Brentwood defense too much for Commack in Suffolk Class AA championship
Marquese Dennis of Brentwood takes to the air for two during the Suffolk boys Class AA basketball championship on Saturday, February 25, 2023 at Stony Brook University. Credit: Dawn McCormick
It turns out, Brentwood wasn't too young to win a county title. Two sophomores, two juniors and a senior in the starting lineup was the perfect recipe to capture the Suffolk Class AA championship Saturday at Stony Brook University.
“I mean, that’s what they all said,” sophomore Jeremiah Webb said about the team being too young. “But we did it… People didn’t believe in us. We proved them wrong.”
Webb and junior Marquese Dennis each scored 14 points as No. 7 Brentwood defeated No. 4 Commack, 68-46.
Brentwood (17-7) lost two single-digit games to Commack (20-4) in the regular season, and junior Josh Ramos (seven points) was tired of it.
“We were just fed up,” Ramos said. “We were just fed up with what happened in the past. We left the past, and we just keep on going to the future. I don’t think anyone can stop us.”
Webb didn’t waste time pushing the pace to start the game. Brentwood took an early 12-2 lead following a Webb pass to Dennis under the rim.
Brentwood’s pressure never subsided.
Its strong defense disrupted Commack’s offensive flow all game, and Webb capitalized on the missed shots. Defense has been a major factor for Brentwood to reach, and ultimately win the championship. Head coach Anthony Jimenez said he wanted to take away Commack’s perimeter shooting to prevent falling into an early hole.
“We didn’t want to overhelp,” Jimenez said. “Overhelping hurt us in the second game, so that’s one thing that we did address. We also addressed the fact that they came on the court and shot beautifully in the first quarter. We thought that if we could slow them down in that respect, take their perimeter shooting away at the beginning, that maybe throughout the game, they wouldn’t be as confident.”
The defense shined even brighter in the third quarter, as Brentwood went on a 14-1 run to go up 38-19 with 3:03 remaining. The lead peaked at 24 late in the fourth.
“We knew what they were going to do,” Webb said. “They beat us two times, and they thought they were going to beat us again."
