McCluer North Outlasts District Rival McCluer in OT

As a quarterback, has engineered his share of comebacks.

Monday, he triggered a monster rally on the basketball court, too.

The 6-foot-4-inch Brown scored a team-high 23 points, including a trio of big baskets in regulation and overtime to lead the Stars to a 64-62 win over district rival in a Suburban North Conference (SNC) showdown at .

added 16 points and nine rebounds for the Stars, who won their 14th game in a row and improved to 16-1 overall and 4-0 in conference play.

Brown, who threw for 1,475 yards and 17 touchdowns in the fall, sank a 3-pointer with 53 seconds left in the fourth quarter to tie the game 51-51. He then added back-to-back baskets in the first 66 seconds of the extra session to put the Stars ahead to stay.

"I just took my football (skills) to basketball," Brown said. "I was feeling it, so I kept putting it up."

Brown's late-game heroics fueled a ferocious comeback in front of a standing-room only crowd.       

McCluer (14-3, 0-2) led by as many as 16 points in the first half and held a nine-point advantage late in the third quarter. The Comets seemingly took control for good when Chantel Stanciel made it 49-43 on a driving layup with 3:43 left.

But the Stars, led by five points from Brown and a key basket by senior Bryon Ray, rallied to tie.

"The intensity was incredible, but we settled down and got into our strengths and pulled the game out," McCluer North coach Randy Reed said. "It was a game of runs, especially with a couple high-level teams like this."

Senior Leon Watkins Jr. led the Comets with 23 points and 10 rebounds. Tyrone Griffin Jr. added 18 points.

"We did what we needed to do to win, but we didn't make the right decisions down the stretch," McCluer coach Erwin Claggett said. "They did a heck of a job closing us out at the end."

, moves into position to win its first conference title since 2007-08. The Stars are unbeaten in SNC play and will likely win the crown with a victory over on Feb. 2.

The Stars stayed within striking distance against their rivals before pouncing on several McCluer mistakes during crunch time.

Brown started the fourth-quarter rally with a 3-pointer, and Ray scored on a driving layup to bring the Stars to within 49-48 with 2:56 remaining.

Demetrious Floyd answered for the Comets more than a minute later to set the stage for Brown's game-tying bomb. In perfect catch-and-shoot fashion, Brown drilled his third 3-pointer of the quarter.

The Stars, who never led in regulation, carried the momentum from Brown's shot into the four-minute extra period. They scored on their first five possessions of OT to bolt to a 61-52 lead with 1:16 left.

Dorian Holland also added a big basket in the 10-1 run.

But McCluer battled back behind Watkins, who scored his team's final 10 points. Watkins' old-fashioned 3-point play brought his team to within 63-62 with 46 ticks on the clock. He actually had a chance to tie the game, but missed one of two foul shots with 25 seconds remaining.

Brown then hit one of two from the stripe to pump the Stars lead to 64-62 with 20 seconds left.

But Griffin missed a tie-breaking shot in the final seconds, and Granger pulled down the rebound as time expired.

"There's no difference between these two teams," Reed said. "The ball just bounces one team's way sometimes."

McCluer jetted out to early leads of 9-0 and 25-9 before McCluer North cut the deficit to 31-24 at the break. The Stars went on a 6-0 run over the final 51 seconds of the second quarter.

The two powerhouses could meet again in postseason play at the McCluer Regional.

Claggett, for one, is ready for a rematch.

"They may have won the battle, but we might do it all over again and that will be a war," he said.