Last Wednesday, the boys’ basketball team opened the season with 58-31 victory in a home scrimmage against Hjemly Idrætsefterskole (Denmark). It is the third straight season the Bears have turned back their European foes including a 43-34 win in 2014 and a 52-43 win a season ago.

The Danes took an early 5-2 lead, but a bucket from Jyles Etienne brought the Brook back within one. Hjemly responded with their second 3-pointer of the quarter, but a block from Etienne and a score from Mac Bohuny cut the Bears’ deficit to 6-8. The defense clamped down over the final minutes of the quarter, allowing the Blue and White to reel off seven straight points, capped by a Bohuny 3-pointer to give the Brook an 11-8 lead after the first quarter.

Hjemly opened the scoring in the second frame with a 3-pointer that knotted the game at 11-11, but from there the Brook outscored the Danes 21-8 to close the half. Etienne and Hjemly traded buckets, but a Seamus Scanlon 3-pointer put the Bears in the lead for good. The Brook built a 24-17 edge when Bohuny followed an offensive rebound with a layup, but the Danes hit two free throws to close to within five points. Brandon Providence provided his own 7-0 run to end the half with a 3-pointer, a slash and score, and a tough floater that left the Bears up 31-19 at the break.

In the third quarter, Etienne made his presence felt inside, blocking four shots as Hjemly tried to claw back into the game. They cut their deficit to six at one point after a traditional 3-point play, but a layup and 3-pointer from Emil Vaughn pushed the Bear lead back to 36-25. The Danes scored a basket on their next possession but would not get their deficit back into the single digits the rest of the way after Scanlon scored a tough layup while drawing a foul. Scanlon’s score ignited an 11-0 run to close the quarter that included a three-point play from Harry Zhu, an Etienne dunk, a Scanlon 3-pointer, and an Etienne layup that beat the buzzer. Heading into the final frame, the Blue and White held a comfortable 47-27 lead.

The Bears won the final frame 11-4, behind 5 points from Jai Narain and 4 from Bohuny, to take the scrimmage, 58-31.

---