Last night the SCH basketball team bested Carver Engineering & Science 68-38 and improved to 7-1 on the season. However, SCH had more to play for than just their record.
That night was ALS Awareness Night, a game that means even more to the Blue Devils since their assistant coach Mike Brown suffers from the disease.
“I met Coach Brown my junior year,” said senior Kam Waters when asked about his relationship with the assistant coach. Waters then went on to detail how the two bonded over the season.
Waters described Brown as “transparent”, and how that transparency helped him improve his game and become the best basketball player possible.
Coach Brown was a CHA alumni and a multi-sport superstar for the Devils. During his athletic career at Chestnut Hill Academy, he earned 12 varsity letters in football, basketball, and baseball.
He racked up many awards, including the Markward Basketball Award in 2000, and became the 6th player in CHA history to rack up 1,000 career points. He was a two-time Inter-Ac all-star as well (1999, 2000).
When asked about his impact, senior Keni Williams said, “[Coach Brown] means a lot, he gives us that push.”
Brown was also a talented baseball player, becoming a three-time Philadelphia All-City All-Star (1998, 1999, 2000) and was selected to the Philadelphia Carpenter Cup All-Star team three times (1998, 1999, 2000).
He was named a High School All-American by Rawlings’ Baseball Factory and the National Baseball Coaches Association. Brown was also a multi-time Inter-Ac MVP. Those achievements helped Brown earn a four-year athletic scholarship to play baseball at Temple University.
Coach Brown then returned to the Blue Devils to coach the baseball and basketball teams as an assistant coach and helped lead the baseball team to a championship in 2016.
“Coach Brown means everything to me,” said head coach Julian McFadden, just before tip-off. “Coach Brown coached me when I went here […] he had an opportunity to coach me, and he had a big impact on me, even as a sophomore, a junior, a freshman, y’know?”
McFadden then elaborated, stating, “With [Coach Brown] being able to come back and coach with me it’s just been a tremendous blessing, because that doesn’t necessarily happen all the time.”
The Devils channeled that motivation, using it for fuel as they took on Carver.
“[Coach Brown] means a lot,” said junior guard Joe Flach during a pre-game interview with Gametime Sports. “He pushes us, he’s a great coach, a great guy, he just wants us to keep playing hard and give it all we got, ‘cause we know we can win.”
Carver, a team that plays in a public league that doesn’t use a shot clock, requested to play without a shot clock during the game, which SCH agreed to.
The lack of a shot clock throughout the game allowed for the Devils to control the pacing with their superb defense and methodical offense, leading Carver 28-15 going into halftime.
But Carver refused to quit, cutting the Devils’ lead to just 6 points midway through the third, throwing off the Devils’ synergy and putting them in a bind.
Thankfully, SCH was able to turn things around, thanks in great part to juniors Julian Sanders and Owen Kelly, who stepped up. On a fast break, Sanders dropped his defender at halfcourt, passing to Kelly who was fouled, and made 1.
Sanders would then grab a quick steal on the very next possession, throwing a quick pass back to Kelly, who laid it in for a quick turnaround. While it was just 3 points, it gave the Devils a huge boost in momentum, as they broke away and eventually won by 30 points.
“Going out there and playing for Coach Brown just lit a little extra fire underneath us,” said junior center Stewart Greenleaf. “It just motivated us to go out there and play our best possible game.”
Coach Jules further elaborated on his statements, stating that, “To be able to support what he’s fighting, is kinda what I was called to do.” McFadden then continued, saying, “This is a part of what we wanna be as a program, and what we wanna do is help the other people.”
Now, the Devils (9-1) will look to continue their dominant run as they play Tatnall this Tuesday, after beating Cristo Rey 67-66 off a Keni Williams game winner on Sunday.
