The Higbee boys couldn’t keep up with second-ranked Brunswick in a CLAA showdown last Tuesday, with the top seed on the line for this week’s conference tournament. The Tigers fell 80-55 on Homecoming despite a 25-point performance from junior Aaron Welch.

The game helped determine the final seedings for the CLAA Tournament, which tipped off this week. Brunswick secured the top seed and soundly defeated Norborne 67-21 in the opener Monday. Higbee earned the second seed after defeating Hardin-Central 68-52 on the road Wednesday night.

On Monday, Higbee topped host team Tina-Avalon 72-34, the seventh seed, in the CLAA tournament opener, setting up a rematch with Brunswick in the semifinals on Thursday. Regardless of the outcome, it could turn out to be the second of three games this season. If both teams win their respective districts and subsequent state sectional games, Brunswick and Higbee would meet again in the state quarterfinals.

“The conference tournament championship really should be a Higbee-Brunswick rematch,” Higbee coach Tanner Burton asserted. “Probably the worst-case scenario for Brunswick is us potentially as a quarterfinal matchup. Nobody wants to play a team three times, especially when you know each other like the back of your hand. It gets ugly.”

Notwithstanding how the postseason shakes out, last week’s game was a tall order for Higbee. Brunswick has held the No. 2 ranking in the state for a reason. The Wildcats currently hold a record of 18-3, with two of those three losses coming against Class 5 teams, the other to formerly-ranked Class 2 Westran in the New Franklin Tournament Championship.

Brunswick showed they were worthy of their ranking, jumping out to a double-digit lead in the first four minutes of the game after sophomore Makhien Falls sank back-to-back threes.

But the Tigers didn’t let the game slip away early, scoring four points in the last 77 seconds to end the opening period behind by just six points, 20-14.

“We played man-to-man tonight. And if anybody has watched Higbee basketball over the last decade, you know that we’re a 1-3-1 team. So I was really proud of my guys for stepping up.”

But things fell apart for Higbee in the second quarter. Starting point guard Cale Nelson was sent to the bench with three fouls, leaving the Tigers in unfamiliar territory. Meanwhile, Brunswick seized control with a 17-2 run to lead 37-16 with 4:17 left in the first half.

“We knew the game plan, we were going to mix it up and shake things up against them to keep them on their heels. And I thought we did a nice job of that,” Burton said. “I thought that kind of went sideways a little bit when Cale got in foul trouble. And we put Cale back in, and we gradually chipped away. We were able to kind of stay within shooting distance for a while. They got out to that comfortable 20-point lead, but we never let them get away. That was something that I told them I was really proud of. That effort and energy to stay in it. Brunswick is very talented, very athletic, and so it’s a different matchup.”

The Tigers finished off the half with a 9-1 run to go into the break down 42-27. But Brunswick put the game out of reach in the third quarter, opening the second half with an 11-2 run while outscoring the Tigers 20-12 in the period.

“Cale had to come out because he picked up three fouls. But ultimately, taking the point guard off the floor put us in an ugly spot. And it wasn’t something we were prepared to adjust for,” Burton said. “I thought for the most part, we did well. They just hit a lot of good shots then, and it changed us into a zone, and they hit some threes.”

One point of consistency for Higbee throughout the game was the play from junior Aaron Welch. He added eight rebounds to his game-high 25 points and shot nearly 50 percent from the floor (10-21) and sank four 3-point shots.

“I thought Aaron Welch played really well. He got to the basket and went hard.”

Senior Danny Janssen, who was honored before the game for reaching 1,000 career points in the game prior, scored 12 points and was the main focus for the Brunswick defense. He sank just one of 10 3-point tries and added eight rebounds, dished out a team-best four assists, and led Higbee with three steals.

Nelson posted nine points and eight rebounds with three assists. Junior Hunter Dougherty added five points, and junior Xavier Gabing finished with four points and two rebounds.

“Danny, I thought played well,” Burton said. “Hunter was on the floor all night taking charges.”

Sophomore Balston Brown led five Brunswick scorers in double-figures with 21 points and 10 rebounds for the double-double, to go along with a game-high seven assists. Senior Tae Brown went 7-for-12 from the floor without a 3-pointer to finish with 16 points.

Higbee senior Celton Crawford pulled the defensive assignment against Brown, drawing praise from Burton at the end of the night.

“I thought Celton played really good defense on Tae. He’s a great 3-point shooter,” Burton added.

Junior Clay Hayward and sophomore Drew Jackson posted 13 points each for the Wildcats, with Falls adding 11 points on 3-for-7 shooting from the arc.

Higbee finished shooting 35.5 percent from the field, compared to 50.7 percent for Brunswick. Higbee also turned the ball over 15 times, turning into 15 points for the Wildcats. Brunswick also dominated the paint, outscoring Higbee 52-30 in the lane.

Once the conference tournament ends, Higbee will have two more regular-season games this season. The Tigers travel to Prairie Home (5-16) next Tuesday before closing out the season at home against South Shelby (6-16) on Friday. The Class 1 District 10 Tournament opens on Feb. 23.