Finally, Brethren Christian Reaches Limits : Division V boys: Warriors’ surprising roll comes to an abrupt end at the hands of Emery’s version of Twin Towers.

There is the myth, and then there is the reality of what senior leadership can do for a team.

Senior leadership can build up the confidence of budding players, instill belief in unbelievers and make things happen where others fail.

But there are limits, and Brethren Christian’s Scott Thomas reached them Saturday afternoon in the Division V boys’ basketball State championship at the Oakland Coliseum Arena.

These limits came in the forms of Darrell Robinson (7 feet, 270 pounds) and Endiecko Battles (6-8, 260), Emeryville Emery’s version of the Twin Towers.

Do not pass them, do not collect $200 or a State title.

Given their commanding physical presence, it would have taken a magician, not a leader, to come out of this one a winner, and Brethren Christian left the rabbits and the scarves at home, falling to Emery, 74-47.

“There was no way we could stop him,” Thomas said of Robinson. “Our biggest guy is 165.”

Robinson, who was averaging 24.9 points, scored 31, and his sidekick Battles finished with 16.

All week, the Brethren Christian coaching staff tried to simulate what going against these players would be like. But Thomas said there’s nothing like the real thing.

“We usually do better against tougher competition,” he said. “But those guys are so strong, they just muscled their way inside.”

In the Warriors’ loosely devised plan, it was Thomas’ job was to lure Robinson into foul trouble.

“We were hoping Scott could get close enough to him and get some calls,” said Richard Thomas, Brethren Christian’s coach and Scott’s father. “We played hard; there just wasn’t much we could do.”

Thomas might have been overshadowed, but he wasn’t overlooked. The 6-3 senior forward finished with a team-high 25 points, 16 of those in the second half, and 11 rebounds, and he helped the Warriors keep their heads in the game.

“I thought he had a great game,” Richard Thomas said. “It would have been nice if he had made some of those three-pointers, but it wasn’t meant to be. He really stepped his game up, the way he took it to the hole.”

Most of Thomas’ baskets came on driving layups, not from outside, where he had to adjust his shooting because of Emery’s personnel.

“That’s pretty hard to do,” he said.

But for Thomas, who will probably attend Cerritos College and concentrate on basketball--he was a wide receiver for the Warriors last fall--it was a major feat to get this far.

Thomas was the only varsity returner this season, and in the early stages Saturday, the Warriors’ lack of experience was apparent.

“We weren’t clicking, we weren’t organized,” he said. But as time went by, they improved and started thinking about a league championship, then a Southern Section title.

“But we didn’t talk about State,” he said. “It’s something that’s in the back of your mind, but we didn’t talk about it.”

Still, second in the state is a lot better than the Warriors, or anyone else, expected them to do, and it was an enjoyable ride while it lasted.

“It was fun,” Thomas said. “It was a real privilege to get this far. My senior year, this was great for me; this was great for our school.”