PIASA - Ian Brantley lit up the scoreboard for 37 points in leading Piasa Southwestern to a 76-50 win over SIUE Charter in the round-robin Southwestern Holiday Tournament Wednesday afternoon at the Southwestern gym.
Southwestern was red-hot shooting throughout the game and Coach Jason Darr said his squad shot about 60 percent from the field in the game.
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The Piasa Birds ended up with three players in double figures as the Piasa Birds saw off the Cougars to take the win.
"We finally got back home and played in our gym," Darr said of the two-day tournament. "We have had a lot of games early in the season on the road. It was good to get back to the gym where we practice each day. I thought our kids played well and executed a game plan we felt we had to play to beat SIUE Charter. We shot very, very well. It was our best game shooting of the ball. If we shoot like that we can beat anybody."
Coach Darr said Brantley had his best game of the season and made shots from all over the floor. He simply couldn't miss, his coach said.
Southwestern jumped out to a 22-5 lead after the first quarter, then held the lead at 42-19 at halftime and 60-34 after three quarters, with the fourth quarter ending in a 16-16 stalemate to give the Birds the win.
To go along with Brantley's 37 points, Southwestern saw Greyson Brewer add 13 points, Ryan Lowis had 11 points, Cason Robinson scored eight points, both Connor Wood and Rocky Darr had three points each and Logan Custer had a single point.
The Cougars are now 5-7, while the Piasa Birds go to 11-6, with Southwestern winning the tournament with a 3-0 record.
The Birds start 2024 at home against Gillespie on Jan. 5, then play at Jersey on Jan. 9, both games starting at 7:30 p.m.
SIUE Charter opens the 2024 portion of the schedule on Jan. 4 at O'Fallon First Baptist Academy, then plays at Mascoutah on Jan. 5, then hosts Madison on Jan. 12. Game times for all three are 7:30 p.m.
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