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| Segment Number Twenty-two |
| The 2003-04 Season opened with high hopes as the "dream team" class of 2005 were now Juniors and prepared to make their mark on the program. They would reel off five straight victories before falling to Elder in the Cintas Center on December, 21st followed by three more wins for a composite 8-1 record heading into the MCIT tournament where they would be beaten by Pendleton County for the first time in the Schlarman era 69-62 and the Mustangs would fall in overtime in the next game back at Holy Cross as well. This would be followed by a ten game winning streak that would take them through the 10th Region All "A" Tournament and into the finals of the 10th Region State Tournament at Eastern Kentucky University where we would be defeated by Hazard 43-38 in the championship game. Returning home from the "A" State tournament we would be thrust into battle against the 10th Region Favorite Mason County Royals just days later at the Campbell County Middle School before a large crowd on hand to see Chris Lofton which included Rick Pitino and his sons. The Mustangs would put five more wins back-to-back including a win over Owensboro in the Adolph Rupp Classic at Lexington Catholic High School in late February. Brossart would enter the 38th District Tournament with a 23-5 record and be beaten in one of the biggest upsets in the state that year by 10-14 Bracken County who we had defeated earlier in the season 62-41. Thus closed the book on the careers of Rob Doyle and Seven-footer Derrick Rhoden. The Bracken County loss would be the last game of the Willie Schlarman era. Coach Schlarman returned to his Alma Mater at Highlands during May of 2004 to take over the fortunes of the Bluebirds and Mustangs Varsity Assistant Mike Code assumed the duties as the head coach of the Brossart Mustangs. |
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| No. 8 Brossart tops No. 7 Holmes in OT The Cincinnati Enquirer Bishop Brossart, the eighth-ranked team in the Enquirer Northern Kentucky coaches' poll, came through at the free throw line to overcome Holmes 56-49 in overtime Tuesday night. Brossart made nine of its 14 free throws in the extra period to outscore Holmes, which is tied for the No.7 spot in the poll, 9-2. Steve McCarthy made four free throws in overtime and finished with a team-high 16 points. Rob Doyle added 15 for the Mustangs. Warren Williams scored 17 points for the Bulldogs. BISHOP BROSSART (2-0) - Doyle 6 3 15, McCarthy 4 5 16, Smith 4 0 11, McDole 2 3 7, Cooper 1 2 4, Anderson 1 1 3. Totals: 18 14 56. HOLMES (1-1) - Williams 6 4 17, Rice 4 0 8, Jennings 3 1 7, Edmondson 3 0 6, Brown 3 1 7, Ramsey 1 0 2, Jefferson 1 0 2. Totals: 21 6 49. 3-pointers: Brossart: 6 (Smith 3, McCarthy 3) Holmes: 1 (Williams). |
| Rhoden's big night helps keep Bishop Brossart unbeaten The Cincinnati Enquirer Derrick Rhoden scored 23 points and grabbed eight rebounds Saturday night, leading Bishop Brossart to a 63-49 victory over Campbell County. Guard Kevin Smith had five assists for Brossart, which remained unbeaten. CAMPBELL CO. (3-1) - Futscher 2 0 4, Johnson 3 2 12, King 1 0 2, Becker 2 3 7, Brocker 3 5 11, White 1 0 3, Fields 1 1 3, Cornetet 2 0 5, Painter 1 0 2. Totals: 18 9 49. BISHOP BROSSART (4-0) - Anderson 4 4 14, Cooper 2 7 11, Smith 1 1 3, Rhoden 11 1 23, McDole 5 2 12. Totals: 27 15 63. Campbell Co.12111511-49Bishop Brossart8132220-633-pointers: Campbell Co. 4 (Johnson 2, White, Cornetet) Bishop Brossart 2 (Anderson 2). |
| The Brossart Mustangs opened the season with a home win over Pendleton County 46-41 and then went into Holmes where the Mustangs would beat the homestanding Bulldogs 56-49 in overtime despite losing Brett Reilly to a nasty forehead gash late in the game. The Mustangs would go 9 of 14 from the free-throw line in overtime to beat Holmes. |
| Derrick Rhoden would come up big versus Campbell County in the Cross-Town Classic the night after the Mustangs defeated Clark County at home 59-54. The wins over Clark and Campbell kept the Stangs undefeated at 4-0. |
| A 64-37 win over Paris improved the Mustangs to 5-0 on the season as we headed into the Bluegrass-Buckeye Charity Classic at the Cintas Center on Sunday, December 21st for a first-ever meeting with the Elder Panthers. The Mustangs weren't intimidated by the GCL mainstays leading by as much as eight points midway through the third period, but a pair on three pointers by Joe Sunderman, one ahead of the buzzer to end the third period and an encore 3 to start the fourth quarter would rally the Panthers who would come from behind to hand Brossart our first loss of the season 52-50. While we were proud of our efforts we came away feeling like we let the big one get away. |
| A trip to Flemingsburg got the Stangs back into the win column with a 59-48 victory over the Fleming County Panthers. The drive home in a blinding snow storm would be more exciting than the game itself. The following Tuesday the Covington Catholic Colonels would come to call at the SyCenter where the Mustangs would inflict their third consecutive SyDome loss upon the top ranked Colonels. |
| Goliath tops David Giant Elder rallies past tiny Brossart -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- By Marc Hardin Post contributor Previously unbeaten Brossart found out Sunday night that competing with rough-and tumble Elder was a lot easier than beating the Greater Cincinnati League boys' basketball power. Elder rallied from an eight-point third-quarter deficit to beat the Mustangs, 52-50, in Game 4 of the 2003 Bluegrass-Buckeye Charity Classic's five-game showcase at Xavier University's Cintas Center. Brossart, from Kentucky's small-school Class A, took the lead just before halftime and led the entire third quarter, stretching its advantage to 36-28 with 3:41 left in the period. But Elder, an Ohio big-school state finalist in 2001 and the 1993 Division I champion, held Brossart without a field goal in the fourth quarter until junior forward Evan McDole hit a spinning jumper in the lane with 1:40 to play to pull Brossart back to within four, 48-44. By then, Elder had completed a 20-6 run covering the third and fourth quarters to take its biggest lead of the game, 48-42, with 2:14 to go. Brossart (5-1) was so desperate to get the ball back to set up a possible three-point attempt in the final minute, coach Willie Schlarman pulled his star seven-foot center Derrick Rhoden from the floor during a timeout immediately after McDole's clutch jumper. Brossart got a three from junior forward Ryan Anderson with 23.8 left, pulling the Mustangs back to within two, 50-48. Senior guard Rob Doyle fouled Elder guard Joe Sunderman on the ensuing inbound pass, and Sunderman walked to the other end of the floor and hit two free throws to put the Panthers ahead, 52-48. Brossart junior forward Steve McCarthy's short bank shot in the lane with 2.5 seconds left created the final margin. Elder improved to 5-1, after losing its only game of the season Friday to GCL rival Moeller. Rhoden led Brossart with 14 points and six rebounds. McCarthy finished with 12 points. McDole and Anderson added eight points each. All of Rhoden's points came in the first half while he was being guarded primarily by Elder's top player, 6-8 forward Thomas Sander, who scored a team-high 16 points. But Elder coach Joe Schoenfeld put bulky 6-5 swingman Eric Wood on Rhoden to begin the second half, and Wood was more effective in pushing Rhoden away from the basket and making him dribble. "Elder plays in the GCL, so they're used to the banging. Our guys don't see that as much with our schedule and we had a tougher time handling it," Schlarman said. "Elder is awfully good, and this was a learning experience for us. Hopefully we'll be better because of it." Rhoden was coming off his best game of the season Friday night during a win against Campbell County with 23 points, eight rebounds and five assists. Sunday night, Rhoden was battling a virus. "I was a little slow tonight, but I felt in the first half I was playing well. In the second half, I couldn't get into the flow as much," Rhoden said. "We like to run our offense through him because he's so good about finding the open man if he's doubled down low," Schlarman said. "Derrick can score if he's close to the basket, but Elder was able to push him out of the way, and that was the difference in the game. Not too many teams are going to be able to push Derrick that far away." Rhoden, averaging 15 points and six rebounds per game, is getting recruiting letters from Eastern Kentucky University, Morehead State and Southern Illinois. He is just now learning how to effectively mobilize his body after a 6-inch growth spurt took him from 6-4 to 6-10 during his freshman year. Rhoden is trimmer this season at 270 pounds after more of an emphasis on conditioning worked off some baby fat during the offseason. He was so impressive at Blue Chip Camp at Georgetown College this past summer, he was invited to play with the Derek Smith All-Stars for tournament play in Las Vegas, where he averaged eight points per game. "He's a fine player who makes us so much better, but he's still a work in progress," Schlarman said. "We are working on some things with him that he needs to get better about, like positioning on switches, footwork and not relying on the dribble. "When you're that tall and can do some of the things Derrick can do, you have a lot of potential." Rhoden's eight second-quarter points came on a pair of free throws, a put-back after a Brossart steal, a jumper in the lane and a power move inside from strong positioning that gave the Mustangs a 23-22 lead with 3:15 left in the quarter. Brossart led, 25-24, at halftime. There were 10 lead changes before the break. Brossart went on an 11-4 run to start the second half as McCarthy's jumper from the right wing gave the Mustangs their second eight-point lead of the third quarter, 36-28. Elder responded with a 10-4 run to end the third to get back into it. Sanders' wide-open baseline drive for a lay-in gave Elder the lead for good, 43-42, with 6:05 to play in the game. ELDER 14 10 14 14 -- 52 BROSSART 11 14 15 10 -- 50 ELDER (52): Walters 2 1 6, Schuerman 3 3 10, Carey 3 0 6, Sander 8 0 16, Sommerkamp 1 0 2, Sunderman 3 2 10, Wood 1 0 2. Totals 21 6 52. BROSSART (50): Reilly 0 2 2, Doyle 1 0 2, Anderson 4 0 11, McCarthy 4 0 8, Smith 1 1 3, Rhoden 6 2 14, McDole 4 2 10. Totals 20 7 50. Three-pointers: E-Sunderman 2, Walters, Schuerman. B-Anderson 3. Records: Elder 5-1, Brossart 5-1. |
| FTs help Mustangs rally past Colonels Brossart 5-of-7 from line in 4th quarter of 51-48 win The Cincinnati Enquirer Bishop Brossart used its free-throw shooting to defeat Covington Catholic 51-48 Tuesday night. The Mustangs made five of their seven fourth-quarter attempts as they overcame a one-point deficit by outscoring the Colonels 17-13 in the final period. Senior center Derrick Rhoden scored 13 points to lead Brossart. Senior guard Matt Nestheide scored 16 points and made two 3-pointers for Covington Catholic. COVINGTON CATHOLIC (4-2) - Kennedy 1 0 2, Nestheide 6 2 16, Muck 3 0 8, Wachs 2 2 6, B. Votel 5 0 10, R. Votel 2 2 6. Totals 19 6 48. BISHOP BROSSART (7-1) - Reilly 0 1 1, Doyle 2 2 6, Anderson 3 2 10, McCarthy 1 1 3, Cooper 0 1 1, Smith 3 2 9, Rhoden 4 5 13, McDole 2 4 8. Totals 15 18 51. Covington Catholic 3-pointers: C 4 (Nestheide 2, Muck 2) B 3 (Anderson 2, Smith). |