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Brewington:
Getting another
chance
Jaden Brewington is off to a terrific start for the Putnam Science Academy boys’ Elite basketball team. He’s scoring the ball; he’s playing with an aggression and confidence that he hadn’t really shown a lot of in the past few years that he was at the school.
And he draws a direct line to all of that from a car accident he was in over the summer when he totaled his car and wasn’t wearing his seatbelt.
“I’m really blessed to be here. I really feel like this is God literally saying to me ‘You are getting another chance,’” Brewington said after a recent game in which he scored 22 points in a 50-point win. “Maybe in the past couple of years, I would worry about what the other team was doing or all the other stuff, like paying attention to the crowd.
“But I’ve learned there’s no point in worrying about all that other stuff when I could’ve lost my life right then and there. So I just really cherish every day and really pay attention because you never know when your time is done. My mentality, my confidence is on another level right now, and it came from just living in the moment and not worrying about other stuff.”
Take for example the situation surrounding Sunday’s game. PSA trailed a lesser opponent by seven with about two-and-a-half minutes to go then mounted a comeback that ended with Brewington drilling a 3-pointer from the corner with two seconds left that gave the Mustangs a thrilling 74-72 win.
He thought about driving to the basket as they only need two points to win, but instead decided “Go big or go home. I can live with the miss; I can live with the make. These are the moments I live for. And I always believe it’s going in.”
Or Wednesday, when he found himself coming off the bench after starting the first two games. He had overslept the day before and was late to the start of that morning’s practice. Acknowledging that “life has consequences when you mess up,” Brewington didn’t pout as he may have in the past.
“For a young kid to understand what he did wrong and to be able to have a positive mindset and be like, ‘Yeah I get that something was taken from me but I can still help my team, I can still play hard, I can still do the things I’m really good at,’” Mustangs coach John Cavaliere said. “He was able to just check that out even though he lost his starting spot; he stepped in and was a big part of us.
“The thing I’m happiest about with him is his leadership. He’s taken a big role on with some of the younger guys, and he’s just a really good influence for them.”
In that game, a 101-51 victory over Our Savior Lutheran, Brewington was one of six PSA players to score in double figures. Lamar Watkins continued his strong play by adding 16 points; Ned Fitzpatrick had 14, and Jalen Claude 12. Jaiden Brown and Carlos de la Rosa finished with 11 and 10 points, respectively, for the Mustangs.
Friday, PSA gutted its way to an 81-75 win over Rocktop International. Brewington had eight points, as did Ned Fitzpatrick and Edouard Leroux. Jalen Claude made all 10 of his free throw attempts and finished with 25 points for the Mustangs (3-1), who led by 14 at the half but only two in the final minute.
Brewington finished with 10 points, including his game-winner, as did Jalen Claude. Lamar Watkins led the way with 23 points and five steals, while Ned Fitzpatrick added 12 points.
By Stephen Nalbandian
Sports Information Director
Putnam Science Academy
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