Brunswick's Phil Pierce is fouled by King's Jabrille Williams as Brunswick School hosts King in the boys basketball FAA Semi-final Saturday afternoon, Feb. 27, 2010. Brunswick won the game 72-49.
GREENWICH -- Rather than tantalize his players with the trophies they've spent the better part of a year thinking about, Brunswick coach and FAA boys basketball chairperson Greg Dobbs decided to keep the hardware out of sight and, instead, left it on the back seat of his car Saturday afternoon.
After all, this day wasn't about a coronation for the Bruins -- it was about proving that last season's stunning semifinal loss was merely an aberration.
Brunswick, which was bounced prior to the league finals for the only time in two decades last year, did just that and also avenged its only FAA home setback of the season with an impressive 72-49 semifinal round victory over King at Dann Gymnasium.
Those trophies will be in full view of the team now.
"I was thinking about it on the drive in how strange it was being at last year's championship game but not coaching in it," Dobbs said. "It feels like old times again."
The Bruins, who have won 12 Fairchester Athletic Association tournament titles in 20 years under Dobbs, can add to their already crowded trophy case this afternoon. Top-seeded Brunswick (15-11) will host second-seeded St. Luke's -- a 78-60 winner against Hamden Hall in Saturday's other semifinal -- in a rubber match today at 2 p.m.
The league rivals split the regular-seasons series, with each team winning on its home court.
The stakes are even higher this time around.
"We had a lot of motivation going into this game," senior Zach Lynch said. "Two double-digit playoff wins feels great, but we've had one goal all season and that's to win the league title. We have a shot to do that on our home court, so that's all you can ask for."
It's been a remarkable turnaround for the Vikings (16-8), who went from winless in the FAA to the No. 4 seed with mainly the same roster. King crowned Brunswick 51-46 earlier this month, and seemed up for this mighty challenge as the teams traded leads six times in the first five minutes Saturday.
The Vikings, however, were unable to keep pace with the hot-shooting Bruins, who played a near perfect first half of basketball.
Trailing 12-9 with 11:08 left in the half, Brunswick went on runs of 10-0 and 9-0 to take a 28-14 lead exactly six minutes later.
The Bruins would then close the half with a 12-0 spurt, making it a 42-20 contest at the intermission.
"It was two good teams, but only one was scoring for over a five-minute stretch," King coach Scott Carson said. "Brunswick played with a lot of energy and the problem for us in the second half was that it was such a big deficit, their lead hovered around 20 even when we went on a few mini-runs. We just couldn't do what we needed to."
Conversely, the Bruins could seemingly do no wrong over the first 16 minutes when they committed just two turnovers and connected on five of eight 3-point attempts.
Brunswick's Billy Murphy, a 6-foot-9 junior, scored just six points, but pulled down nine rebounds and dished out 10 assists.
If there was an open Brunswick player, Murphy found him.
Just ask Lynch and his teammates.
"Their plan seemed to be doubling Billy in the paint," Lynch said. "He was great with the ball, finding us on cuts to the baskets and on outlet passes."
Senior co-captain Max Barrett finished with 21 points, three assists and two steals -- and had plenty of help. Lynch totaled 17 points, all in the first half, to go along with five assists and three steals, while senior co-captain Phil Pierce had 17 points, nine rebounds, three assists and three steals.
King was led by junior point guard Tre Tipton, who scored 14 points -- including the first three baskets of the second half as the visitors fought to within 15 at the 14:10 mark. Yet that was as close as the Vikings would get.
Also for King, Matt Reggina had 10 points, Charlie Enright added eight and Jabrille Williams finished with six points and six rebounds in his final FAA game.
The Vikings are expecting to receive a New England Prep Schools Athletic Council tournament berth when the Class D pairings are announced later today.
"The good news is that our season is probably not over," Carson said. "The kids have worked so hard, so I'm really hoping we get in. Either way, I'm proud of how far they've come this season."