But when Catholic Central High School senior Tyler Galluch passed him the ball with four seconds remaining and the game on the line, the sophomore delivered.
Bramel nailed a 3-pointer from the right wing as time expired, lifting the Irish to a 51-49 non-conference victory at rival Shawnee on Tuesday night in Springfield.
When the basketball left his hands, the sophomore knew it was going in, he said. It was the first game-winning buzzer beater of his career at any level.
“It was fun,” Bramel said. “The reaction (of the crowd) was great.”
Galluch scored 15 points, senior Cole Ray had 13 and senior Ian Roediger added 10 as the Irish improved to 4-4 overall.
Shawnee senior Zion Crowe scored 15 points, while junior Cody Siemon had 14 and junior Darian Dixon added 10 as the Braves fell to 3-3.
Shawnee jumped out to a 18-17 lead on a 3-pointer by junior Logan Earles midway through the second quarter, but the Irish went on a 10-2 run to end the period for a 27-20 halftime lead.
The Irish took their biggest lead of the game at 40-28 on a fallaway jumper by Galluch as time expired in the third quarter.
Shawnee cut the lead to 44-42 on a 3-pointer by Crowe with 2:08 remaining, forcing an Irish timeout. After four straight points by Ray pushed the Irish lead back to 48-42, the Braves went on a 7-0 run, capped by a 3-pointer by Siemon with about 30 seconds remaining that gave Shawnee a 49-48 lead.
“I’m proud of them for battling back,” said Braves coach Chris McGuire. “We showed some energy and toughness down the stretch and didn’t give up, but through three-and-a-half quarters, we didn’t play well enough to win. I thought they outplayed us in pretty much every aspect of the game for that stretch. We were very fortunate to be up there and needed one more defensive stop to be able to win it. When you leave open one of their best shooters and he gets a wide open shot, that’s what’s going to happen.”
The Braves stole the ball on the next Irish possession. The Braves missed a free throw with 10 seconds remaining, setting up the Irish’s last-second shot.
“They came back at the end like every good team does and down the stretch, we just made a few more plays than they did,” said Irish coach Matt Mullen.
On the final play, the Irish inbounded the ball to Ray, who immediately passed the ball to Galluch. The senior drove to the right wing, passed the ball to Bramel and screened his man to give him an open look at the basket. The sophomore took one dribble and let the basketball fly, stunning the home crowd as it dropped through the net.
“When we get (Galluch) going downhill, (Bramel) knows to be in the corner and stretch the floor,” Mullen said. “When that double comes, he wasn’t afraid. That’s what I love out of a sophomore. He was not afraid to take the shot.”
The Irish used several defenses throughout the game to stop Crowe, including a box-and-one that saw freshman Sherrod Lay guard him all over the floor.
“He changed the game,” Mullen said. “We threw a lot of defenses at (Crowe) to try to get it out of his hands and make somebody else beat us. They had some other guys make some shots and we were OK with that. We wanted to make someone else beat us down the stretch.”
The Irish have won back-to-back Division IV district titles, but graduated all but two players from last year’s squad. Five of their Irish’s eight players had never logged a varsity minute until this season, Mullen said. Central bounced back from a 70-31 loss last Friday night at Greeneview.
“We knew we were going to go through some growing pains,” Mullen said. “When we can play defense like this, that’s what we need to do to win games.”
Mullen hopes it will be the first of many game-winners for Bramel, who he is constantly telling to shoot the ball.
“It takes a lot for a sophomore to take that shot,” he said. “A lot of guys may just look to pass it. That says a lot about Ben. He’s been ready to shoot it all year.”
About the Author