Brophy Prep used a stellar shooting performance from junior Ryan Burbach before shutting down Hamilton in the fourth quarter, securing a 56-43 win in 6A Premier Region finale Wednesday night at Hamilton's T. Dale Hancock Gymnasium.

Brophy finished the season 15-10 after entering the week at No. 10 in the Open power rankings. Hamilton is sitting at No. 21 in the Open and fell to 13-11.

Burbach scored a career high 22 points for the Broncos which included six three-point field goals. Hale Hansen scored 10 points for Brophy and Daylen Sharper added 9. 
The first half turned into a clinic on three-point shooting, as the teams combined for13 in the first two quarters, with Brophy holding a 27-24 lead at the halftime break.

"it could've been any one of us, but the shots just came to me tonight," Burbach said of his performance. "Hamilton usually like to slow things down, and they were hitting threes as well, but we didn't really want to play at their pace, so we needed to get out and run."

Guard Davion Harris came out red hot for Hamilton, knocking down three of his four three-point field goals in the first quarter. Fellow guard Andy Valle started the game hitting a three on the first posession, as the Huskies had an early 9-3 lead. Burbach and the Broncos started warming up in the first quarter as well, and both teams traded blows until halftime, mostly from the perimeter and beyond.

Brophy jumped out to a 10-point lead early in the third quarter with Burbach hitting a three and another field goal inside the arch. Those baskets were sandwiched around a Daylen Sharper layup, and the result was a 34-24 Brophy lead.

But Hamilton wasn't done.

Forced to pick up the pace offensively, the Huskies answered with a 13-0 run, led by Elijah St. Onj and Patrice Mpouli Epo, who combined for nine points during the run. A layup by Andrew Mair gave Hamilton a 37-34 lead with 1:45 left in the third quarter before Sharper put an end to Hamilton's run with a three pointer of his own. 

"(Hamilton) deserves credit the way they came back in the third quarter," Burbach added. "We just had to keep pushing."

The score was tied at 39 entering the fourth quarter, but that's when Brophy turned up the defensive heat and put the game away with a 12-0 run. After Sharper hit two free throw, sophomore Hale Hansen sparked the momentum for Brophy with a steal and a layup, and scoring seven points in the quarter.

Meanwhile, Hamilton did not score in the fourth quarter until the 1:51 mark, when it was too little too late.

Davion Harris led Hamilton with 12 points.

 

Ben Stapley is a staff writer for AZPreps365. For human-interest story ideas and related high-school sports news, contact him at bstapley@azpreps365.com or 480 295-9125