Briarcliff’s Title Quest Comes to an End Against the Falcons

By Monica D’Ippolito- Three months ago, the Briarcliff boys’ basketball team kicked off its 2014-15 season by losing to defending Section 1, Class B champion Woodlands by 11 points. Bears coach Cody Moffett told his players they would see Woodlands again in the playoffs and get a chance to settle the score.

“The next day at practice, we didn’t touch a basketball, we just sat in the film room and broke it down,” Moffett said of the season-opening loss. “We said there was going to be a moment later on in the season, when it’s playoffs, and we’re going to see them again.”

Moffett was right about that. The rematch came late Saturday afternoon in the championship game of the sectional playoffs. This time, the outcome was in doubt much longer, but the Falcons prevailed again, winning 56-50 to capture their second consecutive sectional crown.

“I’d be lying if I said I just came here and was happy with second place,” Moffett said after the game. “Unfortunately, we came up short tonight. But I’m extremely proud of our seniors because they turned this from a season into a program and I will always be in debt to these seniors.”

The Bears trailed throughout the game, but cut the lead to just four points several times in the fourth quarter. When Jeff Blair found Alquan Phillip open for a corner 3-pointer, the Woodlands lead was trimmed to 43-40 with 4:27 remaining. But the Falcons answered with consecutive treys of their own and quickly silenced the large Briarcliff cheering section by building their cushion back up to nine points.

With time expiring, Moffett had his team intentionally foul in hopes Woodlands would miss its free throws. The Bears would get back to within four again, but the defending champions then sealed the victory with clutch free throws in the final seconds.

“In a situation like that, you always want to extend the game,” said Moffett. “Had we hit that one free throw that would have cut it to a three-point game with about 42 seconds left, we would have just played solid and tried to get a stop. But we didn’t, so we had to foul right away. It’s extremely tough when you keep getting into it to a certain period and you can’t get over the hump. Whether it was a four- or five-point game, it was extremely tough. Just needed a few key free throws to drop or a key basket.”

Woodlands started by scoring the game’s first five points, but the Bears did well buckling down and battling back, cutting their deficit to 14-13 at the end of the first quarter. The Falcons came out firing in the second quarter, beginning it with a 9-0 run and forcing eight Briarcliff turnovers.

The Bears had difficulty finding the basket in the second period and didn’t score until they got a Sean Crowley bucket with 4:41 left in the half. The Falcons saw their lead balloon to as much as 11 points in the quarter, but Briarcliff was able to cut the Woodlands lead to 30-21 at halftime.

In the third quarter, the Bears stepped it up defensively, holding the Falcons to only four baskets and just nine points. Briarcliff guard Jack Reish ended the period with a beautiful feed to Josiah Cobbs, who finished at the rim while also getting the foul call. After he made his free throw, the Woodlands lead was just 39-35 entering the final eight minutes.

Briarcliff exchanged runs with Woodland in the last quarter, but could not grab the lead. Jamil Gambari, the Falcons’ leading scorer and the tournament’s eventual MVP, knocked down free throws in the waning seconds to make sure the gold ball would be handed to Woodlands.

While the Falcons celebrated another sectional crown, the Bears’ Moffett chatted with his disconsolate players and offered them praise.

“After the game, he spoke to every single senior individually,” Phillip said about Moffett. “He highlighted what we do best and how hard we worked. He told us how everyone will be surprised about what we accomplished this year, but he told us that he knew we could accomplish this, and we all believed in him.”

Phillip, in his last game for the Bears, finished as the team’s second-leading scorer with 13 points and four rebounds, behind junior Sean Crowley’s 15 points and 11 rebounds.

“Looking back on it, I’m definitely going to miss the times that you guys don’t see on the court,” Phillip said. “It’s definitely the time we spent together, there’s nothing like it. I wish I could go back to every single moment that we had together. It’s hard to explain, I love these guys. Basketball is more than a sport to all of us. All of us are family at the end of the day.”

The Bears had advanced to the Class B title game by defeating Irvington 33-32 Wednesday in the semi-final round, led by Reish. The sophomore guard scored 13 points, grabbed seven rebounds and made six steals off the bench. He and Crowley were both named to the All-Tournament team.

“I just try to bring energy when I come in,” Reish said after Wednesday’s win. “I look for some steals and opportunities to push in transition.”

But it was senior Jeff Blair’s clutch one-and-one free throws that won the game for Briarcliff and prolonged its championship quest. He stepped to the line with the Bears trailing by a point and calmly made two shots to provide the game’s winning margin.

“I don’t think I really had time to think about (missing),” Blair admitted after he sank the tying and go-ahead free throws with 34.5 seconds left. “I was just thinking about my teammates and our season coming down to those two shots. I just knew that if I wasn’t going to make these we were going to go home. So I had no other option, I just had to go out there and shoot.”

Briarcliff will lose senior starters Phillip, Blair, Jackson Wexler and Malik White, as well as reserves, Robert Contento, Daniel Horowitz, Will Spielfogel and Mike Vasquez. Although the Bears didn’t quite accomplish their goal of a sectional title, Moffett was appreciative of the effort his seniors gave all season.

“I spoke two to three minutes with each and every one of them (and) what they meant to me,” Moffett said. “Next to becoming a dad, this is one of the best things I love to do. These guys have taken me on a journey this season that, one, I expected but, two, that I’ve enjoyed, and that’s something I’m thankful for.”