in the first overtime. We told the guys, ‘we been in this situation before.”

Jones is referencing to the Lee Classic tournament game this past weekend against Westgate. In the end, Strake Jesuit ended up winning the tournament 65-52.

The Crusaders trailed early Tuesday night. Langham Creek came out fired up and forced several turnovers that converted over into points. Lobos’ guards Mackey McKnight and Cortez Paige led the way in scoring.

But in the second half Strake Jesuit began to make big things happen. Brooks started to take control and put the Crusaders on his back.

“Well the things about Joey (Brooks) is that when he wants to play he can be good as anyone around,” Jones said. “He is a Notre Dame commit and we really challenged him coming out of halftime to step up.”

And obviously that was enough. With the game on the line, Brooks knocked down free throws and many key shots to seal the victory. The Crusaders will face Cypress Ridge Friday night.

HIGH SCORERS
SJ – Joey Brooks (41)
SJ – James Wiseman (10)
SJ – Austin Claunch (8)
LC – Jeff Green (22)
LC – Cortez Paige (16)
LC – Mackey McKnight (15)
 

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