The Brentwood Bruins basketball team celebrates their District 11-AAA tournament championship after Tuesday's 70-60 finals win over Ravenwood. (Photos by Mike Walters / Sportr8s by Mike)

By CAROL STUART
For Brentwood Home Page
Brentwood High carted off both championships in the District 11-AAA basketball tournament, with the Bruins taking their third straight win over crosstown rival Ravenwood 70-60 and the girls besting regular-season champ Hillsboro 52-37.

Senior James Cox had 23 points including four of the Bruins' nine 3-pointers and Jack Montague scored 20 to help give BHS a 3-0 record in this year's Battles of the Woods.

"It means a lot to me. They beat us three times last year and it feels good to do the same thing," said Cox, voted tourney MVP. "They were district champs. It's nice to win one for the real 'Wood."

Bruins senior Kyla Kerstetter, tourney MVP, drives against Hillsboro in the finals.

Both Brentwood (23-7) and runner-up Ravenwood (20-10) advance into the region tourney at the BHS gym, with the Bruins playing McGavock at 8:30 p.m. Friday and RHS taking on Hillwood at 8:30 p.m. Saturday.

"We started way back in June and we set this as our goal," Bruins Coach Dennis King said outside the lockerroom at Centennial High. "Ravenwood had beaten us three times last year, and we just wanted to redeem ourselves in that capacity. In all honesty, knowing how good they are, I really thought it was a lofty goal.

"But they got it done, and they're champions sitting in there."

The Lady Bruins had just wrapped up their own tourney title and top seeding in one half of the region draw, with senior Kyle Kerstetter's 24 points leading the way. Senior point guard Natalie Shumacher added 13, but aggravated her chronic back condition with a collision with towering Tennessee signee Isabelle Harrison.

"It's kind of what we've been preparing for all year," said Kerstetter, who added tournament MVP to her regular-season MVP award. "This is only like opening the door to what's to come, the rest of the tournament.

"I had high expectations for this team, and it's so cool to see that come true."

The BHS girls (22-4) play the 7 p.m. quarterfinal Friday against Cane Ridge in Region 6-AAA. Ravenwood's girls, who won Monday's third-place district game, tip off at 4 p.m. Saturday against District 12-AAA runner-up Overton.

Third-time Battle of Woods is tight contest 

Unlike the two previous meetings when the score got out of hand, Ravenwood made it a game against Brentwood despite playing without 6-6 senior Sam Wilcox, who suffered a concussion at practice.

"They played really hard, they really wanted to win," Cox said. "They went small and they all just played scrappy defense and hit the boards."

Brentwood senior guard Jack Cox was voted tournament Most Valuable Player.

Cox scored the game's first 5 points for the biggest lead until Montague found the senior on the right baseline spotting up for a 3-pointer and a 29-24 halftime lead.

"I was just trying to come out shooting, getting it going for our team. and I was just feeling it," said Cox, who showed his great range.

The Raptors stayed within striking distance, though, trailing just 45-44 at the end of the third quarter on Riley Stoner's drive inside. But Cox drew a charge on the next Raptors' possession, and Ravenwood missed after playing for the final shot.

Cox's trey from the left baseline jump-started an 11-2 Bruins run, capped by his free throws for a 60-50 lead with 1:50 remaining.

Cox picked up his fourth foul with 5:15 to play and stayed in after a BHS timeout due to a substitution mix-up at the scoring table. But he returned in the final 2:42 and ended up hitting 7-of-8 free throws in the last 2:18.

"He's a self-made player. I've always seen that shooting touch in him, but he has made himself into a complete player," King said. "He can put the ball on the floor a little bit, he rebounds well for us, he accepts defensive challenges.

"And when he is shooting well, he's got that range and that touch and he'll just break your back."

Montague scored eight fourth-quarter points including a perfect 4-of-4 at the foul line. Bruins sophomore Cody Shelton hit a pair of 3s in the third quarter and finished with 11 points, and big man Will Joiner even nailed a 3 for BHS.

Stoner led the Raptors with 14 points, Devin robinson scored 12 Robert Veal chipped in 10. Ravenwood closed it to 60-53 on Andy Moore's 3-pointer and 62-57 on Devin Robinson's steal and layup, but the Bruins hit their final eight free throws.

"If you can put together one more stop and one more score, that drastically changes everything," Ravenwood Coach Patrick Whitlock said. " ... I don't think we got a whole lot of back-to-back stops through the last 12 minuites of the game, and if you don't get back-to-back stops, you're not going to beat anybody, much less Brentwood."

Shelton, Joiner and Montague joined Cox on the all-tournament team along with Devin Robinson and Evan Forhetz from RHS.

"It's the same story all three times, we couldn't contain them off the dribble," Whitlock said. "You give up a few easy layups and that stuff kinds of adds up and you miss a few gimmes, it's extremely frustrating. We're not happy about it. But we're going to the region tournament so we have a chance to atone for this."

Ravenwood perhaps gets a better draw, despite the loss, since Hillwood upset McGavock in the 12-AAA consolation.

BHS overturns Hillsboro this time around 

The Brentwood girls trailed Hillsboro (17-10) after the first quarter 13-10, but went up 20-15 on Kerstetter's 3-pointer and 26-18 on her fast-break 15 seconds before halftime. Her 3-point play on a pass from Paige Parker pushed it to double digits late in the third quarter.

After Harrison scored over three defenders inside one minute of the third period, the Lady Bruins defense held Hillsboro without a field goal. Harrison finished with 28 points, going 8-for-8 at the foul line in the fourth quarter. But the rest of the Lady Burros only scored nine points in all -- just 3 in the second half.

BHS seniors Susan Mathis, from left, Natalie Shumacher, Kathleen Maher, Kyla Kerstetter, Gabby Woodland and Karli Crosby show off winners' plaque.

"They're such a fast team and we're not -- a lot of times that speeds us up too much, but I think we handled that," Kerstetter said. "We were in the mindset, we were ready to go this game, and I don't think we were the last time we got beat.

"With a team as good as them, it's about who wants it more, and I know we did and it showed."

Brentwood Coach Ronnie Siegenthaler, whose team had the only regular-season district win over Hillsboro, said the key was handling the Lady Burros' full and half-court defensive pressure.

"Harrison, you hope to contain, control, because you don't stop," he said.

Shumacher knows that all too well. She made an attempt to take a charge from Harrison, daughter of former Vanderbilt and NFL fotball standout Dennis Harrison. Shumacher was called for the foul, but also was bowled over and had to be helped gingerly off the floor.

When she saw coming on the fast-break down the sideline, Shumacher said she thought, "Uh-oh. I just kind of had to brace myself. I was like, 'Why did I do this?'She's so much bigger than me, this is going to be bad."

Shumacher, who took another charge earlier in the game, missed all of last season due to a condition that results in painful stress fractures in her back. And the point guard often misses games, but says she should be back for Friday's regional game from medical treatment she receives.

Parker and Shumacher were also on the all-tournament team, along with Ravenwood's Logan Hodskins. Last year Hillsboro ended Brentwood's season. 

"It means everything," Shumacher said about the championship. "We've been wanting to beat them since our freshman year. Especially for the seniors, this is a big victory."

Boys championship
Brentwood   -- 16  8  20 16 -- 70
Ravenwood -- 16 13 16 25 -- 60   
Brentwood: Montague 20, Cox 23, Sims 4, Shelton 11, Jones 2, Joiner 7, Meacham 3.
Ravenwood: Veal 10, Forhetz 9, Robinson 12, Moore 8, Stoner 14, Barnes 7.
3-pointers: Brentwood 9 (Cox 4, Shelton 3, Montague, Joiner 3).  

Girls championship
Brentwood -- 10 16 14 12 -- 52
Hillsboro    --  13  5  12  7 -- 37
Brentwood: Shumacher 13, Parker 5, Crosby 2, Kerstetter 24, Mathis 4, H. Jarnagin 4.
Hillsboro: Bowers 2, Carter 1, Campbell 1, Harrison 28, Leonard 2, Holt 3.
3-pointers: Brentwood 4 (Shumaker 2, Parker, Kerstetter); Hillsboro 1 (Holt).

The 2010-11 Brentwood girls basketball team celebrates winning the District 11-AAA tourney.