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Unbeaten Brooks repeats as N.E. Prep B champs

WORCESTER — In as one-sided a championship game as you’ll ever see, the Brooks boys basketball team dominated Marianapolis Prep, 68-32, capturing a second-straight New England Prep B championship while capping off a perfect 25-0 season. 

“I’m so proud of this senior class,” said Brooks coach John McVeigh. “Our class has been so much fun to coach. As successful as they are as players, they’re even better kids, so I’m happy that they can go out on this kind of note.”

Brooks relied on its defense to smother Marianapolis Prep early, building an 18-2 lead over the first 10 minutes of the game to set the tone right out of the gate. The Green and White led 36-11 at halftime and didn’t let up, ultimately pushing their lead above 30 before the final buzzer finally sounded.

Offensively Brooks got contributions from all over its lineup. Senior Tamenang Choh, a Brown University commit who was named Tournament MVP, led the team with 14 points, and seniors Fru Che and Adonis Williams each added 12 points in their high school finale.

The vaunted senior class, which also includes Isaiah Godwin, Ethan Gabert-Doyon and Andover’s Alex Chaban, finishes its four-year run with a career record of 90-15. Brooks also went 59-1 in the Independent School League during that stretch, going unbeaten each of the last three years to claim three consecutive league titles, while also claiming two straight New England Prep championships, including the program’s first since 1982.

Despite its fantastic success over the past few years, Brooks has not relied on any single player to carry the load as many good teams often do. The Green and White’s leading scorers, Choh and Che, each averaged just 10.7 points a game, and Williams wasn’t far behind with 10.4. 

“I think what’s so impressive is they all sacrificed individual statistics and glory for a very successful team,” McVeigh said. “They could all score a lot of points if they were the focus of an offense, but you look at that line today, they love sharing the ball. They don’t care who scores or who gets the credit. Really our identity has been our defense and that was a big part of today.”

Brooks rode its defensive prowess to a thoroughly dominant run through the New England Prep tournament. The team won its first round matchup easily, beating Westminster 59-38. Then in a semifinal battle with ISL rival Rivers, who boast two Division 1 commits going to Villanova and Yale respectively, Brooks totally shut the opposing offense down and cruised to a 73-49 win.

Marinapolis Prep, the No. 6 seed who had upset favored Canterbury and Kingswood Oxford, hoped their Cinderella run might continue for one more game, but it wasn’t to be. 

Brooks 68, Marianapolis Prep 32

N.E. Prep B Championship

Marianapolis Prep (32): Chambre 1-0-2, Chang 1-2-5, Baxter 0-1-1, Sountjas 2-0-6, Burton 2-2-7, Blommers 2-0-4, Del Ricci 1-3-5, Ulstrom 1-0-2, Mullins 0-0-0. Totals: 10-8-32

Brooks (68): Gabert-Doyon 1-0-2, Brown 1-0-2, Choh 5-4-14, Godwin 3-0-7, Freiermuth 1-0-3, Williams 5-2-12, Wright-Kinsey 3-0-8, Ray 0-0-0, Chaban 0-0-0, Che 5-2-12, Connolly 0-2-2, Santos 2-0-4, Iwowo 1-0-2. Totals: 27-10-68

3-pointers: B — Wright-Kinsey 2, Freiermuth, Godwin; M — Sountjas 2, Chang, Burton

Marianapolis Prep (15-11): 11 21 — 32

Brooks (25-0): 36 32 — 68