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Brooks downs Lawrence Academy

NORTH ANDOVER – After playing a big role in helping perennial state power Central Catholic to 37 victories the previous two years, lanky guard George Smith decided to take his basketball skills to neighboring North Andover where he hooked up with the area’s most dominant program.

And the Salem resident has had no problems fitting in with his new teammates at the Brooks School, which has appeared in five of the past six NEPSAC Class B title games while winning three.

“This community and the kids here are why,” Smith said about his reason for transferring and repeating his junior year. “The kids here are just super humble and just want to get better every game. And coming to play with Coach (John) McVeigh, he’s a tremendous coach. He knows how to get it done and has been doing it for several years now. But the community they have here is just something you can’t find anywhere else.”

Playing his second game with Brooks on Wednesday, Smith overcame some early foul trouble and unkind rims to score seven of the team’s final nine points in regulation only to watch Lawrence Academy tie the score on a buzzer-beating banked three-pointer. But Myles Foster and Tyler Whitney-Sidney came up big with a combined 12 overtime points as Brooks ran its record to 2-0 with an 83-79 victory.

“It’s been a great experience,” said Smith, who averaged 16 points a game for a Central team that lost the Division 1 North title to Lynn English last March. “It’s been a huge jump. I’ve had to expand my game not only offensively, but certainly defensively. There’s a lot more improving to do for me personally and as a team.”

While joining Brooks proved an easy decision, leaving the Raiders was difficult.

“This jump wasn’t planned at all,” Smith said. “It was a late spring decision that was really hard for me. I love Central Catholic and I love Coach (John) Walsh. It was a great atmosphere, but I needed to find a new place to find out where I want to go at the next level. But my mind wasn’t made up until after the game against English. It was a long process because I love those guys so much.”

Smith has scored a dozen points in both of Brooks’ wins. Against Lawrence Academy (1-2), he had two early fouls and made one of his two shots in the opening half. After missing his first four shots after intermission, Smith hit a baseline jumper for a 47-46 lead with 6:23 left.

But it was over the final 104 seconds when he came up the biggest. His first two free throws also provided a one-point lead while his three from the top with 42 seconds remaining gave Brooks a 65-64 advantage in what was the game’s 17th and final lead change.

“He’s been a terrific fit and great for us,” McVeigh said. “I don’t think today was maybe his best day, but down the stretch he was terrific with that three. He also made (four) clutch foul shots that we needed. This can be hard. It’s not easy to come in here because we return most of the guys from last year’s (18-win) team. It’s a new coach and a new system. So, I am so excited to have him here and excited to see what this team will be.”

Smith appears to be fitting in with a team that has had five players in double figures in each of the first two games. Wednesday, Whitney-Sidney, who had a handful of buddies from Somerville on hand, led the way with 22 points, but Sam Thomson (14), Foster (13) and Matt Mulvey (11) each had big buckets.

“I’m here just to help them win,” Smith said. “We’re trying to figure out our roles. That was our second game of the season, and you can tell we’re a little iffy offensively.”

Leading the way for the visitors was Lawrence resident Jordan Richard, who connected on 15 of his 24 shots and finished with 35 points.

“I like the level of basketball,” said Richard, who played with Smith as a youngster at the Boys Club. “We play in a Double A league, so it’s a pretty competitive league. The school has the balance of academics and athletics I was looking for.”

Richard’s play brought praise from the home team

“I’d like to say something about Jordan Richard,” McVeigh said. “That was as good a performance as I can remember against us. It wasn’t just the ton of points, but the kind of points. There were very, very few easy shots. He’s a tough, hard-nosed kid. I think the world of him as a person and a player.”