Brooks soars past Fenger

Updated: March 23, 2011 3:44PM

Brooks coach Bobby Locke knows it's never easy being the No. 1 seed.

But the No. 4 Eagles (24-2) made it look easy after a slow start by racing past Fenger 86-35 in the Class 3A Rich East Regional Tuesday night in Park Forest.

"We've got seniors and they know what to expect," said Locke. "Everybody expects you to get past the first round."

Brooks survived a slow start by scoring the final five points of the first quarter to take a 15-6 lead. The Eagles outscored the Titans 28-8 in the second quarter and never looked back.

Michael Powell scored 23 points and Justin Rabb added 22 points and 12 rebounds. Center Kevin Gray contributed 16 points and 13 rebounds.

"We started slow because we were out of sync," Locke said. "We were trying to play too fast. Once we slowed it down and played our game, we were in total control."

Locke expects his Eagles to play much better in the championship game on Friday night.

"The focus gets better as you play better teams," Locke said. "I wanted to get this one out of the way. They'll focus more on Friday."

The only thing Brooks didn't do well was shoot free throws as the Eagles made just nine of 22.

Fenger (10-20) never led but kept things close in the first quarter, trailing just 10-6 with 203 left in the quarter. That's when Brooks took over.

"They're well-coached and more talented than we are," Fenger coach Cornelius Ellen said.

Devonta Benefield and Drewsean Thomas scored eight points each to lead Fenger.

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