Brandon coach Mark Hermann is none too pleased after Pittsburgh Central Catholic beats his "uninspired' team 62-51.
By SCOTT PURKS
Published December 30, 2003
ST. PETERSBURG - The trouble Brandon had Monday evening in the Hooters Holiday Tournament wasn't so much with its opponent, Pittsburgh Central Catholic.
The trouble was with Brandon.
Flat. No passion. Uninspired. No fire.
Brandon coach Mark Hermann used all those terms after his team slogged through a 62-51 semifinal loss at the Bayfront Center.
"I don't know what it is with this team," Hermann said. "At times they play hard and at other times they just don't. Tonight they didn't.
"I hate to say it but Central Catholic wanted it more than we did. Central Catholic came to play."
Central Catholic (12-0) set the tone with a 12-2 lead then pushed its advantage to 28-12 midway through the second quarter.
That was when Brandon made its first of two inspired runs, cutting the gap to 30-26 at the half. In the locker room Hermann said he talked about keeping the passion, and for the first three minutes of the second half the Eagles appeared to have taken the words to heart.
Brandon took the lead 35-33 at the 5:19 mark of the third quarter, but that was when the good vibe fizzled.
Central Catholic tied it seconds later, and, when Brandon's go-to player, 6-foot-5 Zaronn Cann, picked up his fourth foul and went to the bench, that was about it for the Eagles.
Central Catholic soon had a 12-0 run and the Eagles trailed 52-37 with five minutes remaining.
"When Brandon made that run to start the third quarter I thought, well, we'll see how we respond," Central Catholic coach Chuck Crummie said. "I've seen some teams fold against runs like that against a good team like Brandon.
"But we didn't. If you're a good team you're going to fight through a tough situation. I have to say we kept fighting and (Brandon) seemed to get a little lethargic."
Central Catholic plays in tonight's championship at 7:30 against Manchester (N.H.) Trinity, which defeated Pleasure Ridge Park, Ky., 59-42 in Monday's late semifinal.
Brandon (9-3) plays in the consolation final at 4:30 against Pleasure Ridge Park, an opponent guard Jonathon Banks hopes the Eagles will be fired up to play.
"I can't really explain it either," Banks said. "It seems like we're trying to get the fire, but for some reason we aren't. Out there tonight it looked like we were the way better team man for man, but then we end up losing by 11.
"It hurts but we're going to have to put it behind us and come out (today) and try to win for third place."
