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Carlisle runs away from Brooks, Spring Grove

01/17/2017, 12:00am EST
By Michael Bullock

DeShawn Millington (above, in Dec.) and Carlisle blew by Spring Grove on Monday night. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

Michael Bullock (@thebullp_n)
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CARLISLE — If Eli Brooks was going to uncork a monster effort — as he’d done recently on several occasions — Gavyn Barnes was determined to make Spring Grove’s splendid senior guard work extremely hard for everything he was going to get.

While the 5-7 Barnes chased and chased the Michigan recruit in the box-and-one defensive scheme that Carlisle skipper Andre Anderson tossed out there, the rest of his Thundering Herd teammates were effective holding everyone else down.

Bottom line is Carlisle enjoyed a lot of success at both ends of the basketball court Monday night, as Anderson’s Herd thundered to a convincing 75-45 triumph over Spring Grove in a nonleague scrap at Gene Evans Gymnasium.

DeShawn “Day Day” Millington pocketed 26 points and dished out six assists as the Herd (10-4) halted an annoying two-game losing skid. Ethan Houston chimed in with 17 points and nine boards, while Barnes also found time to pitch in 14 more.

Nate Barnes added nine boards and a pair of blocked shots, while his cousin Ki Barnes finished with eight rebounds. As for their other cousin …

Brooks still wound up with 26 points for the Rockets (9-4) — including 17 after the break — but no one else finished with more than seven. The 6-1 Brooks also grabbed 10 boards, handed out four assists and smothered a shot by the 6-6 Houston.

Since Brooks came in averaging nearly 30 points per — he needs 88 points to reach 2,000 for his career — Carlisle’s defensive scheme could be considered a success.

“My game plan was to really just keep him from getting as many points as he does,” Gavyn Barnes admitted. “Last couple games he had like 30, 40, 46 and stuff, so our game plan was to stop him and make other players step up.

“I had a lot of help from my teammates when we were in that box-and-one,” added Gavyn Barnes, who gave way to Matt Brown whenever he headed to the bench for a needed breather. “A lot of people stepping up to help.”

Anderson certainly was pleased.

“The thing about those two kids is they’re staring at you like a puppy dog, saying, ‘Coach, I want him. I want to guard him. I want to run around him all day.’” Anderson admitted. “For them to go out there and do that and try so hard against one of the better kids in the state is a huge shoutout to those guys. Props to them.”

“It kind of slowed Eli down and kind of stopped him from doing what he wanted to do,” Millington continued. “And Gavyn played terrific D on him.

“He just kept him where he needed to. Eli is Eli, he scores when he wants.”

While a Brooks finish at the rim with 1:08 had James Brooks’ club within one (12-11), Carlisle promptly unloaded a 14-0 salvo that bridged the break between the quarters and had the Rockets trailing 26-11 and facing serious trouble.

Spring Grove was just 1-for-12 from the floor in the second quarter.

Brooks, meanwhile, missed both of his looks during that stretch.

“I think everybody has to do it, wouldn’t you if you were guarding him?” James Brooks said when asked how often his son sees junk defenses. “With our experience with the guys that are left, we’re gonna have games like this.

“If you catch us at the wrong time and guys aren’t confident or they’re overconfident at what they’re doing and things come easy, then that’s what it is.”

Plus, Carlisle was determined to play effectively … at both ends.

“They weren’t really making shots,” Millington said. “The team revolves around [Brooks] and if he’s not getting it going, everybody else is not gonna get it going.

“I think we did a pretty good job.”

They also did a pretty good job extending the lead.

And when the remarkably athletic Herd starts playing downhill — especially with an effective defensive approach in play — look out.

“It makes us a lot more comfortable,” Gavyn Barnes said. “We’re working, but it keeps us more calm so we’re able to get out and push the ball more.”

Down 33-17 at halftime, Spring Grove started quickly, as a Brooks steal and flush preceded an Austin Panter trey. Carlisle promptly regained control, uncorking a 12-4 burst that had the Herd up 45-26 midway through the third.

The Rockets, despite 17 second-half points from the resolute Brooks, never got closer than 14 (55-41) the rest of the way as Carlisle continued to ease away.

While Millington posted 13 second-half points, Houston checked in with 12 and Gavyn Barnes added eight as Carlisle was able to unleash its devastating transition game and really open things up. Everyone was involved at both ends.

Running game, defense and winning the battle on the glass [Carlisle outrebounded the Rockets by a 31-24 margin], everything seemed to work.

“I felt like we could beat them in transition,” Anderson admitted. “When you’ve got a guy like DeShawn, who sometimes can get down court faster than a pass, that’s an advantage for us. He just had that look in his eyes that he wasn’t gonna be stopped.”

“We just had to get back to the basics,” Gavyn Barnes added. “We just had to get back to playing strong and playing with heart.

“We’ve got to get rebounds and push and play our game.”

Just what Anderson’s Herd needed to get things back in balance and build needed momentum after losing Friday to Mid-Penn Commonwealth Division playmate Central Dauphin and Saturday at Central York, a YAIAA-I adversary of Spring Grove’s.

“We just didn’t come ready to fight and took that they got beat by Central a little too lightly,” James Brooks admitted.

Nonetheless, Carlisle has three more games just this week.

On the flip side, so does Spring Grove.

“It was big for us to win this game,” Gavyn Barnes added. “They’re a good team, Eli’s great and it was just huge for us to come out and get this win after two losses.”

“We’re still sitting on top of the Commonwealth,” Anderson said. “We’re a game ahead of everybody in the Commonwealth and we look at the district rankings and we were sitting at No. 4 [in Class 6A]. Those are two pretty good spots to be in.

“We’ve just got to stay focused and see the big picture.”


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