Brothers compete against each other as Communications Tech defeat

IT'S NOT TOO often a guy can claim a win and suffer a loss in the exact same basketball game.

Welcome to Terrence Brown's world.

Return with us now to St. Joseph's Prep for Saturday's Class AA City Title, specifically to the court's west end with a shade under 7 minutes remaining.

Out front, standing with the ball and preparing to make a move, is sophomore Jordan Burney, a 6-1, 180-pound substitute guard for Conwell-Egan. Maybe five feet directly in front is Brown, a 6-4, 195-pound senior forward for Communications Tech.

"When I saw him guarding me, I started smiling in my head," Burney would say much later, "But I didn't want to smile out loud. I knew what I was gonna do - go right at him."

And so he did . . . For maybe the 1,000th time.

You see, Brown and Burney are brothers.

"I knew what he was thinking, that I was gonna go to my right," Burney said. "So, I started that way. He fell for it. I finished it."

Well, not completely. After the impressive crossover that commenced his journey to the left side of the lane and placed Older Bro in the rearview mirror, Burney was hacked by another player as he attempted the layup. He made the first of two free throws.

Though C-E wound up losing, 70-60, in part because Brown performed well enough (19 points, six rebounds) to garner game MVP honors, Burney did not leave the premises with tears in his eyes.

It's all about the B brothers' braggin' rights, baby.

"I've been in games with a lot more pressure," Burney said. "But this was a game against my older brother, and I might never get that chance again. So, I was feeling excited."

Except for this one duel, Brown and Burney experienced little interaction. Once, they were spotted standing next to each other on the side of the lane, during free throws, and not one word was spoken. In fact, they didn't even look at each other.

"We had that agreement - no talking," Brown said. "We'd do our talking after the game."

About getting scorched, Brown laughed and said, "I knew he was going to do that. Knew it. Because we play each other all the time. I tried to stop him, but . . . I need to work on my footwork. Learn to slide better."

A year ago, both brothers played for Comm Tech, as had their older brother, Chris Burney, who's now a factor at Cheyney. But Jordan was given an opportunity to transfer to Conwell-Egan and, after much agonizing, he decided to take it.

C-E, in Levittown, is almost 30 miles from the Brown/Burney household, on Parrish Street, near 41st, in West Philly. So Jordan spends weekdays with a host family, in Bensalem, and then returns for weekends.

"I didn't want him to do it, especially since this was going to be our last season together," Brown said. "But I understood why he did it - better academics; help for his future - and I supported his decision. We talk on the phone every day. The environment's different up there, and he's still getting used to it. But he likes it.

"I had my chance to go to Egan, too. Couldn't do it, though. I've been at Comm Tech from ninth grade on up. I love this place and I love coach 'Bies' [Lou Biester]. I would have felt bad about leaving everybody behind."

Standing nearby was the young men's mother, Tasha Burney. Their dad, Terrence Brown, was not far away, mingling with friends.

"I didn't want Jordan to go, but I knew it would be better for him," she said. "It's a good thing."

Brown scored his 19 points while shooting 7-for-14 and 5-for-7. His best field goal, off a pass from Briheam Anthony, was a dunk to cap a fastbreak given life by David Johnson's steal.

His mother said of the dunk, while raising her arms and making her eyes bug out, "I was going, 'Ahhhhhhh! . . . Ha ha ha!' "

She repeated the routine and words when asked to comment on Jordan's dustup of Terrence.

Though Terrence has been an impressive player all season, college interest has not yet been generated. He might go the junior college route and plans to major in business.

Johnson, with the help of two treys, also scored 19 points for CT while adding three assists and four steals. Anthony (11) and Hyking Brisbon (10) likewise scored in double figures and soph Samir Doughty, a great friend to the brothers, mixed five assists with four steals.

Frosh LaPri Pace topped C-E in points (18) and rebounds (nine) while classmates Stevie Jordan (five assists) and Vinny Dalessandro (six boards) offered help.

CT was slow out of the blocks.

"I was telling the guys, 'They're young with all those freshmen, but they're gonna play hard the whole game,' " Brown said. "We had some chemistry problems in the first half. But then we came back out and played harder and more together."

Meanwhile, Burney also plays football at C-E.

"He's good in that," Brown said, "but his best sport is basketball. If they work with him the right way, he'll be a D-I player. He's got the skill levels of Chris and me."

Along with Saturday's memory.