Brother Rice’s Tyler Wooten experienced his first Battle of Pulaski on Tuesday night.
It’s safe to say the senior guard, who transferred from Thornwood before the school year, was impressed by the experience of taking on rival Marist in front of a packed home gym.
“It was crazy,” Wooten said. “The atmosphere was crazy. That’s the biggest crowd I’ve ever played in front of, so it was fun and then we came out on top and got the trophy, so that was huge.
“I wasn’t as loose as normal because it was a bigger crowd, but it’s not like I was nervous or anything. It was just exciting. You’re just happy to play in something like this. You’re ready to go.”
Wooten stepped up with 11 points as the Crusaders rolled to a 65-47 win over Marist.
Zavier Fitch led Brother Rice (19-2) with 19 points and 15 rebounds, while Lewis recruit Cale Cosme finished with 15 points and seven rebounds and Marcos Gonzales had 11 points.
Darshan Thomas paced Marist (16-4) with 13 points and nine rebounds. Marquis Vance added 12 points and eight rebounds and Adoni Vassilakis chipped in with eight points.
The trophy Wooten was referring to was a new one — the Pulaski Post — which will be given to the winner in conjunction with the Andrew Weishar Foundation.
The schools used the game as a fundraiser for that charity.
“It makes it more special playing for Andrew Weishar and this trophy,” Cosme said. “We talked before the game about how we wanted to be the first ones to cement our name on that.
“Nobody can take that away from us.”
Wooten, meanwhile, has had to change his game at Brother Rice. After playing point guard and serving as the primary ballhandler at Thornwood, he’s now on the wing and ceding much of those duties to Cosme and Gonzales.
“It’s still something I’ve got to get used to,” Wooten said. “I know what I can do, so I want the ball as much as I can get it. But we’re winning games, so that’s all that matters.”
Brother Rice coach Conte Stamas sees Wooten getting more and more comfortable.
“He’s been terrific,” Stamas said. “To come into a new situation, school and a program where he didn’t have a feel for what we do, he’s been a great teammate. The other players have been receptive of him.
“There are a lot of teachers in the building who have said great things about him as a student and a person. It’s been a great all-around fit for him.”
Wooten also scored five quick points at the start of the fourth quarter as the Crusaders pushed their lead to 56-39.
Cosme is certainly glad to have Wooten as his teammate.
“The kid plays his butt off every game,” Cosme said. “He made a lot of good plays for us, whether it was finishing those layups or grabbing rebounds.
“He’s been great for us. He’s a great kid and he’s fitting in well.”
Marist jumped to a 7-0 lead before the Crusaders responded by outscoring the RedHawks 16-2 over the rest of the first quarter.
Behind a dominant performance from Fitch, who was named the game’s MVP, Brother Rice took a 30-21 halftime lead and rolled in the second half.
“We showed people that Marist can’t mess with us,” Fitch said. “People had them ranked ahead of us at the beginning of the year. That doesn’t mean anything. We know who we are.”
And Wooten now knows what the rivalry is all about.
“I just came over here and I’ve got to hate Marist, too,” Wooten said. “It’s fun.”