Published: July 24, 2008 07:24 am         

Brigham breaks out for D&D

Danville standout leads team to title game

DANVILLE — Between summer school, AAU basketball and family commitments, Danville Vikings’ standout Mikel Brigham hasn’t been able to practice with his high school team yet this summer.

So once he gets the opportunity to compete on the Vikings squad, he is going to be more than ready. And as eager as he is to get back into a maroon and white uniform, his teammates are no doubt ready to see his

return.

Brigham found himself in a similar situation Wednesday night at the Dustbowl.

After seeing his first half playing time reduced because of foul trouble, a breakout second half helped propel D & D Construction to a 62-40 win over the East Central All Stars and advance to Sunday’s championship game.

Two fouls early in the first half forced Brigham to sit for much of the opening 20 minutes. Leaving the game with only seven points (three from the free throw line), D & D Construction quickly saw a 29-20 lead dwindle to 29-26 by halftime.

“I was excited about getting back on the court and taking over,” said Brigham of his second half return. “I just wanted to make sure we could play on Sunday.

“It feels good to play in front of the home town. It’s exciting. Any time I get a chance to play, I play like it’s my last.”

And that’s just what he did.

Brigham quickly took control of the game scoring 16 of his game-high 23 points in the second half as D & D Construction went on a 20-5 run, extending its lead to 20.

While Brigham took care of the scoring, Daveon Allen did his best to shut down former Chrisman Cardinal Jordan Kindred.

Kindred was the game’s second-leading scorer, and led East Central with 13, but admitted to being frustrated by his Danville counterpart.

“(Allen) that was face-guarding me the whole time, that’s probably the best defender I’ve probably ran into,” said Kindred. “It was good competition. It was fun, but I wish we wouldn’t lose one and then have to go home. We just didn’t rebound at all. Nobody on the team

rebounded.”

One of the primary reasons East Central All Stars had trouble controlling the glass was Brigham’s 14 boards.

Murad Abbed and Nathan Swarts each scored seven for East Central, Mitch Elkins scored four, and Jon Knoll finished with three.

Wesley Kelley supported Brigham’s scoring attack with 10 points while Collis Lillard and Jamar Stewart each added eight.

Regardless of who was on the court for D & D, it was evident it wasn’t the first time they had seen action

together.

“Most of our players play for Danville High School and we’ve got a couple of younger players that are going to be incoming freshmen,” said Brigham. “It’s a great learning experience for them. We’ve got good chemistry because we’ve played together at the parks and everything.”

After defeating East Central All Stars, a team largely composed of athletes from the Vermilion Valley Conference, D & D Construction has another big task on its hands in Sunday’s Championship against Hard Head Entertainment made up of basketball players from Champaign-Urbana.

“My expectation is to win the championship,” said Brigham. “That’s the only reason I came out here — to win. We came out here to prove a point.

“Sunday against Champaign, they are going to be pretty tough. They are pretty big. We’re just going to have to hustle and limit their fast breaks because they are a fast-breaking team. We’ve just got to play smart.”

Sunday’s Junior Dustbowl Championship is scheduled to tip off at 2:20 p.m. at the David S. Palmer Arena.

In an earlier game on Wednesday, The Untouchables defeated Danville Jets 61-44.

D’Lando Carter led The Untouchables’ balanced scoring attack with 12 points while Akeneen Hunt and Joey Robinson had 10 and nine respectively. Ayron Worthington added seven, Keaton Britt scored six, and D’Vaughte Robinson, Jaron Cunningham, and Dennis Hightowner each scored four.

Omar Kelly led Danville Jets with 14 points and Terance Brown finished with 10.

The Untouchables never trailed and led by as many as 17. They advance to face Team Indiana in tonight’s Consolation Championship game scheduled to begin at 10:30 p.m.