FCA BOYS BASKETBALL: North wins 86-76 over South team featuring local trio

2017 FCA All-Stars Boys Basketball — Bill Brooks, boys basketball head coach at Stephenville, was coach of the South team that included Dubliner Brady Moore, left, and Coby Vandenberg of Stephenville in the Big Country FCA All-Star Classic at The Coliseum in Brownwood Saturday. They lost to the North, 86-76. || Contributed

(June 4, 2017) — Stephenville boys basketball head coach Bill Brooks made his all-star coaching debut Saturday in the Big Country Fellowship of Christian Athletes All-Star Classic at The Coliseum in Brownwood.

Coaching a South team that included Stephenville’s Coby Vandenberg and Dublin’s Brady Moore, Brooks and his squad came up short in a 86-76 loss to the team from the North.

“We didn’t win but we had a lot of fun going out and competing in that environment, and that was the main thing,” said Brooks Saturday.

‘That environment’ was a made to be as much like a small college basketball game as possible. They played 40 minutes – although it was spread into four 10-minute quarters like NCAA women’s teams play, not two 20-minute halves like men’s teams – and the court use for the girls and boys all-star games was the same used in the 2007 NCAA Division III Elite Eight.

The South did have the game’s leading scorer as Timothy Aguero of San Angelo Lake View pouring in 26 points on 11-20 from the floor but just 4-11 from the foul stripe. Aguero, the 4-5A district offensive player of the year and Dubliner Moore, the 6-3A MVP, were the only South players who have committed to playing collegiately. After leading Dublin to a district title and bi-district playoff win, Moore signed a letter of commitment to East Texas Baptist University in Marshall.

But first he strung together one last double-digit scoring performance as a prep standout, tallying 12 points while grabbing eight rebounds. He was 4-12 from the floor and couldn’t connect on four tries for 3-point range but was a perfect 4-4 shooting free throws. Vandenberg, a 8-4A first-team all-district standout for the Yellow Jackets last season, accumulated three points and got on the glass four times.

The North was led to victory by Elijah Johnson with 21 points. He as their only player to hit better than 50 percent from the floor at adding a 5-9 performance from the foul stripe and 2-6 from the arc. Elijah Brown had the game’s only double-double with 10 points and 12 rebounds for the north, though Lorenzo Gonzales joined Moore in coming close for the South, finishing with eight points and 10 boars.

Shooting efficiency was a problem for both teams and led to a colossal 130 total rebounds, 67 collected by the south and 63 by the North. Brooks’ team especially struggled to put the ball through the net going just 2-23 – 9 percent – from the arc, where the North 8-36 – 32 percent. Overall the South shot 36 percent and the North 33, and neither team reached 60 percent from the charity stripe.

Of course, these 2017 high school graduates put the basketballs away in February, perhaps in March for some who were fortunate to help their school venture deep into the UIL playoffs.

The basketball games tipped off a week-long festival of all-star activities, culminating with the remaining games in Abilene and San Angelo next Friday, June 9, and Saturday, June 10. There are 10 remaining athletes representing Dublin and Stephenville in softball, baseball, volleyball, football and cheerleading. For the list of local graduates participating and a schedule of events in a report published by The Flash Today on May 10, CLICK HERE.