Baldwin ? Eric Brown wasn’t ready for his basketball career to end.

The Baldwin High senior erupted for a career-high 30 points on Tuesday to help the Bulldogs to a 73-54 victory over Kansas City Ward in the first round of the Mill Valley Class 4A sub-state.

“I really just think he wanted to keep playing, on this court or wherever,” said BHS guard Joe Gipp, who chipped in with 13 points.

Brown knocked down short-range jumpers, smacked in easy layins off the glass and managed to twist and contort his body every which way on scoring drives to the basket.

“It really seemed to be coming easy for me tonight,” said the soft-spoken Brown with a smile. “It’s kind of one of those things you imagine doing as a kid, and to do it in my last game here is unbelievable.”

Not only was Brown’s final performance on the BHS court very believable, 15 of his career-high 30 points came when the Bulldogs (10-11) needed them the most in the first half.

“He’s really stepped up for us over the last two weeks in every way,” said BHS coach Jeff Haas of Brown, who was 10 of 12 from the field and 10 of 11 from the free-throw line.

Baldwin forced KC Ward to commit 11 turnovers in the third quarter while outscoring the Cyclones 16-5 in the quarter to take a commanding 49-36 lead.

That momentum continued into the fourth.

The Bulldogs slipped Ward’s full-court press for easy uncontested layups and took advantage of the Cyclones’ late fouls with 12 of 15 free throws in the fourth.

But even with Brown’s big game and a solid second half, Haas said the Bulldogs will have to be at their best when they play 4A’s No. 1 ranked team, Spring Hill, on Friday at Mill Valley.

“We’re really looking forward to them,” Haas said. “There’s a lot of familiarity with them and our kids respect them, they’re a great team.”

“But it’s going to be hard to beat us three times.”

Baldwin 73, KC Ward 54

KC WARD (8-12)

Jarrett Byers 5-15 2-2 12, Justin Rebout 1-4 0-0 2, Erie Roche 3-9 2-2 8, Lorenzo Selectman 5-9 0-0 11, Joel Glavin 3-3 2-2 10, James Locke 0-0 0-0 0, Kyle Coffie 2-3 0-2 4, Andy Wing 0-2 0-0 0, Pete Gorman 0-2 0-0 0, Ryan Oswald 2-3 0-0 5, Donald Leaper 1-2 0-0 2, Abe Englehart 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 22-52 6-8 54.

BALDWIN (10-11)

Hugh Murphy 2-7 0-0 4, Brett Myrick 0 1-3 1, Eric Brown 10-12 10-11 30, Andy Hannon 2-10 4-4 8, Eric Black 1-5 3-4 5, Joe Gipp 5-8 0-0 13, Brian Lauridsen 3-3 2-2 8, Micah Mason 1-1 2-3 4, Yancy Richards 0-0 0-0 0, Anthony Myrick 0-0 0-0 0, Chapin Deel 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-47 22-27 73.

KC Ward 12 19 5 1854

Baldwin 13 20 16 2473

Three-pointers KC Ward 4-14 (Glavin 2-2, Selectman 1-2, Oswald 1-2, Wing 0-2, Englehart 0-2, Leaper 0-1, Roche 0-1, Byers 0-1, Gorman 0-1), Baldwin 3-7 (Gipp 3-4, Black 0-2, Hannon 0-1). Total fouls KC Ward 26, Baldwin 9. Turnovers KC Ward 16, Baldwin 12.