STEVE HANLON: E.C.'s hoops family reaches out to Brown

EAST CHICAGO | With 3:51 remaining in the first quarter, the fans inside the John A. Barrato Center rose to their feet. E.C. Central's junior varsity stood up behind the Cardinals' bench.

Donte Brown entered the game. The applause continued.

It became a roar at the 2:39 mark when Brown went up for a left-handed dunk off a beautiful pass from Henry Davis. The place was up for grabs after the slam as E.C.'s faithful realized something quite clear on Friday night.

One of the Region's best teams just got better.

Brown, a 6-foot-4 junior guard, had not played for the Cardinals in three years. He transferred to Lew Wallace last year, then came back. He was not eligible to play until Friday's game against Roosevelt due to grades.

But when Brown entered the game as people cheered, he was thinking of his mother, Catherine Love.

"Everything I did out there I did for her," Brown said. "Everything I have I owe to her."

Love passed away on Jan. 11, just seven days before her 49th birthday. The East Chicago basketball family is full of her children. Freshman Denitra Brown starts for the Cards' girls basketball team. Dontaysha Brown plays on the junior varsity.

And Daviness Brown dressed but did not play on Friday for E.C.'s varsity boys.

The love and pain they've dealt with could be seen in their eyes.

"We loved to take her to Red Lobster," Daviness said. "She was a big part of the puzzle that kept us all together."

Love played basketball at Wirt. She passed the love of the game on to her kids.

And that was only the beginning.

"Her willingness to keep us grounded was big," Donte said. "She wanted us to be the best we could be. That was the most important thing to her and what we try to keep up."

Donte Brown scored eight points and grabbed four rebounds. He also had three steals.

E.C. coach Abe Brown said his team and coaches met with Donte's father -- Denver Brown -- and his family and did whatever they could to support, from the night she passed away from natural causes, to the funeral, to Friday night's game, which the Cardinals won 69-61.

"These kids have been together since seventh grade," Abe Brown said. "They came in as a family and they still are a family. It's been a tough few weeks, but we're there for each other like we should be."

Donte Brown said he knows his mother is in a better place. That helps when the emotions rise and the tears fall. But he is using her memory as motivation every time he walks out on the court.

Which will be for the rest of the season since his grades have been elevated.

"It felt real good to be out there again," he said. "I just want to be out there and help my team win. We're 15 strong. We have all the pieces to the puzzle.

"I do not want her death to stress me out. It motivates me and that's why I played so hard (Friday) night. She will be in my heart for every other game we play."

This column solely represents the writer's opinion. Reach him at steve.hanlon@nwi.com.