Quincy Shootout: St. Rita relies on Brown in fourth quarter in erasing 12-point deficit

QUINCY — When the Chicago St. Rita boys basketball team needed someone to spark a rally, the state’s top-ranked sophomore prospect obliged.

James Brown, a 6-foot-8 forward, scored 11 of the Mustangs’ 25 fourth-quarter points as they erased a 12-point deficit and narrowly escaped Blue Devil Gym with a 76-75 victory over Huntington (W. Va.) Prep in the Quincy Shootout’s final game Friday night.

Junior guard Kaiden Space knocked down a pair of 3-pointers in the fourth quarter for St. Rita, which had seven field goals and went 8 of 10 from the free-throw line over the final eight minutes.

The Mustangs’ Morez Johnson, a 6-foot-9 forward who has committed to the University of Illinois, scored 12 points in the second quarter and shouldered the scoring load through the first three quarters. He and Brown both finished with 18 points, while Space and Jaedin Reyna each scored 14 points.

Huntington’s Mika Johnson made six 3-pointers in the first half, but he was limited to one field goal in the second half and finished with 20 points. Seth Hubbard scored 16 of his 20 points in the second half.