UP IN THE AIR — Brooke’s Grant Yost goes up to put in a layup against Cameron on Tuesday. - Kim North

CAMERON — Grant Yost has been Mr. Reliable for Brooke all season. Tuesday night the 6-4 sophomore did nothing to deter that fact.

Yost scored 17 of his game-high 23 points in the second half as the visiting Bruins (7-13) won for the third time in the last four outings with a 54-46 boys’ basketball decision over Cameron at Dragons Indoor Stadium.

Ten of his points came in the third quarter when Brooke erased a halftime deficit by tallying as many points as it did in the entire first half.

“Grant has been pretty much a double-double machine for us this year,” Brooke head coach Adam Shinsky said. ”

In the process, Yost completed his 18th double-double with a game-best 13 rebounds, with 10 of those coming off the offensive glass as the Bruins totaled 14 to answer a question from Cameron head coach Matt Burge.

“I don’t know how many offensive rebounds they had, but it was a lot,” he queried.

Yost’s final three points of the third quarter came the conventional way with a basket and ensuing free throw. With time winding down, Shinsky called timeout with 12 seconds on the clock to set up a final shot. Yost took the inbounds pass, went strong to the basket and was fouled as the ball tickled the twine. The free throw made it 42-35 heading to the fourth quarter and the Dragons (5-11) never threatened.

“The inbounds play at the end of the third allowed us to get some separation going into the fourth and we carried that momentum over,” Shinsky noted. “We’ve played a brutal schedule and we’re getting close to tournament time. We’re still a very, very inexperienced team.”

Burge agreed.

“They called timeout and we switched our defense from the 2-3 zone that we had been playing for the last few minutes to a man-to-man,” Burge explained. “We went back out there and some of the players stayed in the zone and some went man-to-man.”

Colin Magers (8), Mason Scott (7) and Carter Paczewski (7) combined for all but three of Cameron’s 25 first-half points as it led 25-21.

“We didn’t have school today and in my five years at Brooke, I’ve found out that when we don’t have school we always come out sluggish to start the game,” Shinsky said. “It took us a while to get our pressure defense working the way we wanted it to, but when we got it there, it was effective.”

However, some pressure defense by the Bruins in the third quarter forced the Dragons into seven of their 16 turnovers, allowing the Green-and-Gold to pull ahead. Crosby Morris ignited a 13-0 game-changing run midway through the third quarter and then capped it with a three-pointer for a 36-30 lead the Bruins would never relinquish. Andrew Murdock had five points in the surge, while Yost had four.

“They bothered us there for a little while in the third with their pressure,” Burge acknowledged. “We knew what we were doing, but they changed their defenses up and, for some reason, it took us three or four possessions to figure out what we were doing. It was one thing after another. We told the kids to have that short-term memory, but we kept letting it (the pressure) affect us.”

“This is a tough place to play and they are a tough team to play here,” Shinsky said. “We took care of the ball in the second half and our pressure forced them into some turnovers that we capitalized on.

Cameron got to within 36-35 on baskets by Scott and Magers, but the Bruins ended the period on a 6-0 run – all the points coming on a pair of and-1s by Yost.

The Dragons made it 42-41 on consecutive treys by Magers and Cuyler McCauley to start the final eight minutes, but the Bruins responded eight unanswered to pull away for good. Yost had seven of his points in the fourth, while Murdock added four of his 10.

In addition to Yost and Murdock in double figures, Morris finished with a dozen points and four rebounds.

Scott led Cameron with 18 points and eight boards. Magers finished with 13 points. Paczewski had nine.

Brooke 54, Cameron 46

BROOKE – Yost 10 3-3 23; Murdock 4 2-4 10; Morris 5 0-0 12; Urso 0 1-2 1; McMahon 0 0-0 0; Petrella 1 0-0 2; Sperringer 1 0-0 2; McKennen 1 1-2 4; Totals: 22-54 7-11 54. CAMERON – Cu. McCauley 1 0-0 3; Frye 1 0-0 3; Scott 7 0-0 18; Magers 6 0-0 13; Paczewski 3 3-3 9; Estel 0 0-0 0; Ca. McCauley 0 0-0 0; Mahon 0 0-0 0; Dalesio 0 0-0 0; Schrack 0 0-0 0; Totals: 18-37 3-3 46

Three-point goals: Brooke 3 (Morris 2, McKennen). Cameron 7 (Scott 4, Cu. McCauley, Frye, Magers)