Brookfield Central wins fourth Luke Homan Championship

The Brookfield Central boys basketball team had big third quarters on back-to-back nights, and as a result, the Lancers came away with their fourth championship in six years in the Luke Homan Memorial Holiday Tournament last week at Central.

Central whipped Hartford, 72-39, Dec. 27 and then beat Madison West, 60-48, Friday in the title game (see All-Tournament Team in infobox). The victories were the Lancers' eighth in a row and improved their record to 8-1. They are tied for first with Sussex Hamilton (10-0), each with 4-0 marks.

The Lancers get back in action on Friday at home against Wauwatosa East (6-4, 3-1).

In the rout of Hartford, Central went up 37-22 at intermission. If the Orioles had any thoughts of a comeback, they went out the window when the Lancers had a 17-3 third quarter.

In the championship game against Madison West, the Lancers led, 32-25, at intermission and then used a 14-3 run in the third quarter to coast into the fourth period with a 46-28 advantage. That's two games with a 31-6 third-quarter margin.

"We always talk about coming out fast the first three minutes of the first quarter and the first three minutes of the third quarter," Central coach Mark Adams said after Friday's title game. "We struggled for a bit in the third against Hartford and I said (to the guys) 'Not like last night; this is a completely different animal.' That was one of the best quarters (on Friday) we had against a quality opponent."

Central went on an 8-0 run against West on Friday to open the second half, as Elijah Goodman had four points and an assist, Riley LaChance had a basket and an assist and Peter Mattiacci had a basket to make it a 15-point advantage for Central (40-25). After a free throw and a bucket by West's Malik Clements, Brad Newman hit two free throws, LaChance hit a free throw and Luke Rasmussen had a basket and a free throw to end a 6-0 run.

LaChance had 25 points for Central and Mattiacci had 11, nine in the first quarter on three 3-pointers, getting Central off to a 23-12 start. Goodman finished with 10 points and 15 rebounds, while Clements led West with 13 points.

Adams talked about Jerry Homan, Luke's father, talking to his team before the Hartford game.

"He talked about the memories and the fact Luke was a gym rat," Adams said. "We have a few guys like that and we take pride in winning this tournament."

All-Tournament Team

Riley LaChance, Brookfield Central

(MVP)

Peter Mattiacci, Brookfield Central

Elijah Goodman, Brookfield Central

Alex Brown, Madison West

Travis Kell, Madison West