Brebeuf Jesuit doesn't let up vs. rival Chatard: 'We were just trying to embarrass them.'

In front of an electric, sold-out Brebeuf Jesuit home crowd — its first sold-out crowd in years — the home team went on a monstrous run versus Bishop Chatard and never let up in a 67-43 win Friday.

The game started as a low-scoring, gritty, every-possession-counts kind of game. Opposite the teams' benches were each team’s fan section. Chaard fans lined the left side of the divide, sporting mostly pink and hoisting signs with a crossed-finger emoji in honor of coach Ken Roseman’s late wife, Misty. Brebeuf fans didn’t leave an inch of space on the other side, offering chants as often as they could. Each basket was met with a roar.

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After achieving a score of just 10-9 after the first eight quarter, it was shaping up to be a classic rivalry game. But Brebeuf hardly cared for storylines, and Chatard would never get that close again.

Brebeuf's defense made life incredibly hard for the Trojans, subsequently seeing some transition buckets and open 3s while picking apart Chatard’s defense.

While Brebeuf led by nine at half and the Trojans seemingly couldn’t buy a basket, the game still didn’t feel out of reach. That was before Brebeuf kicked it up a notch.

A 10-0 Brebeuf run to open the second half gave it a 19-point lead with five minutes left in the third quarter.

“Being a third-quarter team has been a focus for us because we’ve kind of had some slow starts to the third quarter,” Brebeuf guard Billy Smith said. “We just wanted to act like it was 0-0 again or even act like we were down 10. We were anticipating pressure, and it was more so dudes just being locked in and hitting open shots and taking care of the ball.”

Brebeuf altered lineup after lineup, throwing different looks at the Trojans while outscoring them 24-8 in the third quarter. Coach Todd Howard went big. He went small. He even dabbled with a mix, trying his hand at everything, with every lineup having success.

One player felt like the common denominator: Smith.

Each of the Miami of Ohio commit’s points were as timely as ever — a dunk to close the first quarter, his three devastating 3s and his eight third-quarter points all were highlights of his 20-point outing. He and senior forward Paul Stubblefield exploded for a combined 17 points in the third quarter and 41 points overall.

After several tough losses this year, including three in overtime, Brebeuf made sure to drive the game home and send a message. Even while up 30 in the fourth quarter, Howard chose to leave Smith and his core guys on the floor.

“We see things like rankings,” Smith said. “We dropped a game last week and it was hurting us. We knew this was another huge conference game where we could get our name back in those rankings. … We were in there up 25, and I was like ‘Alright, let’s get it to 40.’ We were just trying to embarrass them.”

It wasn’t until 2:06 remained in the game that Howard swapped his group with the players on the end of his bench.

No Chatard player scored in double figures.

“We’ve preached getting out to a quick start, and we just haven't been able to do that,” Ken Roseman said. “It’s been our Achilles heel these last three games. Definitely going to be addressed, and we just got to reevaluate some things. We’ve just got to bring energy. Brebeuf brought energy, and we just kind of left it in the locker room.”

Friday’s game marked a three-game skid for the Trojans (13-3), and Brebeuf (11-4) got back in the win column after losing two of its past three games. While both are now tied for first place in the Circle City Conference standings, it was Brebeuf who got the last laugh.

“It’s a tough battle, and we love that,” Howard said. “We know we need to climb back in the race for conference play. This allows us to do that. Now we’re tied for first and that matters to our guys. We really feel like how you can win in our league is how you can win in our sectional. If you’re able to do those things and progress through Indianapolis come tournament time, you’re sitting pretty good.”

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: IHSAA basketball: Billy Smith leads Brebeuf Jesuit past Bishop Chatard