Jared Brown of Cypress sets school record with nine 3-pointers in Centurions 91-47 Empire League win over Tustin

It was a record-setting night for Cypress guard Jared Brown on Wednesday.

Cypress senior Jared Brown was steady in the first quarter, then he caught fire after that on his way to a school record-setting performance against Tustin in an Empire League game Wednesday night at Tustin.

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Brown scored 36 points, three shy of his personal best and sank nine 3-pointers (a Cypress record for most three’s in a game) to lift the Centurions to a 91-47 win over the Tillers.

Brown played the first three quarters, taking his game to another level in the second quarter (13 points) and the third quarter (16 points) to help Cypress (19-2 overall) stay perfect in the Empire League (3-0).

“It’s my grandpa’s birthday today,” Brown said. “So I just told myself I was going to break one record whether it was my 3-point record or my scoring record.”

Brown said his grand-father, who died about two years ago is, “one of the reasons why I play this game. He’s the reason I work so hard. It was his 76th birthday today so I just told myself I was going to give it my all in these games coming up and break records and thankfully I did that.

“It was a blessing to get nine today and I couldn’t have done it without my teammates.”

Brown’s teammates gave him lots of high fives as he came to the bench following his ninth three-pointer near the end of the third quarter.

“Jared was hot today, he was feeling it,” said Cypress Coach Derek Mitchell. “He broke the record and I’m very happy for him. He put in a lot of hard work and it’s good he’s in the record books now.”

Brown shared the record of eight with five other Centurions.

“He was tied with them but now he has it all by himself,” Mitchell said.

It was a solid team effort for Tustin, which jumped out to a 22-8 lead after one quarter and led 50-16 at halftime.

“I’m happy, they played with good intensity, they were consistent throughout the game and we didn’t let up,” Mitchell said. “We’re looking forward to keep moving on; we’re trying to go 10-0 (in league) again. That’s our goal and the boys are still working hard, so that’s all we can do right now.”

Anthony Tello also had a solid game for the Centurions with 14 points, 11 coming in the first quarter.

“I thought he played big in the first half and got a lot of rebounds for us,” Mitchell said. “He did a great job of attacking tonight.”

Clifton Patterson added 10 points, Christian Kim had seven points and Christian Chai six points for Cypress, which is trying to defend its Empire League title.

Tustin (10-9, 1-2) was led by Benjamin Ahinaquah, Kayan Patel and Jeff Navarro, who had seven points each.

Tustin Coach Ringo Bossenmeyer knew the Tillers had a challenge.

“They are the Empire League favorite and one of the best teams in Orange County and tonight you saw why,” he said. “They are talented, aggressive and well coached. We are a young team and sometimes the learning curve is steep and extremely painful.

“All we can do as a team is dust ourselves off, simplify on both ends of the court and get back to work. We have a group of high character young men who I am confident will do just that. I am proud to be their coach and a night like tonight, while obviously difficult for our players and coaches, does not change that one bit.”

JARED BROWN ‘HEART AND SOUL’ OF CYPRESS TEAM

-Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com