Comets help Behrens top former team
STERLING - Cody Behrens was just trying to treat this like any other game. The Prophetstown student section wasn't about to let him off that easy. The Newman junior, who grew up in Prophetstown and played for the Prophets' varsity team last year, finished with 11 points, two assists and a steal in his first game against his former mates in the Comets' 56-31 Three Rivers win Friday night at home.
But after being greeted with resounding boos when his name was called during starting lineups, his former schoolmates serenaded him with chants of "Ballhog!" every time he touched the ball during the game.
"The atmosphere was pretty hostile, I'd say," said Prophetstown junior Ethan Ward, who was best friends with Behrens growing up. "But we pretty much expected that."
Behrens cracked a small smile listening to the fans as he trotted over to the Prophetstown bench to shake hands with the coaches before the game, and didn't seem at all nervous coming in. He made just about every shot he took in warm-ups - right in front of the Prophetstown students - and followed a pretty assist late in the first quarter with a pair of driving baskets in the lane.
"I just wanted to try and keep my cool and worry about what was going on out on the court," Behrens said. "Coach told me before the game to just block everything out. Of course they were going to boo me; I just didn't want to get caught up in all that and hurt my team."
During their pregame warm-ups, the Prophets seemed to be making a concerted effort to avoid looking at the other end of the court. But once the game started, it was up to the fans to worry about accosting Behrens as the players just got into the flow of things.
"It was harder to just play this like any other game," said Ward, who led the Prophets with eight points, 10 rebounds and three blocks. "He and I were best friends since we were little guys, and it was kind of strange seeing him on the other side after always playing with him.
"But once we got going, you kind of forget all that other stuff and just try to make plays and win the game."
For the Comets' part, they had their new teammates' back. Behrens' baseline layup and hanger in the lane back-to-back gave Newman a 13-4 lead, then he scored on another drive to the hoop to spark a 10-5 run over the final 2:29 of the second period.
His 3-pointer from the wing after bringing the ball into the frontcourt unchecked early in the second half forced a Prophetstown timeout, and the Comets never looked back from that 35-18 lead.
"We definitely wanted to win this one for him," Newman's Dugan Repass said. "Obviously playing his old team, he really wanted to get these guys. We knew he'd stay focused and keep his composure, because that's just the way he is, and he did a great job blocking all that out. But we wanted to send him home happy."
Prophetstown closed the third quarter on a 5-0 run, but Newman put the game away with a 12-1 run over the first 4:22 of the fourth.
Jase Fane's double-double (14 points, 13 rebounds) led the way for the Comets, and Luke Phillips added eight points and seven rebounds as Newman made a conscious effort to run their offense through the post. The Comets shot only 23-for-61 from the field, but their defense held the Prophets to 12-for-49 shooting (24.5 percent) - including one field goal over the final eight minutes - and forced 19 turnovers.
"We really got frustrated with ourselves and put up a lot of bad shots," Ward said. "They hit their shots, we didn't, and that's always going to mean a score like this."
