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Schools

Owens' Scoring, Brentwood's Pressure Leads to Eagles Win

The Eagles cause 25 turnovers and cruise to 64-53 win over Valley Park on Tuesday.

VALLEY PARK – The boys basketball team knows that on most nights, and against most opponents, it’s going to face a severe size disadvantage.

The Eagles don’t have anyone taller than 6-foot-3, and on Tuesday night, went into a game against a taller Valley Park team.

But what Brentwood does have is a bunch of fast, pesky guards that can really pressure the ball and make it difficult for an opponent to run any kind of structured offense.

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That’s exactly what the Eagles did to the host Hawks, forcing a whopping 25 Valley Park turnovers in a convincing 64-53 win in the first round of the Valley Park Invitational Tournament.

“It was a little bit sloppy,” Brentwood coach Brad Kern said. “They had quite a bit of size on us, and we had some trouble matching up. But we were able to pressure them a little bit, and force some mistakes, and get out and get some easy baskets.”

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Sophomore Karvon Owens led all scorers in the game with 24 points, including 18 in the second half. Brentwood never trailed after taking the lead midway through the first quarter.

It was older brother Rekardo Owens who got the Eagles going in that first quarter by scoring seven of his 12 points to help Brentwood dig out of an early 7-2 hole.

Those seven points were part of a magnificent 14-1 run by the Eagles that allowed them to lead 16-8 at the end of one quarter, even though they made only one of their first 11 shots.

“I think we settled for too many perimeter jumpshots,” Kern said. “But once we began to move the ball around and caused a few turnovers, we we’re able to settle down and go on a run.”

Valley Park’s 6-foot-3 power forward Austin Martin had 23 points, while 6-foot-4 center Phillip Weinrich had 13 points for the Hawks in the losing effort.

It wasn’t nearly enough to overcome the multitude of turnovers Valley Park had in the game.

“We were pretty balanced in our scoring,” Kern said. “And that’s how we’re going to be all season.

“I’m glad we had some depth. We got into a little bit of foul trouble, but other guys stepped up and give us a pretty good effort.”

The victory lifted Brentwood’s record to 2-0 on the season, while Valley Park fell to 0-1.

The Eagles will be back in action on Thursday night when they’ll take on Valley Park Invitational No. 1 seed Trinity Catholic in a 7:30 p.m. contest.

“They’re a big and strong team, and they’ve got good depth, kind of like us,” Kern said. “We’re going to have to push every chance we get. And there’s some risk and reward in doing that. But they play the same way we do. So it should be a fun game.”

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