Brown, defense spur Center Moriches
Center Moriches came out for pregame warm-ups Friday night with unusual attire: black T-shirts with the words "Full Court Killas" emblazoned on the front in red capital letters.
As different as the shirts may seem, the Red Devils have worn them for every playoff game. But they aren't just your ordinary nickname-inspired team garb.
"It's our warning to the other team," the Red Devils Tim Rowland said, "that they're going to have to deal with our defense."
That full-court, attacking Center Moriches defense stifled Pierson and led the Red Devils to the Suffolk BCD title, 68-36, Friday night at Suffolk CC-Selden.
Akyse Brown led the Red Devils (16-5) with 19 points, and Rowland added 18 points for Center Moriches.
The "Full Court Killas" made their presence known from the opening tip-off, starting the game on a 7-2 run and forcing Pierson (12-8) into committing costly turnovers and early mistakes.
"We wanted to attack and attack early," said Rowland, who scored the opening five points for Center Moriches. "We wanted to put on the pressure and play our style of game right away."
Pierson used a 7-2 run to tie the game at 18-18 with 2:33 remaining in the first half, but Akyse Brown scored six points in the waning minutes of the half to highlight a 10-2 Center Moriches run that made the score 28-20.
"I just moved the ball around and tried to drive to the basket," the junior said.
Brown carried his hot shooting into the third quarter, scoring 11 points as the Red Devils outscored the Whalers 18-8 in the third quarter to put the game out of reach.
"I tell my kids you don't always need to make the basket, you just need to make the play," Center Moriches coach Nick Thomas said. "[Brown] does a good job of making the right play."
Jake Bennett led Pierson with nine points off the bench. Forrest Loesch and Jackson Marinfeld each had six points.
Center Moriches will play Harborfields for the small-school title Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. at Farmingdale State.
