The Jaylen Brown Game

 

Norwalk (left) and McMahon stand for the National Anthem

The scorecard sits on the clipboard in my backpack.

I don't think I need to take it back out because the memory is fresh in my mind.

Neither score made for the most exciting of nights.

Hamden 78, Amistad 46.

Norwalk 71, McMahon 61.

Hamden will play Norwalk tomorrow night in the championship game the Norwalk Holiday Basketball Tournament. Amistad will play McMahon in the third-place game.

Those are the basics of tonight.

Oh, and I was safely ensconced in my own press box at the top of the bleachers with a table and a platform.

I was unable to connect to the video camera so that the TV audience could hear the play-by-play but nothing I could do about that.

None of this matters.

Instead, when I pull back from tonight, it's not the final scores. It's not the broadcast perch. It's not the broadcast itself or my own voice having throat problems.

It's Norwalk's Jaylen Brown.

You see, I've written out many scorecards over the years. Too many basketball scorecards for sure.

My card is basic. I keep points, broken down into two and three-point shots as well as free throws. It doesn't have the ability to track rebounds or assists. For the purposes of what I do, my scorecard accomplishes enough.

I've seen players get 25 points. Maybe even 30.

But 44?

Forty-four?

Brown hit plenty of layups and midrange jumpers. 

He hit his free throws. 

He drained a few threes.

He did it all on the floor and didn't need any extra theatrics. His game was simply enough.

He was electric.

He put a charge in the crowd.

He dazzled me.

I don't get to see 44 points very often in high school basketball. Heck, I don't see it at any level of hoops very often.

This isn't Brown's first rodeo either. A senior for coach Garrett Hickey's Bears team, Brown scored 54 in a double-overtime win against Greenwich last season.

One player really can't do it all but Brown did a lot of it tonight for a spirited Norwalk squad against their crosstown rivals. That adds to just how impressive tonight's game was. A player stood out when the lights were shining the brightest.

In fact, Norwalk's student fan base chanted "You can't guard him" at one point and, honestly, it's hard to argue.

I was impressed.

Still, despite building up a big lead, McMahon chipped away and got the game juuuuuust close enough where Norwalk was getting a bit nervous.

But what can Brown do for you? He can take the ball, drive, and score. Again. And again.

Just like that, any McMahon momentum went poof.

It was Brown's night.

There are rare times when a game gets over and I want to say hello to a player. Tonight was one of those nights. That's how good Jaylen Brown was.

It was also an electric atmosphere that was so much fun to be a part of.

It was first-class treatment by Norwalk High School, from Coach Hickey to athletic director Doug Marchetti.

I think I should go back tomorrow night and see what Brown does for an encore in the title game against Hamden.

As I said on the air, I've called a lot of basketball and a lot of games. I can be impressed but I said "Wow" tonight.

Deservedly so.

It was impressive.

Perhaps the final two games of 2023 for me tomorrow.

(Update: After speaking with Norwalk coach Garrett Hickey, I learned Brown had 44 points so I"ve updated it. Forty-four points, seven rebounds, seven steals, five assists. Quite a night.)