Brewster’s Run to the National Semis

Dylan Thayer & Elias Benaka | Wednesday, April 9th, 2025

Last week, Jason Smith and his Brewster Academy team concluded their strong season with a semifinal run at the Chipotle National Championships. 

This season has been nothing short of amazing for the Bobcats. They were ranked within the top ten in the country throughout the entire year, won a share of the Nike EYBL Scholastic Regular Season title and were configured as an army of Division 1 players.

They are led by Sebastian Wilkins who is currently ranked 31st in the country for the 2026 class by 247 Sports. At the point guard position, New Hampshire Gatorade Player of the Year and Stanford commit Ebuka Okorie is the catalyst for the team's offense. (Payday) Darien Moore, who is committed to Seton Hall, has been a vital factor throughout the season too, as an athletic scoring threat at the guard spot.

Arizona commit Dwayne Aristode missed the season with a lower leg injury, while Iowa State commit Killyan Toure, who has been a pivotal piece in the Brewster lineup throughout the year, had to miss the Chipotle Nationals Tournament with an injury of his own.

Three more key players in Smith's rotation are nationally-ranked sophomore Antonio Pemberton, Preston Fowler, who is set to join James Madison following the season, and high upside 6'7" sophomore Clyde Walters.

Despite missing some key pieces to injury, Brewster picked up a win in the first round of the Chipotle Nationals against a strong CIA-Bella Vista team. In that contest, Sebastian Wilkins posted 22 points and 13 rebounds to lead the team, while Ebuka Okorie finished with 20 points and made smart decisions the entire game.  

In the semi finals matchup Brewster was set to play #1 seeded Christopher Columbus High School out of Florida, and their prominent Duke commit duo of Cayden and Cameron Boozer.

The game itself was a defensive battle, as in the entire tournament, there were no other games where both teams finished with less than 52 points.

Columbus got out to an early lead at the end of the first quarter at 12-7, but Brewster turned that right around in the second matching that same differential. The game went to halftime tied at 19-19. 

Sebastian Wilkins was huge in the early going as he knocked down multiple three’s and rebounded the ball at-will. Antonio Pemberton’s quickness and ball movement impressed, while the overall defensive effort by both teams was very high level.

The third quarter belonged to Columbus as they opened up their biggest lead of the game of seven points. As Brewster fought back, Sebastian Wilkins threw down a thunderous highlight slam down the lane off a dish from Preston Fowler.

The fourth quarter was a good representation of the physicality and defensive pressure this game had. After getting the ball in the post, Wilkins took a hard hit to the face and had to be treated by a trainer to stop the bleeding.

While he was getting tended to, Antonio Pemberton, who took a hard fall in the third quarter, came in and knocked down the free throw originally intended for Wilkins. 

With the clock winding down and Brewster down three, the ball ended up in the hands of Payday Moore, who threw up a three pointer. With Boozer closing out on him, the ball was deflected into the air, landing in the hands of Sebastian Wilkins who hit the dagger to tie things up.

Ultimately, one half of the Boozer tandem, Cayden, would take the ball right down the court with the clock expiring and knock down the game-winning mid-range shot.

Despite the loss, Brewster battled with the eventual champion, and once again put the country on notice in their second season playing a national schedule. Wilkins had a team high 14 points and a game high 12 boards, seven of which came on the offensive end. Darien Moore had 11, doing his best to keep the offense flowing, while Ebuka Okorie finished with seven points, four rebounds and three assists.

The Bobcats represented New England very well and were dominant throughout the entirety of their season. Next season they will lose a few seniors but we know Jason Smith will have more talent ready to go.

Brewster will look to come back in the fall and continue right where they left off and attempt to bring their first Chipotle National Championship back to New England.