BREWER, Maine — Brewer High School seniors Matt Pushard and Carter Smith may not be brothers in a biological sense, but on the basketball court they’re at least kindred spirits.
“I don’t know how many years we’ve played together, but it’s been so many years and so many times that we know what one another is going to do,” said Pushard after he and Smith led the unbeaten Witches to a 70-53 Class A victory over Lawrence of Fairfield Friday night.
“Definitely I know that what’s in my mind is going to be what’s in his mind, it’s kind of like Zen.”
Smith scored 26 points and Pushard added 25 as the duo combined for 51 points for the second time in three wins so far this season for coach Clayton Blood’s club.
Most of Pushard’s work came from the inside as his teammates patiently waited for passing angles, and once the 6-foot-5 senior forward got the ball, Lawrence had few defensive answers.
And with Pushard drawing much of the Bulldogs’ defensive attention, Smith and his backcourt mates worked the perimeter, finding the range with jump shots or driving past defenders trying to react after dropping into the lane to defend Brewer’s inside game.
“When Matt gets the ball, that’s where our offense comes from,” said Smith, who also contributed eight assists and six rebounds. “He’s a force under there, and teams are going to collapse on him, and then we’re going to have other people open, and we can either catch and shoot or go by them.”
Lawrence (1-2) remained within striking distance for much of the game, using 10 points in the first 2:33 of the second half from junior forward Mason Cooper to draw within 38-35 on a jumper by teammate Seth Powers with 4:54 left in the third quarter.
Blood then called timeout and eased up on the full-court pressure that helped fuel Cooper’s transition offense.
And with Pushard scoring with 13 third-quarter points of his own on 6-of-7 shooting from the field, Brewer soon reassumed control and put the game away with a 21-2 run late in the third quarter and early in the final period.
Smith had 10 points and three assists during that run, which gave the Witches a 66-43 lead with less than five minutes remaining.
“You’ve got to hand it to [Cooper], he’s a real good player,” said Pushard, who also had six rebounds and four assists. “But we were able to counter their shots. It’s pretty big when they come down and make a big shot, but then we come down and make a big shot, too. It also helped being home with our crowd; it’s a fun atmosphere.”
Brewer, which has had to adjust to life without senior guard Logan Rogerson — out for the season with a hip injury suffered during the high school football playoffs — also got solid contributions from its role players, among them guards Cameron Wood, Michael Bailey and Damien Vance and forwards Danny Davis, Tyler Hafford and Jamison Rhoades-Doyle.
“The chemistry is definitely there,” said Smith. “We work it around the perimeter and try to get the ball to Matt, and things happen when he gets the ball.
Cooper paced Lawrence with 26 points, and senior guard J.T. Nutting added 12.
