SHOOTING — Brooke’s Andrew Murdock lets a shot go against Weir High on Friday night. - Andrew Grimm

WELLSBURG — The Brooke boys basketball team rose to the occasion against rival Weir.

The Red Riders led by double digits in the second quarter before the Bruins came storming back to win going away, 57-40, Friday night inside the Brooke Wellness Center.

The Green-and-Gold ended the game on 44-13 run to pull away.

“We were down 27-13 when I called timeout, and after that we went on a 15-0 run or an 18-0 run,” Brooke (12-8) head coach Adam Shinsky said. “They played really hard. They kept it close. We were able to take control in the third.

“Grant Yost is third all-time on the rebounding list. As a team, we had one offensive rebound as a team going into halftime. I asked him, ‘Where are you at?’ When he rebounds the ball, we a lot better team. We did a better job of rebounding, and we were able to separate from them in the third. He got an offensive rebound and kicked it out to Morris for a 3, and he got another offensive rebound and kicked it to Fodor for a 3. That is a six-point swing.

“We did a good job with our defense. We packed it in. We held them to one shot. We were able to get out and run and spread the floor.”

The Red Riders were patient on offense in the first quarter and into the second, however, they got away from that in the second half, and the hosts were able to take advantage.

“We were up 12, and we had a couple of possessions where we got good looks, but they did not fall, while Brooke got some good looks and their shots fell,” first-year Weir (5-15) head coach Jason Angle said. “I don’t want to say that completely changed the momentum, but it showed we had to be more patient.

“It worked in the first half. We wanted to come out in the second half and slow the tempo down, we wanted to run our offense and we wanted to move the ball around. We wanted to run more time off the clock, but we did not do that. It wasn’t there pressure or their defense. We did it to ourself.

“Losing Braswell hurt. It hurt that he was out. He made an impact on offense and defense. He impacted our gameplan. That is a big injury.”

Cayden Braswell left the game with Weir leading the game, 27-16.

The boys from Brooke County battled back from their double-digit deficit and took the lead in the third, however, the visitors had a little spurt in the quarter to regain the lead at 36-35. The Red-and-Black led by one, but the boys in white took control after that as they countered with a 22-2 run to build a 19-point advantage in the fourth.

Andrew Murdock recorded a game-high 19 points to lead the way offensively for Brooke. Also, Pete Fodor finished with 13, Crosby Morris contributed 12 and Pierce Ferrell tallied nine.

“They did what I thought they would do,” Angle said. “They did what we expected. They did well.”

Ryant Lyons collected a team-high 10 points to lead the way for the boys from Hancock County, Kason Lash scored nine and Angelo DoBraska and Braswell each delivered seven.

“They outplayed us, and they out-toughed us in the first 13 or 14 minutes of the game,” Shinsky said. “They were patient. They hit some big shots. They crashed the offensive boards, and we did not. That was the difference.”

The boys in black led 15-14 at the end of the first, and they took a 27-23 lead into the locker room at halftime.

“It is a rivalry game,” Shinsky said. “Weir played really hard. They played with a lot of effort. We had the size advantage. They were scrappy. They won the 50/50 balls. There was a nice crowd. We told our guys we had to win the 50/50 balls and we had to rebound. We had to get on the floor. We didn’t do that in the first half, but we did it in the second half.

“Coach Angle is doing a great job. He didn’t have a lot of time with them. He was a late hire. His kids play hard. They get after it.”

The lead changed hands in the third, and four free throws by Murdock enabled Brooke to come back and take a 39-36 lead into the fourth.

“They hit some buckets when they needed to,” Angle said. “We forced some things later in the game. That was a big swing. It was one pass and one shot. That was our mentality. We talked about moving the ball. We wanted to have four or five passes. We wanted to take 30 or 40 seconds off the clock. We did that in the first half. We didn’t do that in the second half.

“Our kids played really hard. Their effort was outstanding. They always play hard.”

The victory was a big one for Brooke as it secured the Bruins fourth winning season since 2005. It is the team’s second winning season in the last five years.

Weir is scheduled to take on Edison this morning on the road. The two-quarter JV game is set to start at 10 a.m. with the varsity game to follow. It is the second meeting this season between the Red Riders and the Wildcats. Weir won the first meeting, 58-57, Dec. 23 on the road.

“We are going to talk about this game,” Angle said. “We are going to watch the film of this game together. We are going to talk about different things. The kids play hard. They always play hard. You can’t ask for more than that.”

Brooke is slated to play Weir Friday night on the road on Ron “Fritz” Williams Court inside the Carl Hamill Fieldhouse before playing Morgantown March 2 on the road.

“If Morgantown is not the first or second best team in the state, they are the third best,” Shinsky said. “They are in the top three. We play them to prepare for the postseason. We played them last year, and we won a regional game for the first time in 30 years. Playing them helps us prepare for the postseason.”

Brooke 57, Weir 40

Weir 15 12 9 4 – 40

Brooke 14 9 16 18 – 57

WEIR (5-15): Stevenson 0 0-0 0, DoBraska 3 0-2 7, Haught 0 0-0 0, Glyptis 0 0-0 0, Hortsman 2 0-0 5, Lyons 4 0-0 10, Williams 0 0-0 0, Lash 4 0-0 9, Braswell 3 1-1 7. TOTALS: 17 1-3 40.

BROOKE (12-8): Yost 1 2-2 4, T. Sperringer 0 0-0 0, Murdock 5 9-12 19, Aracich 0 0-0 0, Morris 5 1-2 12, Ferrell 3 2-2 9, Drumm 0 0-0 0, K. Sperringer 0 0-0 0, Fodor 3 4-6 13, Taylor 0 0-0 0, McAbee 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 17 18-24 57.

3-POINTERS: Weir 5 (Lyons 2, DoBraska, Hortsman, Lash); Brooke 5 (Fodor 3, Morris, Ferrell)