Brother Martin basketball coach Wesley Laurendine had plenty to feel good about Tuesday night.
The Rummel graduate returned to his alma mater as the visiting coach inside a crowded gym and saw junior Noah McDaniel score a game-high 26 points as he made three 3-pointers and sank two key free throws late in the second overtime to help Brother Martin secure a 64-61 victory.
Afterward, McDaniel echoed the same message that Laurendine has preached to his team for the past 10 months.
“Since we’re a little small,” the 5-foot-11 McDaniel said, “we need TNTs — (it stands for) Takes No Talent — to thrive in these types of games.”
When told that his leading scorer used the “TNT” phrase during a postgame interview, Laurendine smiled.
“I love that,” Laurendine said. “I wouldn’t have guessed that he would have said that to be honest with you. I mean, I do preach it a lot.”
Laurendine, who coached Shaw to four consecutive state tournament appearances and a Division II select runner-up finish last season, introduced the “TNT” concept when he met with Brother Martin basketball players for the first time in March.
“We’re doing everything that takes no talent,” Laurendine said. “Playing hard, sprinting back, being in the right spots, executing, rebounding, boxing out. All the little things. Taking charges. All that stuff. Diving on the floor for the ball. Whatever it takes. That’s TNT.”
Asked if “TNT” was something he used at Shaw, Laurendine said, “No, it wasn’t,” adding that “it was something that, as you get older, you learn what’s important.”
So far, the message from Laurendine is getting through to his players.
“He just brings a different type of energy,” McDaniel said. “A positive energy that we need, pushing us at practice, stuff like that.”
McDaniel first noted the positivity during summer league games.
“He’s just everywhere,” McDaniel said. “He’s just yelling, screaming, and that’s what we need to succeed.”
The latest win has Brother Martin (13-5) one win away from matching last season’s total after a 14-18 finish that included a first-round playoff loss.
Against Rummel (10-5), the first Catholic League opponent this season, Laurendine’s team trailed only briefly in at the start and led by 11 points in the second quarter. Rummel cut the lead after halftime and drew even for the first time with just minutes remaining.
The first overtime had three lead changes, including when 6-6 Rummel sophomore Felton Chest (nine points) scored on a one-handed put-back while getting fouled and made a free throw for a 58-56 lead. A driving layup by Brother Martin junior Raphael Bickham (16 points) tied the score with 30 seconds remining, and after a miss at the other end, McDaniel put up a three-quarters court shot that hit off the front of the rim.
In the second overtime, McDaniel scored off a ball screen and later made two free throws for a 63-58 lead. Rummel sophomore Ronald Navarre (14 points) made a 3-pointer with just under 30 seconds remaining, and poor free-throw shooting let Rummel have two chances to tie the score but missed 3s both times.
Brother Martin senior Will McChesky had 12 points and six rebounds. Rummel sophomore Ja’Marcus Jones had 19 points and five rebounds. Senior Brandon Melancon had seven points and eight rebounds.
The game did not count in the district standings. With 9-5A schools playing only one round of district games for the second year in a row, the second meeting Jan. 23 at Brother Martin will be the matchup that counts in the league standings.