ThisWeek Community Newspapers

Without question, Brookhaven High School senior boys basketball player Jamelle Cornley had one of the finest stretches of his prep career during the fourth quarter and throughout two overtimes in a Division I district championship game last Saturday against Dublin Coffman in the Fairgrounds Coliseum.

There were moments during the 58-55 double-overtime win when 6-foot-6 junior post player Jeff Cumberland came up just as huge, particularly late in the third quarter.

That's when he and Cornley had a little chat.

"What ended up happening was that I was having a tough time with (6-foot-9 Coffman post player Kyle) Madsen, and Jeff came up to me and said, 'Why don't we switch,' because he's a tougher jumper than I am," Cornley said. "After that, Madsen was not as much of a factor (with Cumberland guarding him)."

Coffman stopped attacking on offense and seemed content to protect the 13-point lead it took into the final quarter. The Bearcats were aggressive offensively, while Cumberland held Madsen scoreless during both the fourth period and in the first overtime.

Madsen, a first-team all-district selection along with Cornley, was held to 11 points.

Cornley, who won his second consecutive district Player of the Year honor, finished with 23 points and 17 rebounds. He totaled 11 points, seven rebounds and two steals in the fourth quarter, added two points and a rebound in the first overtime and three points and five rebounds in the second overtime.

Cumberland finished with 18 points and seven rebounds. He supplied six points in the second half and a pair of free throws in the first overtime. He had four points in the second overtime, including a dunk with 38 seconds left that gave Brookhaven a 58-53 lead.

"I can't say enough about the fire and passion of Jeff Cumberland," said coach Hali Robinson, whose third-seeded team improved to 21-4 while No. 7 Coffman led 41-25 with 51 seconds left in the third quarter but ended up falling to 18-4 with the loss. "He matched Jamelle Cornley. No one has been tougher on Jeff than me because I see a lot in this young man and I realize how important it is for him to play like this if we're going to get back to (the state tournament)."

Brookhaven, which beat Coffman 52-41 in a regional semifinal last year and has won six consecutive district titles, moves into a regional semifinal at 7 p.m. today against Mifflin.

Senior Brooks Hunton -- one of five key Coffman players between 6-4 and 6-9 -- had eight points and three rebounds in a third period in which Coffman increased the lead from 23-15 at halftime to as much as 16 on two occasions.

With Marvin Jones on the bench with his fourth foul, junior backup point-guard Jawanza Robinson completed a three-point play with one second to go in the third that cut it to 41-28 and seemed to spark the Bearcats.

Cornley grabbed a steal in the opening seconds of the fourth period and made the first of two foul shots, and the Bearcats cut it to 43-37 on a putback by Cornley with 4:32 remaining.

With Coffman leading 47-43, Cornley scored with 27 seconds to go and then made a putback with 17 seconds left to send it to overtime.

Coffman stalled for almost two minutes of the first overtime after Matt Heine gave it a 50-47 lead on a 3-pointer 14 seconds into the period, but Brookhaven battled back again to send it to a second extra session. Brookhaven took a 55-53 lead with 2:22 left on a basket by Cumberland and never trailed again.