Brebeuf’s boys basketball team spent December 23rd at Noblesville High School, playing two games against good opponents in the eponymous Noblesville Holiday Tournament. The Braves lost the morning game to Gary 21st Century 61-45 in frustrating fashion, but won the evening Consolation Game resoundingly, blowing the doors off of Evansville Reitz 84-44. Thus, the final two games of the “25” portion in the ’25-’26 season confirmed some things we already suspected about this team, including: 1. Triumphantly, when they’re hitting on all cylinders, this is a scary good team. Allen Glunt coaches a style of play that can lead to 80 points every night. Guards flying through the air to rebound missed shots over taller foes, firing outlet passes before they even land, and transition offense that moves the ball so fast the whole thing resembles Olympic hockey in a blender. 2. Tragically, there’s not much margin for error this year, especially against teams with talented interior players, and they can get a little swamped when the shots aren’t falling, which can lead to runs by their opponents. The morning game against Gary 21st Century Charter School (whom we’ll henceforth abbreviate as ‘G21’) was a great example of all of this, in one game. G21, ranked #8 in 2A, is as athletic at the guard position as Brebeuf, and plays a similar trapping/pressing/running style. G21 opened the game on a 14-1 run, followed by Brebeuf’s 13-2 run to close the first quarter, down 16-14. Brebeuf led in the second on the strength of a 9-3 run, before G21 closed the half on a 14-1 run to take a 9-point halftime lead. This game had more runs than Mrs. Claus’ white stockings after spending an hour trimming reindeer hooves. Brebeuf outscored G21 by 4 in the third, and when Jayden Washington scored on a fastbreak layup at the 4:19 mark to make it 49-45, the vibe was definitely with the Braves…until it wasn’t. G21 scored the game’s final 11 points. Sad trombone sound. Glunt was increasingly frustrated with his team’s inconsistency during the timeouts, and you could hear every word of it because most of the early games in these holiday tournaments are played in front of very small crowds- the ambiance more resembles a practice than an actual IHSAA game. G21 was doing everything that Glunt told his team they would do in their Monday film session, and the game’s final four minutes were a cosplay of what he told them would happen if they didn’t heed his warnings. Typical coach stuff, I suppose, except that the thirty-seven of us fans that were at that early game got a great look at how Coach Glunt is cooking the casserole that is this team, mixing ingredients on the fly, turning the baking temperature up or down, so that when it comes out of the oven in late February, we can hopefully dine well into March. Glunt knows every detail about Brebeuf’s upcoming opponents. He’s a hoops biographer, as thorough as an AP fact-checker, studying each team for hours on his ever-present iPad. According to his older sister Kriste, a Noblesville resident and one of the spectators at the G21 game, Allen developed a lot of his coaching habits as a kid watching his dad Dave Glunt coach at Sheridan in the 1980’s. Preparation was one, for sure, but not blowing his gasket was another. Dave was much more Mike Krzyzewski than Bob Knight, such that when he got a little animated, the team paid attention. You can see this pedigree in our Coach Glunt- he’s a very calm chef in the kitchen… except when he’s not. The Braves got to see a little of that side of their coach in their huddles against G21, because this was a gettable game that just got away. Also, you want to win the first game in holiday tournaments, if for no other reason than to avoid playing in an early evening game with “consolation” in the title. (“Consolation Game” is a holiday phrase like “Kids Table.” You’d rather avoid it.) “We just threw them the ball in the fourth quarter,” said Glunt between games, referring to back-to-back Brebeuf inbounds passes that G21 guard Ronald Mosely swiped for easy layups under their own basket during that 11-point run. “You can’t combine that with missed shots at the rim and missed free throws. It’s an impossible combination against a good team.” Six hours later, Brebeuf played a pretty good team, Evansville Reitz, in the consolation game. Reitz was 5-2 and had just defeated 4A Lawrence Central three nights earlier. LC had lost by two to Lawrence North, which is ranked #4 in the state. Therefore, by the Transitive Hoops Property, Reitz isn’t bad. They’re good. And Brebeuf completely blew their doors off as if they were Reitz Elementary School. Close for most of the first quarter, Brebeuf scored the last six points of the quarter, including a Cooper Agricola put-back of a missed shot at the quarter buzzer that seemed to spark the Braves. Brebeuf then scored on five of their first six possessions of the second, and it was 34-16 before Reitz stopped to try and see the number of the streetcar that had just run over them. (You see, kids, streetcars were these things that ran on tracks in the middle of the road…ah, never mind.) It was 49-23 at half, and Brebeuf expanded the lead in the third. Highlights included Antonio Harris’ emphatic putback of an Austin Ford miss at the 6:16 mark to increase the lead to 30, and Dylan Logan doing his best Caitlyn Clark impression with a ‘Logo Three’ from just beside the midcourt “N” which made the score 69-28. From there, it was time to empty the benches, get home to family, and watch the weather, wondering just how foggy this warm Christmas Eve was going to be. The Reitz victory was Allen Glunt’s 50th at Brebeuf, and improved his team to 3-3 against the toughest schedule in Class 3A, according to Sagarin. (You can Google ‘Sagarin Ratings’ – should be right before ‘streetcar.’) Hoo Boy, are there some doozies on the schedule in 2026: Southport’s good, Zionsville’s really good, Guerin is the Circle City Conference and Sectional 25 champ until somebody beats them, and Roncalli is undefeated and playing out of their southside minds. But Chef Allen Glunt is cooking with some fantastic ingredients on West 86th Street. He’s probably watching Southport film as you read this, and tinkering with his recipe, about to spoon in a touch more Lesnet, or a dash more Cooper (but which one?) This team has the ability to be his first Sectional champion at Brebeuf, and from there, who knows? Buckle up, Braves fans. 2026 is going to be quite a ride.